Self Evaluation / Leadership

Self Evaluation / Leadership


A leader needs always to instill in his followers the sense of worthiness to create a personal interest in them to motivate them to be willing to undertake the project. It is of utmost importance that the objectives of a project to coincide with the individual own needs and wants of every member of the working team.

My leadership envisions my team members as fellow professionals and not merely subordinates. It allows my team players to be leaders in their own level that I pre-assign for them. This way my leadership will not be

Working as a part of a teaching team is a stride through an unpaved road, especially if it was the first time working with that particular team. During my three years that I have been working here, I encountered many changes. Although I have been teaching in California for the last twelve years, yet my experience in here is substantially different from that of the public schools. The objectives are better set and well defined at my new job. All the members of the teaching team are well aware of their role in the outcome of the team.
A new type of teamwork experience I was exposed to once I joined MIST. I will be discussing my experience working with a work team of students to produce a weekly product in the form of a cumulative report that the team needs to turn in on specific dates set forth by the instructor. I will be using the five stages of team development mentioned in Eric Verzuh’s book. The stages that every team goes through, the team leader has to adjust his or her style to accommodate these changes and address the goals of the project at hand keeping in mind the individual needs of the team players.

Forming:
As the group got together, we were not sure what to do or how to do it. So several face to face meeting were arranges to get the players to know each other and to get familiar with each other’s way of performing. The second step was to talk about the goals and objective set forth by the instructor. This stage was necessary to assure each member of clarity of vision when it comes to what is expected of us as a team.
Then it was important to share the vision of each team member on how to achieve these goals.

Storming:
As the meetings became frequent, the diversity of visions start colliding and the different styles of member started to bang against each other. This was not out of the ordinary at all. This is the stage where members are still new to each other’s ways. The mutual trust is not built up yet. Some people felt confused and even were considering leaving the team all together. Although I was not selected to be the leader of this team per say, but I tried to make use of my experience in leadership that I acquired from running my own business for the last six years. These years taught me that the best way to approach a complaint is to ask the person to offer you their vision in dealing with that particular situation. It helped among many strategies that the other members were sharing and this stage was short lived because of that.
Norming:
The vision became clearer at this stage and the team started to work together. Although there were still quite few things need to be ironed out, yet, we were able to set some short-term goals and assign roles to different members and divide responsibilities among us. The team was still far from total harmony although it was getting to be fun and few tasks were accomplished. Trust was building up leading to mutual respect.

Performing:
As thing started falling into place, goals were better achieved and the weekly production was on track now. Out assignments were done on time. The communications among the member started to be clearer and uninterrupted. That by itself lead to open channels of exchanging assignments and substituting roles when the assigned member was not available to undertake the task assigned to them. Teamwork spirit was at its most when some member with strong writing skills offered to help other members in reports.

Adjourning:
There was a bittersweet kind of feelings among the team members. We were able to meet our goals and developed some new team working skills, also were happy that our patience and the will to excel took the team all the way to our goals and met the objectives. Yet it was time to disband and move on to new projects. We were able to separate our personal feelings from our professional commitment. As a leadership practice, I made sure to recognize each team member and the role that they play in the enrichment of our experience, thank them for bringing their own experience into the project, and wish them the best. It is mighty nice to part on a good note.



On the other hand, my leadership, sometimes, tends to focus more on goals and let the human side slips away. In the heat of the demanding objectives and the urgency of deadlines, it shifts attention to the big picture forgetting the small details. It is commendable that the leader focuses on the set goals of his or her project, but keeping in mind the needs of the players, prolong their endurance and hence their production. This can be achieved by catering to their individual interests and steering them back on track.





Reference:


- Verzuh, Erick (2005). The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management. 2nd edition. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.