Leadership & Teamwork - Bangladesh Marine Academy



Leadership & Teamwork

2.6 Leadership and Teamwork

Employees need to be competitive to get ahead, but future leaders are skilled at getting the balance right between teamwork and personal aspirations.

Not many employees regard themselves as poor team players. Doing their share of the work, getting along with people and not stabbing anyone in the back is usually enough to make employees rate themselves as good team players. But the complexity of modern work calls for much more intensive teamwork than just going with the flow.

Of course many employees are not good team players at all. They are in it for number one and that means taking advantage of others, being hypercompetitive and shooting others down who seem to be getting ahead of them. There is no question that success at work is a competitive game that only a few can win. All employees need to differentiate themselves, to show how they are better prepared for a bigger job than their colleagues. But the best employees know that being a good team player is one of the key competencies managers look at when assessing leadership potential. No doubt it is critical to achieve great results but management takes a dim view of lone ranger types who feel they can do it on their own. It is critical to realize that getting promoted at higher levels is a lot like getting elected and not many people will give their support to backstabbers or selfish colleagues. The key is to know how to compete while being a team player at the same time. It’s a matter of getting the balance right. Great leaders know how to make themselves look good while making others feel good too.

Leadership and Teamwork

Many employees are passive team players. When asked for help by a colleague they are nearly always willing to help, even if they contribute as little as possible. They are friendly and quick to offer advice when asked for suggestions. In meetings, they play an active part and they keep key people up to date with progress on their objectives. Employees with leadership potential see team effectiveness as a leadership opportunity. They realize that they will achieve more by working through and with others, that they will get more done with the active support of colleagues. The organization’s future leaders take proactive steps to improve the effectiveness of their teams. In meetings they don’t restrict themselves to offering input on the content of the discussion. They actively try to bring the best out of others by asking them what they think and stimulating them to think more deeply. Leaders make a sharp distinction between process and content. They offer some content on the subject under discussion but they also place a lot of emphasis on process. This means helping to refocus the discussion when it gets sidetracked, summarizing periodically, seeking consensus and drawing out quieter team members. Not only do they not shoot people down when they disagree with them, they list features they like about a colleague’s idea before asking questions about possible problems with it.

Potential leaders make colleagues feel valued by showing interest in their ideas. When they disagree, they position their disagreement so as to create the impression that they are building on the ideas of others, not saying that everyone else is wrong. The most effective team players know the importance of encouraging people in order to motivate them to contribute even more. Poor team players do just the opposite. They make people feel bad about themselves by acting as if no one else knows anything or has anything of value to offer. Being encouraging does not mean agreeing with whatever anyone else says. It means saying something positive and asking to hear more. Questions about potential pitfalls of an idea can be asked in a way that sounds like genuine advice is being sought. This is infinitely more supportive than sarcastic questions that make people feel stupid.

Team Motivation

Employees with leadership potential reduce conflict and disharmony in a team. They know how to get people focused on what they have in common whether it is shared values, shared objectives or the bigger picture. They use humor to defuse tension and they know how to help people depersonalize issues. They get people excited about their work by showing enthusiasm and a sense of urgency.

Employees with less leadership potential see it as the boss’s job to improve team effectiveness and employee motivation. They are narrowly focused on their own problems and needs, a sure recipe for limited career progression.

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