Being an Effective Team Leader - a Daniel Goleman's inspired resource
I took a training at work today on being an effective team leader and believe this can apply to leadership on 7cups. It is a long post but worth the read!
A supervisor is a front-line leader with supervising authority. To be a supervisor it means to oversee people and projects, monitor job performance of individuals under their purview; and provide support, guidance and ensure an appropriate work environment.
Identify your default leadership style below and if you have a second choice.
Daniel Goleman’s six leadership styles
Commanding - Do what I Tell you
Democratic - What do you think?
Visionary - Come with me
Pacesetting - Do as I do, now
Affiliative - people come first
Coaching - try this
Commanding
Demand immediate obedience
Focused on authority and control
Works best in an emergency
Democratic
Build consensus through participation
Focused on collaboration
Works best when you need input from employees.
Visionary
Move people towards a vision
Focused on self-confidence and empathy
Works best when a new vision or direction is needed
Pacesetting
Expect excellence and self-direction
Focused on results
Works best when you need fast results from a motivated team
Affiliative
Value and create emotional bonds and harmony
Focused on relationships and team building
Works best when you need to repair trust and build morale
Coaching
Develop people focused on team development
Works best when an organization values long-term staff development
They’re empathetic, self-aware, and like to develop skills and people
Each leadership styles have weaknesses and strengths, what would you say the weakness is of your leadership style that you identified as yours?
Steps to becoming an Effective Team Leader
Step 1 identify your default leadership style
Your style is the one you find the most comfortable. Understanding which styles you use the most informs you on which situations you excel in.
Step 2 Develop your strengths
What are your strengths as a leader? How can your strengths apply to multiple leadership styles? If you don’t know what your strengths are, you can try asking people who know you. Make notes of what you have done well, pat yourself on the back when you do well.
Step 3 Work on your weaknesses
Weaknesses are simply areas of your life where you have had very limited experience, given very little attention to, or been misguided in some way.
What are some weaknesses that you have and what are you doing to work on them?
Step 4 Draw on others
Identify who on your team has the skills and styles that you find particularly hard, and encourage them to take the lead when their style is more appropriate than yours. The best leaders create other leaders, not followers.
Step 5 Do Something different
How can you practice your stretch style?
How would you act if you were working in that stretch style?
The stretch style is the leadership style that you use the least.
Step 6 Hold up a Mirror
Seek feedback when you’re trying to develop your leadership styles and accept in generously, don’t take feedback too personally.
The habits of a successful leader
- Build a reputation for being fair, consistent, and reasonable
- Be approachable and visible to the team
- Plan daily interaction with each team member
- St the appropriate tone with your team members by working alongside them
Leader responsibilities
- Communicate expectations effectively
- Knowledge of applicable rules, regulations, and standards of conduct
- Recognize potential issues and proactively address them
- Provide guidance
- Maintain accurate documentation
Stages of group development
Forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning.
Forming - team meets/joined together and gets to know each other, direct supervision may be needed from the leader, ground rules and acceptable behaviors are established
Storming- occurs when a staff experiences some form of conflict or are struggling for acceptance of their opinions or ideas.
Norming - team begins to work effectively as a unit, trust and respect has increased, increased productivity, positive morale, proficiency and professionalism
Performing - team performs at an optimum level, decisions are made quicker, milestones and accomplishments are celebrated.
Adjourning stage - members assess accomplishments and plan for new goals and objectives. Contributions are recognized. Members move on to other projects and opportunities.
The most effective teams are cultivated, understanding the development process of groups can help increase chances of success.
Discussion Questions
What is your default leadership style? Which is your least?
List four strengths you possess as a leader.
Which leadership style do you want to improve most? What can you do to improve it?
Tag a team member with skills you admire. How can she/he help lead your team?
@Remina
@Hope @Heather225 @CheeryMango @InternalAcceptance @CommunityModIris @EmLeah77
@Remina
Thank you for this post, it's a really helpful resource :) I really appreciate the time and effort you've put into it!
I believe overall I want to be able to oversee a project and eventually manage my own dashboard, I've got lots of ideas for teams that I've love to explore. Just need to get a bit more experience under my belt first.
@Zaxoosh
You're welcome! Glad you appreciated the content! And you got this! Let me know if you have any questions along the way.
@Remina
What is your default leadership style? Which is your least?
I’m more of a quiet leader, kind of a gentle coach. I try to lead with empathy, kindness and emotional support but usually from behind the scenes. I love helping others shine and feel heard andd I always try to lift people up without pushing them down a path they’re not ready for.
I’m not into being pushy or controlling like at all, I believe everyone deserves space to make their own choices and I do my best to create that space with understanding.
List four strengths you possess as a leader.
- Empathy
- Kindness
- Understanding
- Emotional support~ like a weighted blanket but in human form lol
Which leadershihp style do you want to improve most? What can you do to improve it?
I’m working on building my confidence and owning the value I bring. As an introvert, I don’t always jump into the spotlight but I’m learning that quiet leadership is still real leadership. I really admire leaders who speak with clarity and conviction and I’m trying to find ways to do that in my own ~gentle voice~💗
@Emleah77
Thank you for sharing!!
Great post! Thank you for providing this context so we can all become stronger leaders 🙏
@GlenM
You're welcome! Glad to share!
@Remina thank you, so much wonderful advice in this article 💜🥰
@Amanda84
You're welcome!
@Remina Thank you for posting, a really insightful article 💜🥰
@Remina
my style is democratic, and least is commanding. however, i see the merits in all of these. i actually went to retake the test to see if i've changed over the years, and that combined with this informative post made for fun reflection.
i'd love to hear everyone else's styes and if they feel they're accurate reads 👀