LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION
Team Leadership
Chapter 12
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION
Overview
Team Leadership Perspective
Team Leadership Model
Leadership Decisions
Leadership Actions
Team Effectiveness
Principled Leadership
How does the Team Leadership Model Work?
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION
A NICE QUOTE:
“Your own perspectives on problems are
important when thinking about the many
perspectives and views understood by all of the
other people in the organisation. With
personally different backgrounds, ethnicity,
gender and socialisation, no one can expect all
individuals to view one event in the same way”
Hamlin,B, Keep,J, & Ash,K (2001) Organization change and development: A reflective guide
for managers, trainers and developers.
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION
Groups and Teams are Different
GROUP TEAM
One Dominate LEADERSHIP Shared
Fixed STRUCTURE Flexible
Competitive RELATIONSHIPS Cooperative
Individual Sum PERFORMANCE Synergistic
Individual ACCOUNTABILTIY Shared and
Individual
Technical SKILLS Technical, problem-
solving, interpersonal
5
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION 6
Historical Perspective of Team Leadership – 1920s-1980s
20-30s 40s 50s 60-70s 80s
• Human • Group • Quality
• T group • Organizational
Relations dynamics development teams
movement • Leader’s
• Social role in • Team • Benchmarking
• Collaborative science T group leader • Continuous
efforts at theory effectiveness improvement
work
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION 7
Historical Perspective of Team Leadership – 1990s
90s Parker 1990
• Global • Group
dynamics
Effectiveness research
perspective
The use of teams has led to:
• Flatter • Social Greater productivity, more
organizational science effective use of resources,
structure theory better decisions & problem
solving, better-quality products
• Strategies for • Team-based,
& services, increased
competitive technology
enabled
innovation & creativity
advantage
BUT organizational
culture needs to support
employee involvement
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION 8
Team Leadership Description - Perspective
Team research (Ilgen, Hollenbeck Johnson & Jundt, 2005)
Focus on team variables
Role of affective, behavioral, & cognitive processes in team success
Team performance & viability
• Role of mediating processes such as:
• Trusting, bonding, planning, adapting, structuring, & learning
Function of Leadership in Teams
Focus on leader-team interactions
Focus on process by which teams develop critical capabilities
Role of leadership to ensure team success
Distributed leadership = team leadership capacity
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION 9
Team Leadership Model
Model provides leader or designated team member
with a mental road map to help
Diagnose team problems, and
Take appropriate action to correct team problems
Effective team performance begins with leader’s
mental model of the situation
Mental model reflects
Components of the problem
Environmental & organizational contingencies
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION 10
Hill’s Model
for Team
Leadership
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION 11
Leadership Decision 1
Should I Monitor the Team or Take Action?
Leaders can:
Diagnose, analyze, or forecast problems (monitoring) or
take immediate action to solve a problem
Focus on problems within the group (internal) or which
problems need intervention
Make choices about which solutions are the most
appropriate
Effective leaders have the ability to determine what
interventions are needed, if any, to solve team problems
All members of the team can engage in monitoring
Leaders differ in timing of taking action
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION 12
Leadership Decision 1
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION 13
Leadership Decision 2
Should I Intervene to Meet Task or Relational Needs?
Task Maintenance Functions
Getting job done Developing positive climate
Making decisions Solving interpersonal
Solving problems problems
Adapting to change Satisfying members’ needs
Making plans Developing cohesion
Achieving goals
Even more challenging in
virtual teams
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION 14
Leadership Decision 3
Should I Intervene Internally or Externally?
Leader must:
Determine what level of team process needs
leadership attention:
Internal task or relational team dynamics, if:
• Conflict between group members
• Team goals unclear
External environmental dynamics, if:
• Organization not providing proper support to
team
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION 15
Leadership Actions
Leadership Functions – performed internally or externally
Internal Leadership Actions External Leadership Actions
Task Relational Environmental
•Goal focusing •Coaching •Networking
•Structuring for •Collaborating •Advocating
results •Managing conflict •Negotiating support
•Facilitating •Building commitment •Buffering
decision making •Satisfying needs •Assessing
•Training •Modeling principles •Sharing information
•Maintaining
standards
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION 16
Internal Task Leadership Actions
Set of skills or actions leader might perform to
improve task performance:
Goal focusing (clarifying, gaining agreement)
Structuring for results (planning, visioning, organizing,
clarifying roles, delegating)
Facilitating decision making (informing, controlling,
coordinating, mediating, synthesizing, issue focusing)
Training team members in task skills (educating,
developing)
Maintaining standards of excellence (assessing team and
individual performance, confronting inadequate
performance)
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION 17
Internal Relational Leadership Actions
Set of actions leader needs to implement to improve
team relationships:
Coaching team members in interpersonal skills
Collaborating (including, involving)
Managing conflict and power issues (avoiding confrontation,
questioning ideas)
Building commitment and esprit de corps (being optimistic,
innovating, envisioning, socializing, rewarding, recognizing)
Satisfying individual member needs (trusting, supporting,
advocating)
Modeling ethical and principled practices (fair, consistent,
normative)
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION 18
External Environmental Leadership Actions
Set of skills or behaviors leader needs to implement to
improve environmental interface with team:
Networking and forming alliances in environment (gather
information, increase influence)
Advocating and representing team to environment
Negotiating upward to secure necessary resources,
support, and recognition for team
Buffering team members from environmental distractions
Assessing environmental indicators of team’s effectiveness
(surveys, evaluations, performance indicators)
Sharing relevant environmental information with team
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION
Characteristics of Effective Teams
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION 21
Team Effectiveness
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION 22
Team Effectiveness
Clear, Elevating Goal
– Clear so that one can tell if performance objective
has been met
– Motivating or involving so that members believe it
is worthwhile and important
Results-Driven Structure
– Need to find the best structure to achieve goals
Clear team member roles
Good communication system
Methods to assess individual performance
An emphasis on fact-based judgments
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION 23
Team Effectiveness
Competent Team Members
Components
Right number and mix of
Core Competencies members
Ability to do the job Members must be provided:
well Sufficient information
Education and training
Problem solving Requisite technical skills
ability Interpersonal & teamwork skills
Team Factors
Openness
Supportiveness
Action orientation
Positive personal style
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION 24
Team Effectiveness
Unified Commitment
Teams need a carefully designed and developed sense
of unity or identification (team spirit)
Collaborative Climate
Trust based on openness, honesty, consistency, and
respect
Integration of individual actions
Teams contribute to collective success by:
Coordinating individual contributions
Team leaders making communication safe
Team leaders demanding and rewarding collaborative behavior
Team leaders guiding the team’s problem-solving efforts
Team leaders managing their own control needs
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION 25
Team Effectiveness
Standards of Excellence
Regulated Performance
Facilitates task completion and coordinated action
Stimulates a positive pressure for members to
perform at highest levels
How Accomplished
Requiring results (clear expectations)
Reviewing results (feedback/resolve issues)
Rewarding results (acknowledge superior
performance)
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION 26
Team Effectiveness
External Support and Recognition
Regulated Performance
Teams supported by external resources are:
Given the material resources needed to do their jobs
Recognized for team accomplishments
Rewarded by tying those rewards to team members
performance, not individual achievement
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION 27
Principled Leadership influences team effectiveness
through four sets of processes (Zaccaro et al., 2001)
Cognitive - Facilitates team’s understanding of
problems confronting them
Motivational - Helps team become cohesive & capable
by setting high performance standards & helping team
to achieve them
Affective - Assists team in handling stressful
circumstances by providing clear goals, assignments, &
strategies
Integrative - Helps coordinate team’s activities
through matching member roles, clear performance
strategies, feedback, & adapting to environmental
changes
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION
How Does the Team Leadership
Approach Work?
Focus of Team Leadership
Strengths
Criticisms
Application
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION 29
Team Leadership
Model provides a cognitive map to identify group
needs and offers suggestions on appropriate
corrective actions
Model assists leader in making sense of the
complexity of groups and provides suggested
actions to improve group effectiveness
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION 30
Strengths
Provides answers to what constitutes excellent teams
Provides a cognitive guide that assists leaders in
designing and maintaining effective teams
Recognizes the changing role of leaders and followers
in organizations
Can be used as a tool in group leader selection
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION 31
Criticisms
Model is incomplete. Additional skills might be needed
May not be practical as the model is complex and doesn’t
provide easy answers for difficult leader decisions
Fails to consider teams that have distributed leadership,
where team members have a range of skills, and where
roles may change
More focus required on how to teach and provide skill
development in areas of diagnosis and action taking
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION 32
Application
Useful in leader decision making
Can be used as a team diagnostic tool
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION
Belbin’s Team Roles
