Elizabeth Long
Several years ago, I enrolled my youngest daughter into a dance school called PA Dance Academy. The school teaches ballet, tap, and jazz students as young as age three up through adulthood. The dance instructor, Miss Sarah, does an amazing job of turning our darling children into graceful swans. What all of this has to do with team leadership is that it takes a lot of time and patience to work with children. A leader can reason with adults but a child can have a mind all their own.
Like any group, Miss Sarah takes the girls through all stages of group development—forming, storming, norming, and performing. She begins with forming where all the girls gather around a circle to introduce themselves and tell why they want to be a dancer (PSU WC L.9, 2014). One of the girls explained that dancing is her dream, one girl said that she wants to wear a tutu, another girl mentions that her mom wanted her to come, and another girl said that dancing is fun.
Next is the storming phase in which Sarah asks the girls to tell her what behaviors they think the girls should have to be a great dancer all the while she is prompting them by asking questions (PSU WC L.9, 2014). Sometimes there are opposing ideas and that is good because this helps Miss Sarah to understand their personalities. She hears everything from acting like a lady to flying across the stage.
The norming stage is where Miss Sarah comes into the picture as their leader to explain the rules and what the goal is for the group. At the end of the semester the girls are asked to perform in a recital so each class leading up to the big show is getting the girls one step closer to the day of curtain call. This stage can be challenging because sometimes the girls are expected to do one move and one or two of them think that it’s time to run around the room. According to Northouse (2013), Sarah can make a choice to observe the children or step in and get them back in line with the rest of the group. Her way of coaching the girls is reminding them of their goal to be a great dancer from the beginning of class and tell them how proud she will be to see them on stage. One time I observed her ignoring the children misbehaving during class and saw one of the other dancers go over to the girls, got their attention, and invited them back to join the class.
The performing stage is seen later when all of the dancers are paying attention in class, moving in sync, and ready to take the stage (PSU WC L.9, 2013). It can also be an emotional time for both Miss Sarah and the girls; they have been through so much together. At the end of the performance, the girls are recognized for their hard work and some of them even receive special awards for excellence.
Being a part of a team can be challenging but also rewarding. My daughter’s first experience in a team situation has helped her appreciate other’s ideas, build friendships, and make decisions. I find myself sometimes cringing at the thought of working within a team because I don’t want to be the person that does all of the work but when teams have a good leader, everyone is given a part and usually come out of the team feeling good about the work they performed. I’m glad my daughter had such a positive experience and a great leader.
References
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2014). Lesson 9: Team Leadership. PSYCH 485: Leadership in Work Settings. Retrieved from:lhttps://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/su14/psych485/001/content/09_lesson/printlesson.html