Virtual Teams and Leadership

My 12-year-old little brother loves playing video games. If my mom did not yell at him to get off his computer, he would probably play on it for hours. Most parents cannot understand how a child would prefer to sit in a room all day instead of going outside on their bikes. Sometimes, I watch and get dizzy from the screen moving in all sorts of directions. Other times I am fascinated to see how he directs his team in and out of the enemy lines, teaches them how to accomplish something they may have trouble on, or even congratulates them on their success. It is interesting to see how leadership can play a role in a virtual team setting. I believe he possesses important group aspects that help develop group leadership, he maintains principled leadership, and he interacts using achievement-oriented leadership

I say the word team and not group because my brother and his friends had a single mission, each doing their part to get there. A team is a group of people that have a single mission, everyone is responsible for their part, if their part is not completed then the final product might not be achievable (PSU WC, 2016, L. 9). Within this team group roles included a few people collecting supplies, others keeping watch, others-building things, etc. Sometimes certain members were given specific supplies like the best guns because they were the best fighters and could better keep watch or defend. Although there was competition, (because let’s face it they are12-year old’s), there was also a common notion that they needed to work collectively to complete the mission. The size of their group typically depended on who could play online that day. On average there were about 5-8 group members. Cliques are subgroups of people who share common interests and as a result have the same goals, values, and expectations (PSU WC, 2016, L. 9). Since these were all friends from school there clique was probably the gamers, there goal was to play games like Fortnite, call of duty: modern warfare, 2K22, 2K21, Minecraft, etc. when they got home and complete goals.

One of the outcomes that I saw in my brother’s team was a collaborative climate. This occurs when a team can trust each other to work well and rely on one another (PSU WC, 2016, L. 9). After the group roles were set each of them trusted each other to do there assigned role with precision and accuracy. In the beginning my brother had to coach his group members through principled leadership. Principled leadership occurs when a leader uses team-oriented behavior to help followers (PSU WC, 2016, L. 9). When one of his friends was unsure of how to perform a specific move or defeat a bad guy he supported them by coaching them through it on his microphone. After everyone understood how to perform their specific roles the group maintained competent team members. Competent team members create good performance because they have the necessary skills and correct number of members needed to perform the task (PSU WC, 2016, L. 9). In this virtual group, all members now had their necessary skillset and had a group size of 5-8 group members.

Of all the leadership behaviors in the path-goal theory, my brother maintained an achievement-oriented leadership style. Achievement-oriented leaders preserve high standards of excellence and seek continuous improvement in followers (Northouse, 2021, p. 136). This occurs because each mission gets more difficult and oftentimes requires different levels of skill advancement. My brother always wants to get him and his team past every obstacle and that means he must have competent team members who could perform their group roles. Although I am unsure how my brothers’ friends react to his teachings, I can conclude that their desire for control frustrates him. My brother struggles with not overreacting when his friends make snide remarks on tips that he mentions. In a way his followers have a big internal locus of control. An internal locus of control occurs when someone needs to feel in charge of their work (Northouse, 2021, p. 137). His high expectations can cause arguments when trying to complete a challenging or complex mission.

In conclusion, my brother continues to learn how to become a good leader every time he plays with his friends through virtual teams. He currently possesses group aspects such as the correct team, size, and clique to successfully emerge as a leader. He also maintains both collaborative climate and competent team members, he does this through principled leadership. One thing my brother needs to work on is achievement-oriented leadership behavior as this type of behavior can sometimes clash with certain group members internal locus of control, which can lead to arguments.

References:

• Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2016). PSYCH 485 Lesson 9: Team Leadership. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2181168/modules/items/35188604
• Northouse, P. G. (2021). Leadership: Theory and Practice(9th Edition). SAGE Publications, Inc. (US). https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9781071834473