TEAMS: Leadership is an art and a scienceLola Gasabova, MGMT 6600

background of the authors.

• Ruth Wageman is Associate Professor in Psychology at Harvard University, specializing in Organizational Behavior. Harvard University: Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior Columbia University: BA in Psychology

• Colin Fisher is a Professor of team leadership and creativity at Boston University and Career Development ProfessorHarvard University: Ph.D. in Organizational BehaviorNew York University: MA in ImprovisationNew England Conservatory: Trumpet

• J. Richard Hackman: Edgar Pierce Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology, former Yale professorUniversity of Illinois: Ph.D. in Social PsychologyMacMurray College: Mathematics

timing is everything.

• Leadership intervention is only necessary at certain times

• The best leaders know how to intervene during predictable and unpredictable times

• The best time to intervene is before the group exists

• Avoiding micromanagement is sign of successful leadership

“This control freak is reluctant to delegate, may second-guess everything you do, and can shake your confidence in your own abilities. Simple tasks that you could accomplish quickly if left to your own devices take twice as long. Your efforts may be reduced to dust as the micromanager completely re-does your work.” – Simon North, Forbes Magazine Article, May 2012

timing Type I

• The team expects leadership intervention

• Even the best leadership actions are useless if the team isn’t ready for them

• Knowing how to and when in the game

• When are teams most open to intervention?

• Openness moves at different points

• When crisis strikes, knowing how to handle it is imperative.

“A leader must institutionalize the process of crisis management to anticipate, prepare and mitigate an impending crisis. To ensure an effective crisis management mechanism leadership support and involvement is absolutely essential.”- Alagse article, 2012

the most predictable times.

• Before the group existsinitial design is everything.

• At the initial launchget the group to become a team.

• At the calendar midpointanticipate leadership to revise and refine

• At the end of a performance periodthe best time for learning

Before the group exists:

do it on purpose.

1) Find the right people to group together for your team

2) Show them the direction, give them a purpose

3) Create an enabling team structure

4) Create a work environment that supports teamwork

5) Coach them as a team

“The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.” ~Benjamin Disraeli

The Launch:

minutes matter.

• The leaders of the group are selected within minutes• This is the best time to motivate and engage the group• The first task is to get them oriented • They will come into their own• Support cohesiveness

what makes a team

great?

An article by Anna Fields of Harvard Business School (2006)

1) A clear set of objectives, spelled out unambiguously by management.

2) Metrics allowing team members to assess their performance—and showing the connection between the team’s work and key business indicators.

3) Ongoing training—not a one-shot deal—in communication, group leadership, and other team skills.

4) Decision-making authority over how to reach goals. But managers may need to start slowly and expand teams’ scope of authority over time.

5) Team-based rewards and evaluation, not individual incentives.

6) An open culture, with easy access to team-specific information and to senior management.

Revisions are natural:

the midpoint.

• This breakpoint is predictable• Processes are reorganized to set the pace for the 2nd half• Reflect on what works and what doesn’t:

- How is that working? What’s not helping? What should we or shouldn’t we have done?

• This is when interventions are most welcomed and implemented

What did we learn?

Hindsight is 20/20

• Internalize and implement lessons learned• Pressure is gone, so anxiety is low• The best debriefs are the most effective for personal learning• Debriefing must be done on purpose by the leader• Celebrating and Rationalizing kicks in without leadership

“The goal is to facilitate an understanding of what has happened, to find out what the participant learned, and to test that against the instructor’s learning objective.” It is not to tell them (students) that they learned what the debriefer wanted them to learn, but to find out what they did learn, and why and the implications both for them as learners and for the debriefers as teachers.”

- Peter Marculus, “A Brief on Debriefing: What It Is and What It Isn’t.” of SUNY Geneseo Honors College

Teamwork in the future

• Nothing so conclusively proves a man’s ability to lead others than what he does from day to day to lead himself. – Thomas J. Watson

• Trust is vital

• Vulnerability must increase

• Personal ego issues must be resolved before one can be an effective team member… and leader

The point?

• The best leaders are intuitive• The best leaders delegate• The best leaders have humility • The best leaders have strong teams • People don’t care how much you know until they know

how much you care • The answer to a great team is to work together