Teams are crucially important in today’s workforce. Many organizational structures rely heavily on team formation. Furthermore, teams in organizations vary however, they all focus on a vision or goal. Most operative of team is interdependence and working towards the same end goal (Northouse, 2016, p. 363). When I think of team none of my experience can compare to the teams that comprise of men and women enlisted in the reserves. Though I have not served in the marines or army or any of the reserve, I salute the men and women who stand up to fight and protect our nation. These men and women work in teams towards the same common goal to protect and serve our country and the American people. If you haven’t read Michael David Fry post on ‘The Marine Corps & The Skills Approach to Building Leaders’ and Nathan Gallahan post ‘The situation behind Airman Development,’ now will be a good time to do so. After reading their post, I envision the assignment of teams. Michael David Fry post tells us that it is a requirement to ‘learn leadership skills’ necessary to prepare for their team ‘leadership roles with their platoons.’ These posts gave me a deep insight of what it takes to prepare and to work as a team in the reserve. This clearly identifies team and team leadership complexities because “team members must work collectively to achieve their goals” (Northouse, 2016, p. 363). Thus, the men and women who enlist in the reserve common goal is to protect our nation.
This weeks’ lesson brings awareness of team construction due to existing task complexity within organization and as a result there is the need for team leadership. The Northouse (2016), Hill Model for Team Leadership best showcase the elements to reach the heights of team effectiveness. The Hill Model highlights the role and actions that team leadership plays for teams to be effective. Leadership decision is dependent on the situation occurring within the team incorporating internal and external leadership actions are essential to achieve team effectiveness (Northouse, 2016).
I work at a school organization that has many teams and each team has a team leader. One of the most important team is safety and security team. This team is constantly shifting their actions to address the varying situations as they arise (Northouse, 2016, p. 365). The safety and security team leader know that she has to exercise good decision making and use different tactic which exemplify the effective job of the team. They all work towards the same common goal and that is to maintain safety and security for all within the building. There had been many instances where weapons are either brought into the building or supposedly seen in the classroom. The security leader cannot lay false accusation on a student or alarm the entire school faculty, students and parents. The leader of the safety team has to discuss the precautionary measures needed to uncover the truth of whether or not the situation is real or a false alarm. Thus, the team intervention is to have a few agents discretely pull the suspected student out of their classroom for interrogation then, have other safety agents search the student bag and the student clothing. The team common goal is to make sure not one gets hurt and everyone in the building is safe and protected. This situation hints that the “Leader must use discretion about which problems need intervention and make choices about which solutions are the most appropriate (Zaccaro et al., 2001)” (Northouse, 2016, p. 366). In so saying, the safety and security team leader must make choices that are best suited for the situation in order to avoid parents placing a 311 call to report the false accusation as well as, avoid giving parents a reason to sue the school.
On the other hand, not all team prevails in organization, some teams are structured in communities and homes. I recall one team that was formulated while growing up and that’s my family survival team. My family survival team involved a team leadership who was my mother. She had a vision and it was not based only on motherhood but, she focused on accomplishment and goals. She created a team with her husband and her 10 children. As the team leader she looked at the bigger picture and took the necessary action needed for our survival and betterment of our future. I will use this model to demonstrate how while growing up in a poor family we worked to accomplish our success. We focused on the same common goal which was to get an education and acquire financial stability. My mother was a stay at home mom but, she was not the regular moms that was just contented in making bread and making the beds. She was the type that took the team leader position and ensured that we worked as a team to succeed in reaching financial stability. This inclusive to all children going to school to get a proper education. She made decisions best suited for achieving this common goal. My mother was the leader who saw the situation we were experiencing which was living in poverty. So, rather than accepting poverty, she confronted the problem (Northouse, 2016, p. 366).
How did she tackle the issues we faced? As our team leader she developed mental conception of our problems and “what solutions were possible in this context, given the environmental constraints and resources (Zaccaro et al., 2001)” (Northouse, 2016, p. 366). She saw the problems (no money, little food, no clothing, broken up house, no car and no education) and she had to implement the ideas she had to resolve the situation we were experiencing. Her ideas were simple and the answer were right in front of us. We had property to grow crops of gardens and life stock but, we needed the laborers. So, she pooled her husband and children together to grow the crops that would be sold and money used to bring us out of the situation we were experiencing. So, the idea was for us to work as a team to sow, reap and sell to bring us out of poverty. My mother as a team leader, she focused “on team needs and outcomes” (PSU, 2018, para. 1).
At dawn each day, my mother would wake up eleven members of her family to work on our tasks. My brothers would go to the fields to plant the rice, corn, sugarcane, or cultivate the garden. My sisters would help with bringing supplies to my brothers then, pick the harvest and prepare them for sale. My father would repair and maintain the machinery needed for working the fields as well as teach the boys how to use the machinery. We were all “interdependent” and “shared common goals” (Northouse, 2016, p. 363). My mother had a structure for us to follow. It was not as easy as it sounds. She encouraged us to work together. When we complained she listened. She listened to understand what we were trying to convey. She saw the positive side of these complaint and used it “to build an atmosphere that foster collaboration….trusting relationships based on honesty, openness, consistency, and respect (Larson & LaFasto, 1989)” (Northouse, 2016, p. 370). The boys would have constant conflict on their assigned tasks. She managed and worked through the conflicting issues. She sent the younger children to school while the older children continue with their tasks. She was focused on accomplishing the goals of educating her children and acquiring the material things we didn’t have. She was focus on acquiring the things needed to get us out of poverty. With her team leadership, taking action and monitoring her sons and daughters as well as, her husband, she was able to acquire enough money to build a house, buy our first car, buy our first television and take us to on trips. She was able to use her financial reserve to send her older children to private high school. My mother used her team leadership to clearly identify the common goal and that was to get out of poverty.
She constantly reinforced that as a team we can succeed. She motivated us. She reminded us that there was more to life than just being contented with playing outside. She made our goals seem possible and we “believe it was worthwhile and important” (Northouse, 2016, p. 368). Working as a team “lead to greater team effectiveness” and so we were able to achieve success (Northouse, 2016, p. 367). My mother was an effective team leader because an “effective team leaders can diagnose correctly and choose the right action” (Northouse, 2016, p. 366). She diagnosed the situation as living in poverty and she choose the right action to overcome the hurdle to not live in poverty. Not only did she choose the right action but, she urged us to work hard as a team to accomplish our goals which was the common goal of getting out of poverty. My father was an effective team member but, my mother had “special responsibility for functioning in a manner that will help the team achieve effectiveness” (Northouse, 2016, p. 366). Her team leadership decision making skills and her actions has proven our team has been effective with reaching our common goal of aspiring to a better life. Now, I see my mother not only as a mother but, as the team leader of our family because she clearly lead us to accomplished the common goal and elevated our goal, to aspire to greater heights!
References
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
Pennsylvania State University. (2018). Team leadership. Complexity of team leadership. PSYCH 485. Retrieved June 7, 2018 from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1940315/modules/items/24597556