RUNNING HEAD: LEADERSHIP & TEAMS 1

Week 5 - Leadership roles in teams

Shane Gray, 566541

LDR636

Siena Heights University, Graduate College

06/09/2017
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Understanding teams and the role of leaders.

Gaining an understanding of the role that leaders maintain in teams requires an

understanding of teams as a societal body, within organizations. This paper will focus on the roles

of leaders in teams. Todays leader must first understand the relationships that they must maintain

and those which exist in teams. With the rise of the mantra doing more with less, it is imperative

to organizational success, and teams effectiveness to properly train teams to maintain informal

leadership views, while formal leadership is busied in other functions outside of the team.

A focus on teaming is an essential attribute which organizations are embracing as more

employment opportunities are growing through contractual workers, as opposed to full-time

employment. Teaming is an action that displays the versatility, effectiveness and productivity of

an organizations decision-making and problem-solving techniques in its day-to-day operations.

Focusing more on the concepts of teamwork, the obstacles and barriers of position is reduced, if

existent at all. This provides for higher productivity and focused effort, which drives

organizational success.

The emotional intelligence of teams leaders is an essential part of forming teams, training

them to perform as teams, and gaining the followership of the members of teams. Leadership

skills must move beyond a conceptual or theoretical foundation, and anchor itself in the

individuals ability to look beyond themselves, their personal views and opinions, in order to keep

the organizational objectives and team goals as the focal point of operation. The emotionally

intelligent leader has their ego stroked through the teams success rather than the paradigms of

their individual importance.

The role of a leader within his team must also include partnership. Leadership is both

vertical and horizontal. The teams success is a shared benefit for each of its members, to include

the teams leader. Leadership is shared among team members, just as the success they enjoy.
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Relationships

Just as relationships are in a familial setting, community, or friendship, relationships in

the workplace and especially among team members are essential for defining roles and the

importance of each individual. Implementing followership and leadership styles using an

integrated model, while defining the purpose through strategic organizational goals, the leaders

effectiveness will become more evident through an improved understanding of their

relationships, as follower to leader. The understanding that leaders demonstrate, will result in

the increased commitment from their followers. Moreover, the outcome will result in a pool of

talent, with future leaders as followers, who are mentored by the leader that is learning to match

work styles, with leadership styles, which result in positive working relationships (Bjugstad

Thach, Thompson, and Morris, 2006).

The insight of Pearce, and Sims (2002) indicated that vertical leadership stems from an

appointed or formal leader of a team, whereas shared leadership is a group process in which

leadership is distributed among, and stems from, team members (p. 172). This shared

experience through example and practice provides an element of relationship in its members,

which is essential not only for mentoring, but more importantly, providing the opportunity for

understanding the relational aspects within teams.

Pearce and Sims (2002) stated that in shared leadership contexts, these strategies

continue to be relevant, with one important caveat: The agents of influence are often peers of the

targets of influence (p. 176). Though the vertical leaders provide their presence, example, and

they also play a mentoring role through the development of leaders, the lateral influence which

occurs within the peer group as they share leadership opportunities, will provide an important

illustration for the team dynamics and team effectiveness. These situations will provide

examples of and the basis for leadership (Pearce & Sims, 2002).
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Teaming

According to Katzenbach, & Smith (1993) Teams differ fundamentally from working

groups because they require both individual and mutual accountability. Teams rely on more than

group discussion, debate, and decision; on more than sharing information and best practice

performance standards (p. 112). The contributions from the individuals of the team is relative

to the production of the work which is completed through the joined efforts of each member.

Though each individual contributes to the teams product, it is the performance level of each

member, through teamwork, which provides much greater results. Each team member as an

individual, provides the collective success of the team, which is much greater than if they were

acting individually. Simply stated, a team is more than the sum of its parts (p. 112).

According to the Harvard Business School (2012), teaming is a verb. It is a dynamic

activity, not a bounded, static entity. It is largely determined by the mindset and practices of

teamwork, not by the design and structures of effective teams (p. 1). Due to the constant

evolution of the industrial and technological world, teaming must be fluid, and never static.

Teaming is therefore not a stable structure, but is coordinated and uses collaboration. Teaming

allows success among the teams within organizations where the nature of the work is constantly

shifting, which requires that the team members consistently change, in order to meet the needs of

the work. You could be working on one team right now, but in a few days, or even a few

minutes, you may be on another team (p. 2).

The research of Chen, Farh, Campbell-Bush, Wu, and Wu (2013) revealed that the work

that is accomplished by individual team members is essential to the motivational level of the

team. The motivation level of the team in turn, increases the performance level of the

individuals within the team. However, the individual levels of motivation contributes to the

teams motivation to perform indirectly, as the individual members perform the individual
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roles that they are assigned, within the team (p. 1020).

Gajendran, R. S., & Joshi, A. (2012) provided that leader-member exchange theory

(LMX) and the frequency of communication with distributed teams, shaped the team member

influence on decisions made within the team. Prior research has treated innovation both as a

team process that involves the development of novel ideas and insights and as an outcome that

reflects the successful application of novel ideas to solve organizational problems (p. 1252).

This was especially true among teams which were distributed at different sites. The teams

interacted in problem-solving tasks, which generated solutions drawn from different sources and

networks than teams that were situated within the same location. The results where team

members were involved in the decision making process, proved more likely to produce the most

innovative solutions to problems they worked on solving (p. 1254).

Decision making

According to Hrtel, & Hrtel (1997) SHAPE is a thinking strategy in that it is a mental

template that can be overlaid over any problem paradigm the decision maker chooses to use (p.

197). SHAPE is an acronym which stands for scrutinize symptoms, hypothesize solutions,

analyze proposed solutions, perform modifications and corrections, and evaluate results.

The question of age in decision making was explored to determine whether a decision

making process is more effective in one group than another. As stated by Streufert, Pogash,

Piasecki, and Post (1990):

Performance by young and middle-aged teams was generally similar. Older teams made

fewer decisions and were less strategic and less responsive to incoming information.

Their overview of the task was less broad; action diversity and information search was

reduced. However, older teams used opportunities and handled a simulated emergency as

effectively as their younger and middle-aged counterparts (p. 551).

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Streufert, Pogash, Piasecki, and Post (1990) indicated further that when the rank structure

among team members remained unestablished, decision making functions developed naturally

within each team (p. 553). Teams where responsibility for specific tasks were assigned to

individual members, regardless of their age, and where others functioned by consensus revealed

that no conflict in reference to how decisions were made had occurred (p. 553).

Park, and DeShon (2010) discovered that team learning goal orientation influences the

confidence of minority opinion holders and team discussion. Team discussion, in turn, relates to

minority influence, greater decision quality, and team satisfaction (p. 824). Moreover, when an

emphasis was placed on learning goals, the quality in team decision making increased while the

satisfaction of the individual members remained intact.

Emotional Intelligence

Hofmeyer, Sheingold, Klopper and Warland, (2015) provided research that indicated job

satisfaction, turnover, positive relationships and wellbeing of followers and organizational

productivity is directly related to the leader-follower relationship. The productivity of team

members is directly related to the emotional response they are a witness to through their leader.

Leaders who manage their emotions inspire the work and interactions of their followers. Within

an ever changing environment, the leaders ability to example a high level of emotional

intelligence will assist in making their followers more confident, productive and able to respond

to situations in a more positive manner. Emotional intelligence is said to have a close relational

tie with academic leadership. The emotionally intelligent leader will instill the value of

academic leadership along with the importance of interacting with the interest of the outcome in

focus, more so than their own interests (p. 182).

In leadership, it is an essential part of a teams success to learn through the example of

their leader the confidence, poise, patience and professionalism that is emotional intelligence.
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The team member remains owner of their emotional response in all situations, and realizes that

the work that they do is not for their personal gain or recognition, but to benefit the stakeholders.

The emotionally intelligent person matures to a point that they are actually able to aide in the

control of others emotional response. Working with highly emotional individuals is not

uncommon. Therefore, it is important for operations to be a master over their emotional

responses, when they seem unable to control their own emotional responses.

Partnership

Keller (2006) indicated that a transformational leader can create an impression that he or

she has high competence and a vision to achieve success. Subordinates respond with an

enthusiasm and commitment to the teams objectives (p. 202). Further, his study revealed that a

benefit of transformational leadership is when the followers are so inspired by the leader, that

they are willing to work to the extent which far exceeds the organizational goals and moves

beyond the leaders expectations.

Treating the team members with respect and regarding them as important people who

contribute to the success of the organization, rather than as part of the machine which is expected

to perform to that end. This will instill an emotional response where the team members will

become a team working not for themselves or for the organization, but to render the respect they

feel toward their leader.

Morgeson (2005) indicated that the integration of functional leadership in reference to a

teams routine, combines internal functions with external leadership to effectively solve

problems which teams face day-to-day (p. 497). This partnership between teams and external

leadership is useful when perspective becomes an obstacle. The term from the outside looking

in, becomes the eyesight which sometimes is necessary in providing the missing link between

problem and solution.

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Phillips, Douthitt, and Hyland, (2001) informed us that it is essential for teams which

model effectiveness to consider affects such as cohesion, satisfaction, and other reactions in

reference to outcomes that depict team effectiveness. Whereas, much of the research which has

measured team effectiveness seemed to be focused on increasing the decision making or task

completion quality and had unfortunately looked past the individual responses of members,

rather than the teams processes. To understand what contributes to enhanced team viability,

we must extend our knowledge of factors that affect team members and shape their reactions to

the leader and the team (p. 316). It was determined that a major factor in determining how a

member of the team would react included their perception of fairness within the team and the

decision making process. The partnership within the team and how decisions were made,

seemed to be a major influence on how they reacted, regardless of the perception of fairness.

Teaming and partnership go hand-in-hand, relationally speaking. The influence that

leaders have over their team is just as important, relationally speaking, as the teams influence on

the leader. As the individual team members realize their importance and value individually, they

begin to realize the partnership that they bring to increase the value and importance of the team.

Experientially

Transactional leadership along with a command and control type leadership are styles

which are not conducive to the role of a leader in teams today. Having come from a military

background and transitioning into a role within the criminal justice system assisted in

programming me and others in this style of leadership. Although orders must be followed both

in the military and in the field of criminal justice, the need for change was evident as the

generational changes and societal evolution occurred.

Roles within teams became more of a partnership rather than using a directive approach.

Education and experience began to reveal itself as the norm within teams, and leadership had to
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follow suit. Leaders became more of a coordinator, liaison and organizer for the team, in order

to generate the support and supplies necessary to keep a team moving forward. The virtual team

became a reality and relied on the talents and efficacy of its members. The world of punching

clocks and bodies in seats became a thing of the past and production became one of the keys to

the future of teams.

My role as leader on teams became an illustration of a train conductor. Many different

pieces, moving down the same track, headed in the same direction, while altogether, and

separate. As the mission is completed for some members, they must be loosed from the team, to

become a useful tool within another team that is forming. The mission orientation and the

objectives remain the goals, but the members will not remain the same. The direction changes as

the organization and the stakeholders needs dictate. The success of a team is not measured by

how long they remain together, but how efficiently and effectively they complete their tasks.

Conclusion

Relationships, teaming, decision making, emotional intelligence, leadership &

partnership are some of the leadership roles in teams. These particular topics are some of the

important issues facing leadership roles and teams success in todays rapidly changing and fast

paced world. More research is necessary in several areas of the leaders role within teams, as

each team, and its individual make-up would determine, in part, the individual characteristics of

the members, as well as organizational objectives and team goals.

Leadership as an industry is evolving as several theories are developed, and teaming is

evolving as well, while organizations are evolving in their theories on how personnel should be

employed and deployed. The leadership roles in teams at some point will require a specific

definition so as to establish sound objectives for these roles. As another generation ages and will

be introduced into the workforce, these roles will potentially evolve yet again, in order to
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meet the needs of their organizational, and individual objectives and goals.
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References

Bjugstad, K., Thach, E. C., Thompson, K. J., & Morris, A. (2006). A fresh look at followership:

A model for matching followership and leadership styles. Journal of Behavioral and

Applied Management, 7(3), 304-311,313-319. Retrieved from

https://search.proquest.com/docview/196732400?accountid=28644

Chen, G., Farh, J., Campbell-Bush, E., Wu, Z., & Wu, X. (2013). Teams as innovative systems:

Multilevel motivational antecedents of innovation in R&D teams. Journal of Applied

Psychology, 98(6), 1018-1027. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0032663

Gajendran, R. S., & Joshi, A. (2012). Innovation in globally distributed teams: The role of LMX,

communication frequency, and member influence on team decisions. Journal of Applied

Psychology, 97(6), 1252-1261. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0028958

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