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How understanding team roles can improve team performance:

When a team is performing at its best, you’ll usually find that each team member has clear responsibilities. Just as importantly, you’ll normally see that every role needed to achieve the team’s goal is being performed fully and well.

But often, despite clear roles and responsibilities, a team will fall short of its full potential.

How often does this happen in the teams you work with? Perhaps some team members don’t complete what you expect them to do. Perhaps some team members are not quite flexible enough, so things ‘fall between the cracks’. Maybe someone who is valued for their expert input fails to see the wider picture, and so misses out tasks or steps that others would expect. Or perhaps one team member become frustrated because he or she disagrees with the approach of another team members.

Dr Meredith Belbin studied team-work for many years, and he famously observed that people in teams tend to assume different “team roles”. He defines a “team role” as “a tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others in a particular way” and named nine such team roles that underlie team success.

Creating More Balanced Teams:

Belbin suggests that, by understanding your team role within a particular team, you can develop your strengths and manage your weaknesses as a team member, and so improve how you contribute to the team.

Team leaders and team development practitioners often use the Belbin model to help create more balanced teams. Teams can become unbalanced if all team members have similar styles of behavior or team roles.

If team members have similar weakness, the team as a whole may tend to have that weakness. If team members have similar team-work strengths, they may tend to compete (rather than co-operate) for the team tasks and responsibilities that best suit their natural styles. So you can use the model with your team to help ensure that necessary team roles are covered, and that potential behavioral tensions or weaknesses among the team member are addressed.

Understanding Belbin’s Team Roles Model:

Belbin identified nine team roles and he categorized those roles into three groups: Action Oriented, People Oriented, and Thought Oriented. Each team role is associated with typical behavioral and interpersonal strengths.

Belbin also defined characteristic weaknesses that tend to accompany the team-role. He called the characteristic weaknesses of team-roles the “allowable” weaknesses; as for any behavioral weakness, these are areas to be aware of and potentially improve.

The nine team-roles are:

Action Oriented Roles:

Shapers (SH)
Shapers are people who challenge the team to improve. They are dynamic and usually extroverted people who enjoy stimulating others, questioning norms, and finding the best approaches to problems. The Shaper is the one who shakes things up to make sure that all possibilities are considered and that the team does not become complacent.

Shapers often see obstacles as exciting challenges and they tend to have the courage to push on when others feel like quitting.

Their potential weaknesses may be that they’re argumentative, and that they may offend people’s feelings.

Implementer (IMP)
Implementers are the people who get things done. They turn the team’s ideas and concepts into practical actions and plans. They are typically conservative, disciplined people who work systematically and efficiently and are very well organized. These are the people who you can count on to get the job done.

On the downside, Implementers may be inflexible and somewhat resistant to change.

Completer – Finisher (CF)
Completer-Finishers are the people who see that projects are completed thoroughly. They ensure there have been no errors or omissions and they pay attention to the smallest of details. They are very concerned with deadlines and will push the team to make sure the job is completed on time. They are described as perfectionists who are orderly, conscientious, and anxious.

However, a Completer-Finisher may worry unnecessarily and find it hard to delegate.

People Oriented Roles:

Coordinator (CO)
Coordinators are the ones who take on the traditional team-leader role and have also been referred to as the chairmen. They guide the team to what they perceive are the objectives. They are often excellent listeners and they are naturally able to recognize the value that each team members brings to the table. They are calm and good-natured and delegate tasks very effectively.

Their potential weaknesses are that they may delegate away too much personal responsibility, and may tend to be manipulative.

Team Worker (TW)
Team Workers are the people who provide support and make sure the team is working together. These people fill the role of negotiators within the team and they are flexible, diplomatic, and perceptive. These tend to be popular people who are very capable in their own right but who prioritize team cohesion and helping people getting along.

Their weaknesses may be a tendency to be indecisive, and maintain uncommitted positions during discussions and decision-making.

Resource Investigator (RI)
Resource Investigators are innovative and curious. They explore available options, develop contacts, and negotiate for resources on behalf of the team. They are enthusiastic team members, who identify and work with external stakeholders to help the team accomplish its objective. They are outgoing and are often extroverted, meaning that others are often receptive to them and their ideas.

On the downside, they may lose enthusiasm quickly, and are often overly optimistic.

Thought Oriented Roles:

Plant (PL)
The Plant is the creative innovator who comes up with new ideas and approaches. They thrive on praise but criticism is especially hard for them to deal with. Plants are often introverted and prefer to work apart from the team. Because their ideas are so novel, they can be impractical at times. They may also be poor communicators and can tend to ignore given parameters and constraints.

Monitor – Evaluator (ME)
Monitor-Evaluators are best at analyzing and evaluating ideas that other people (often Plants) come up with. These people are shrewd and objective and they carefully weigh the pros and cons of all the options before coming to a decision.

Monitor-Evaluators are critical thinkers and very strategic in their approach. They are often perceived as detached or unemotional. Sometimes they are poor motivators who react to events rather than instigating them

Specialist (SP)
Specialists are people who have specialized knowledge that is needed to get the job done. They pride themselves on their skills and abilities, and they work to maintain their professional status. Their job within the team is to be an expert in the area, and they commit themselves fully to their field of expertise. This may limit their contribution, and lead to a preoccupation with technicalities at the expense of the bigger picture.

Figure 1: Belbin’s Team Roles:

How to use the Tool:

The Belbin Team Roles Model can be used in several ways: You can use it to think about team balance before a project starts, you can use it to highlight and so manage interpersonal differences within an existing team, and you can use it to develop yourself as a team player.

The tool below helps you analyze team membership, using the Belbin team roles as checks for potential strengths and weakness.

Use Belbin’s model to analyze your team, and as a guide as you develop your team’s strengths, and manage its weaknesses:

1. Over a period of time, observe the individual members of your team, and see how they behave, contribute and behave within the team.
2. Now list the members of the team, and for each person write down the key strengths and characteristics you have observed. (You may also want to note down any observed weaknesses).
3. Compare each person’s listed strengths and weakness with the Belbin’s descriptions of team-roles, and note the one that most accurately describes that person.
4. Once you have done this for each team member, consider the following questions:
   Which team roles are missing from your team? And from this, ask yourself which strengths are likely to be missing from the team overall?
   • Is there are prevalent team role that many of the team members share?
5. Once you have identified potential weakness, areas of conflict and missing strengths, consider the options you have to improve and change this.Consider:
6. Whether an existing team member could compensate by purposefully adopting different a team role. With awareness and intention, this is sometimes possible.
7. Whether one or more team members could improve how they work together and with others to avoid potential conflict of their natural styles.
8. Whether new skills need to brought onto the team to cover weaknesses.

Read more @ http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_83.htm

How motivated are you to lead?

The first and most basic prerequisite for leadership is the desire to lead. After all, becoming an effective leader takes hard work. If you’re not prepared to work hard at developing your leadership skills or if, deep down, you’re really not sure whether you want to lead or not, you’ll struggle to become an effective leader.

Are you motivated to lead? This assessment helps you find the answer.

How to Use the tool:

To use this tool, show the extent to which you agree with each of the following statements on a scale running from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree).

For each question, click the button in the column that most applies. Then add up your score and check your result using the scoring table underneath.

Score Interpretation:

Source: This set of questions was constructed for this self-assessment and for illustrative purposes only. No prior validation work has been conducted that enables us to address the construct validity of this assessment. This self-assessment was patterned after that of A. J. DuBrin in Leadership: Research Findings, Practice and Skills (2nd edition) (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1998). Pp. 10-11.

Read more @ http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_01.htm

Resolving conflict rationally and effectively:

In many cases, conflict in the workplace just seems to be a fact of life. We’ve all seen situations where different people with different goals and needs have come into conflict. And we’ve all seen the often-intense personal animosity that can result.

The fact that conflict exists, however, is not necessarily a bad thing: As long as it is resolved effectively, it can lead to personal and professional growth.

In many cases, effective conflict resolution skills can make the difference between positive and negative outcomes.

The good news is that by resolving conflict successfully, you can solve many of the problems that it has brought to the surface, as well as getting benefits that you might not at first expect:

• Increased understanding: The discussion needed to resolve conflict expands people’s awareness of the situation, giving them an insight into how they can achieve their own goals without undermining those of other people;
• Increased group cohesion: When conflict is resolved effectively, team members can develop stronger mutual respect, and a renewed faith in their ability to work together; and
• Improved self-knowledge: Conflict pushes individuals to examine their goals in close detail, helping them understand the things that are most important to them, sharpening their focus, and enhancing their effectiveness.

However, if conflict is not handled effectively, the results can be damaging. Conflicting goals can quickly turn into personal dislike. Teamwork breaks down. Talent is wasted as people disengage from their work. And it’s easy to end up in a vicious downward spiral of negativity and recrimination.

If you’re to keep your team or organization working effectively, you need to stop this downward spiral as soon as you can. To do this, it helps to understand two of the theories that lie behind effective conflict resolution techniques:

Understanding the Theory : Conflict Styles:

In the 1970s Kenneth Thomas and Ralph Kilmann identified five main styles of dealing with conflict that vary in their degrees of cooperativeness and assertiveness. They argued that people typically have a preferred conflict resolution style. However they also noted that different styles were most useful in different situations. The Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI) helps you to identify which style you tend towards when conflict arises.

Thomas and Kilmann’s styles are:

Competitive: People who tend towards a competitive style take a firm stand, and know what they want. They usually operate from a position of power, drawn from things like position, rank, expertise, or persuasive ability. This style can be useful when there is an emergency and a decision needs to be make fast; when the decision is unpopular; or when defending against someone who is trying to exploit the situation selfishly. However it can leave people feeling bruised, unsatisfied and resentful when used in less urgent situations.

Collaborative: People tending towards a collaborative style try to meet the needs of all people involved. These people can be highly assertive but unlike the competitor, they cooperate effectively and acknowledge that everyone is important. This style is useful when a you need to bring together a variety of viewpoints to get the best solution; when there have been previous conflicts in the group; or when the situation is too important for a simple trade-off.

Compromising: People who prefer a compromising style try to find a solution that will at least partially satisfy everyone. Everyone is expected to give up something, and the compromiser him- or herself also expects to relinquish something. Compromise is useful when the cost of conflict is higher than the cost of losing ground, when equal strength opponents are at a standstill and when there is a deadline looming.

Accommodating: This style indicates a willingness to meet the needs of others at the expense of the person’s own needs. The accommodator often knows when to give in to others, but can be persuaded to surrender a position even when it is not warranted. This person is not assertive but is highly cooperative. Accommodation is appropriate when the issues matter more to the other party, when peace is more valuable than winning, or when you want to be in a position to collect on this “favor” you gave. However people may not return favors, and overall this approach is unlikely to give the best outcomes.

Avoiding: People tending towards this style seek to evade the conflict entirely. This style is typified by delegating controversial decisions, accepting default decisions, and not wanting to hurt anyone’s feelings. It can be appropriate when victory is impossible, when the controversy is trivial, or when someone else is in a better position to solve the problem. However in many situations this is a weak and ineffective approach to take.

Once you understand the different styles, you can use them to think about the most appropriate approach (or mixture of approaches) for the situation you’re in. You can also think about your own instinctive approach, and learn how you need to change this if necessary.

Ideally you can adopt an approach that meets the situation, resolves the problem, respects people’s legitimate interests, and mends damaged working relationships.

Understanding the Theory : The “Interest – Based Relational Approach”

The second theory is commonly referred to as the “Interest-Based Relational (IBR) Approach”. This conflict resolution strategy respects individual differences while helping people avoid becoming too entrenched in a fixed position.

In resolving conflict using this approach, you follow these rules:

• Make sure that good relationships are the first priority: As far as possible, make sure that you treat the other calmly and that you try to build mutual respect. Do your best to be courteous to one-another and remain constructive under pressure;
• Keep people and problems separate: Recognize that in many cases the other person is not just “being difficult” – real and valid differences can lie behind conflictive positions. By separating the problem from the person, real issues can be debated without damaging working relationships;
• Pay attention to the interests that are being presented: By listening carefully you’ll most-likely understand why the person is adopting his or her position;
• Listen first; talk second: To solve a problem effectively you have to understand where the other person is coming from before defending your own position;
• Set out the “Facts”: Agree and establish the objective, observable elements that will have an impact on the decision; and
• Explore options together: Be open to the idea that a third position may exist, and that you can get to this idea jointly.

By following these rules, you can often keep contentious discussions positive and constructive. This helps to prevent the antagonism and dislike which so-often causes conflict to spin out of control.

Using the tool : A Conflict Resolution Process:

Based on these approaches, a starting point for dealing with conflict is to identify the overriding conflict style employed by yourself, your team or your organization.

Over time, people’s conflict management styles tend to mesh, and a “right” way to solve conflict emerges. It’s good to recognize when this style can be used effectively, however make sure that people understand that different styles may suit different situations.

Look at the circumstances, and think about the style that may be appropriate.

Then use the process below to resolve the conflict:

Step One: Set the Scene
If appropriate to the situation, agree the rules of the IBR Approach (or at least consider using the approach yourself.) Make sure that people understand that the conflict may be a mutual problem, which may be best resolved through discussion and negotiation rather than through raw aggression.

If you are involved in the conflict, emphasize the fact that you are presenting your perception of the problem. Use active listening skills to ensure you hear and understand other’s positions and perceptions.

• Restate
• Paraphrase
• Summarize

And make sure that when you talk, you’re using an adult, assertive approach rather than a submissive or aggressive style.

Step Two: Gather Information
Here you are trying to get to the underlying interests, needs, and concerns. Ask for the other person’s viewpoint and confirm that you respect his or her opinion and need his or her cooperation to solve the problem.

Try to understand his or her motivations and goals, and see how your actions may be affecting these.

Also, try to understand the conflict in objective terms: Is it affecting work performance? damaging the delivery to the client? disrupting team work? hampering decision-making? or so on. Be sure to focus on work issues and leave personalities out of the discussion.

• Listen with empathy and see the conflict from the other person’s point of view
• Identify issues clearly and concisely
• Use “I” statements
• Remain flexible
• Clarify feelings

Step Three: Agree the Problem
This sounds like an obvious step, but often different underlying needs, interests and goals can cause people to perceive problems very differently. You’ll need to agree the problems that you are trying to solve before you’ll find a mutually acceptable solution.

Sometimes different people will see different but interlocking problems – if you can’t reach a common perception of the problem, then at the very least, you need to understand what the other person sees as the problem.

Step Four: Brainstorm Possible Solutions
If everyone is going to feel satisfied with the resolution, it will help if everyone has had fair input in generating solutions. Brainstorm possible solutions, and be open to all ideas, including ones you never considered before.

Step Five: Negotiate a Solution

By this stage, the conflict may be resolved: Both sides may better understand the position of the other, and a mutually satisfactory solution may be clear to all.

However you may also have uncovered real differences between your positions. This is where a technique like win-win negotiation can be useful to find a solution that, at least to some extent, satisfies everyone.

There are three guiding principles here: Be Calm, Be Patient, Have Respect…

Summary:

Conflict in the workplace can be incredibly destructive to good teamwork. Managed in the wrong way, real and legitimate differences between people can quickly spiral out of control, resulting in situations where co-operation breaks down and the team’s mission is threatened. This is particularly the case where the wrong approaches to conflict resolution are used.

To calm these situations down, it helps to take a positive approach to conflict resolution, where discussion is courteous and non-confrontational, and the focus is on issues rather than on individuals. If this is done, then, as long as people listen carefully and explore facts, issues and possible solutions properly, conflict can often be resolved effectively.

Read more @ http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_81.htm

Coaching team members to improve performance:

One key role of any leader is to coach team members to achieve their best. As “coach”, you will typically help your team members to solve problems, make better decisions, learn new skills or otherwise progress in their role or career.

Whilst some leaders are fortunate enough to get formal training as coaches, many are not. They have to develop coaching skills for themselves.

Now this may sound daunting. But if you arm yourself with some of proven techniques, find opportunities to practice and learn to trust your instincts, you can become a better coach, and so enhance your team’s performance.

One proven approach that helps with this it the GROW model. GROW is an acronym standing for Goal – Current Reality – Options – Will. The model is a simple yet powerful framework for structuring a coaching session.

A useful metaphor for the GROW model is the plan you might make for an important journey. First, you start with a the map: With this, you help your team member decide where they are going (their Goal) and establish where they currently are (their Current Reality). Then you explore various ways (the Options) of making the journey. In the final step, establishing the Will, you ensure your team member is committed to making the journey and is prepared for the conditions and obstacles they may meet on their way.

How to Use the tool:

Use the following steps to structure a coaching session:

1. Establish the Goal:
   First, with your team member, you must define and agree the goal or outcome to be achieved. You should help your team member define a goal that is specific, measurable and realistic.

   In doing this, it is useful to ask questions like:

   “How will you know that you have achieved that goal?”
   “How will you know the problem is solved?”

2. Examine Current Reality:
   Next, ask your team member to describe their Current Reality. This is a very important step: Too often, people try to solve a problem without fully considering their starting point, and often they are missing some of the information they need to solve the problem effectively.

   As the team member tells you about his or her Current Reality, the solution may start to emerge.

   Useful coaching questions include:

   “What is happening now?”
   “What, who, when, how often”
   “What is the effect or result of that?”

3. Explore the Options:
   Once you and your team member have explored the Current Reality, it’s time to explore what is possible – meaning, all the many possible options you have for solving the problem. Help your team member generate as many good options as possible, and discuss these.

   By all means, offer your own suggestions. But let your team member offer his or hers first, and let him or her do most of the talking.

   Typical questions used to establish the options are:

   “What else could you do?”
   “What if this or that constraint were removed?
   “What are the benefits and downsides of each option?”
   “What factors will you use to weigh up the options?

4. Establish the Will:
   By examining Current Reality and exploring the Options, your team member will now have a good idea of how he or she can achieve their Goal. That’s great – but in itself, this may not be enough! So your final step as coach is to get you team member to commit to specific action. In so doing, you will help the team member establish his or her will and motivation.

   Useful questions:

   “So what will you do now . and when?
   “What could stop you moving forward?”
   “And how will you overcome it?”
   “Will this address your goal?”
   “How likely is this option to succeed?”
   “What else will you do?”

Read more @ http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_89.htm

Who do you consider to be a good leader? Maybe it’s a politician, a famous businessperson, or a religious figure. Or maybe it’s someone you know personally – like your boss, a teacher, or a friend.

You can find people in leadership roles almost everywhere you look. However, simply having the responsibilities of a leader doesn’t necessarily make a person an effective leader. This is a shame because, with a little study, humility and hard work, all of us can learn how to lead effectively.

So, how can you bring your leadership skills to tip-top condition?

You can start by analyzing your performance in specific areas of leadership. Complete the quiz below to help you identify where you already lead effectively, and where your skills need further development. In the analysis sections underneath, we’ll direct you to the resources you need for exceptional leadership.

How Good Are Your Leadership Skills?

Instructions: For each statement, click the button in the column that most applies. Click the ‘Calculate My Total’ button to add up your score and check your result using the scoring table underneath.

© Mind Tools Ltd, 1995-2010.

Score Interpretation

There are many leadership skills and competencies that, when combined and applied, go toward making you an effective leader. You have the ability to develop each of these skills within yourself. Read on for specific ideas on how you can improve your leadership skill.

Personal Characteristics:

Successful leaders tend to have certain traits. Two keys areas of personal growth and development are fundamental to leadership success: self-confidence, and a positive attitude.

Self-confident people are usually inspiring, and people like to be around individuals who believe in themselves and what they’re doing. Likewise, if you’re a positive and optimistic person who tries to make the best of any situation, you’ll find it much easier to motivate people to do their best.

Self-Confidence (Questions 2,

Self-confidence is built by mastering significant skills and situations, and by knowing that you can add real value by the work you do. One of the best ways to improve your confidence is to become aware of all of the things you’ve already achieved.

Our article on Building Self-Confidence explains what you can do to understand yourself better and build your self-confidence. From there, you’ll begin to make the most of your strengths and improve your weaknesses. Career Excellence Club members can explore this further with our Bite-Sized Training session on Personal SWOT Analysis.

Positive Attitude and Outlook (Questions 10, 17)

A positive mindset is also associated with strong leadership. However, being positive is much more than presenting a happy face to the world: you need to develop a strong sense of balance, and recognize that setbacks and problems happen – it’s how you deal with those problems that makes the difference.

Positive people approach situations realistically, prepared to make the changes necessary to overcome a problem. Negative people, on the other hand, often give in to the stress and pressure of the situation. This can lead to fear, worry, distress, anger and failure.

Stress management techniques, including getting enough Rest, Relaxation and Sleep as well as physical exercise, are great ways of getting rid of negative thoughts and feelings. Understanding your thinking patterns, and learning to identify and eliminate negative thinking are key. You can learn how to do this in our article on Rational Positive Thinking, and Career Excellence Club premium members you can find out how to become more optimistic in our Book Insight on Learned Optimism.

Emotional Intelligence:

(Questions 5, 15)

The concept of emotional intelligence used to be referred to as “soft skills,” “character”, or even “communication skills”. The more recent idea of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) offers a more precise understanding of a specific kind of human talent. EQ is the ability to recognize feelings – your own and those of others – and manage those emotions to create strong relationships.

Learning to develop Empathy is essential for emotional intelligence, as is communicating effectively, and practicing Empathic Listening. These all help you really understand the other person’s perspective.

Transformational Leadership:

Transformational leadership is a leadership style where leaders create an inspiring vision of the future, motivate their followers to achieve it, manage implementation successfully, and develop the members of their teams to be even more effective in the future. We explore these dimensions below.

Providing a Compelling Vision of the Future (Questions 6, 14)

This is your ability to create a Vision of the Future, and to present this vision in a way that’s compelling and inspiring to the people you lead.

The first part of being able to do this is having a thorough knowledge of the area you’re operating in. See our Bite-Sized Training session on Building Expert Power to find out how to develop this.

From there, good use of strategic analysis techniques can help you gain the key insights you need into the environment you’re operating in, and into the needs of your clients. See the Career Excellence Club Strategy Menu for more than 50 powerful techniques that give you these insights.

With these tools, you can identify the challenges you face and identify the options available to you. Good use of Prioritization Skills and Decision-Making Techniques will help you identify your best strategic options, and validate your chosen way forward.

Finally, to sell your vision, you need the ability to create a compelling and interesting story. Our article on Powers of Persuasion can help you open closed minds, so that people consider your ideas fairly. Another great way of inspiring people is to use vivid stories to explain your vision: Career Excellence Club premium members can find out more about this in our Expert Interview with Annette Simmons, titled Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins.
Motivating People to Deliver the Vision (Questions 9, 12)

This is closely related to creating and selling a vision. You must be able to convince others to accept the objectives you’ve set. Emphasize teamwork, and recognize that when people work together, they can achieve great things. To provide effective leadership by linking performance and team goals, use Management by Objectives (MBO) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

Ultimately, goal acceptance is about finding ways to motivate people. To better understand your ability to motivate, complete our quiz How Good Are Your Motivation Skills?, and explore our articles on Herzberg’s Motivators and Hygiene Factors, and Sirota’s Three Factor Theory.
Managing Performance Effectively (Questions 3, 13)

Effective leaders manage performance by setting their expectations clearly and concisely. When everyone knows what’s expected, it’s much easier to get high performance. There’s little uncertainty, therefore you can deal with performance issues quickly. And if things have already started to slide, our article on Re-Engaging Team Members offers some excellent tips for turning a negative situation back to a positive one.

As you create rules, help the team understand Why the Rules Are There. Involve them in the rule-making process, and make sure your expectations align with the resources and support available. Apply rules fairly and consistently.
Providing Support and Stimulation (Questions 1, 7, 16, 18)

The last two dimensions of transformational leadership require you to commit to developing your people. To be highly motivated at work, people usually need more than a list of tasks to be completed each day. They need challenges and interesting work. They need to develop their skills, and feel supported in their efforts to do a good job.

Think about your approach to Task Allocation, and look for opportunities to match people with jobs and responsibilities that will help them grow and develop. Use Heron’s Six Categories of Intervention to help you decide when and how to help team members for maximum effectiveness. Perform Training Needs Assessments on a regular basis to determine what your team needs to be successful. Remember that emotional support is also important. The Blake-Mouton Managerial Grid is a great tool for thinking about the right balance between concern for people, and productivity.

Key Points:

To be successful in your career, regardless of your title or position, focus on developing your leadership skills.

Effective leaders can add value simply by being present on teams. They are inspirational and motivating. They know the right things to say to people to help them understand what’s needed, and they can convince people to support a cause.

When you have talented and effective leaders in your organization, you’re well on your way to success. Develop these leadership skills in yourself and in your team members – and you’ll see the performance and productivity of your entire team improve.

Read more @ http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_50.htm

THE Stephen E. Ambrose book which was made into an HBO mini series, Band of Brothers, took its name from this most famous of speeches delivered by King Henry V in the Shakespeare play bearing the monarch’s name.

The book and mini-series follow the exploits of a group of men — Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Air borne Division (the “Screaming Eagles”) of the United States army — from training in the US to D-Day in Normandy on June 6, 1944, right up to the day World War 2 ended.

One of the more important battles fought by Easy Company took place on D-Day itself, in a field near Brecourt Manor.
A small group of men led by Lt Richard Winters destroyed three of four German artillery pieces threatening Utah beach (the codename for one of the beaches where the Allies made their landings). The fourth was taken out by another company.

The attack on the artillery pieces, which were protected by a host of German soldiers who had a number of machine guns, was carried out in textbook manner and is to this day studied by cadets in US military schools. It showed what teamwork can do.

Teamwork should never be under estimated. Look at the Spanish national football team that just won the Fifa World Cup in South Africa. There were some great individual players. Yet, it was the players’ performance as a team which eventually proved the downfall of all their opponents.
The much-vaunted German side, which thrice scored four goals in a game, fell to the teamwork of the Spaniards in the semi-finals. And it was teamwork and unity again which saw Spain win the final, albeit in extra time.

It was obvious the Netherlands side had wanted to disrupt this teamwork. The tackles were flying in and the number of fouls committed (and yellow cards flashed) grew ever skyward. But the Spaniards, all credit to them, never let their emotions get to them.

The only incident which marred their game, which referee Howard Webb left unpunished, was when eventual match-winner Andres Iniesta lashed out at a Dutch player for what he perceived was a foul on himself. The Spaniards continued playing as a team despite everything they faced and this was what won them their country’s first World Cup, only the eighth country ever to do so.
For the statisticians among us, an other proof of how teamwork played such a part in Spain’s success was that they stringed together the most number of passes (3,803) of any team. Compare this with o New Zealand, the team with the least number of passes, which, at 663, is six fewer less than the number of passes played by Spain’s Xavi Hernandez.

by Leslie Andres.

Read more @ http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/Theimportanceofteamwork/Article/

A SCHOOL teacher one day spots a scribbled paper from her son and suddenly gets emotional. Her husband, who had just walked in, saw her crying and asked why. She quickly shows her husband the essay and asks him to read it. The husband reads it, thinking it is a homework assignment of one of her students. The essay goes as follows:

Dear God,

Grant me a favour. Please make me into a television. I want to take the place of the TV in my house and I want to have my family around ME. To be taken seriously when I talk.

I want to be the centre of attention and be heard without interruptions or questions. I want to receive the same special care that the TV receives even when it is not working. I want to have the company of my dad when he arrives home from work, even when he is tired. And I want my mom to want me when she is sad and upset, instead of ignoring me.

I want my brother and sister to fight to be with me. I want the whole family just to spend some time with me. And lastly, I want to make my family all happy and entertain them, just like the TV. Please grant me this wish to be a TV.

At that moment the husband paused and said, “Poor kid! What horrible parents he has!’

The wife looked up at him and said, “That essay is our son’s work!”

Many businesses are just like this family who care more about their TV sets than their kids. Many businesses have leaders who hardly spend time with their employees and are shocked and surprised when their top talents leave their organisations. Just like the frustrated kid lacking attention, care and focus, your top employees similarly crave your attention, care and focus.

A Conference Board survey reported 55% of workers are unhappy with their jobs and bosses. Another study finds that “two out of three employees would rather work elsewhere” as they were disappointed, especially with their boss’ lack of care.

This is alarming as most organisations rely heavily on their people than on any other resource. In the old world, employees needed the company far more than the company needed the employee. But today, many employees know far more than their bosses do and you need to have an engaged, committed workforce to succeed.

Jack Welch, voted Manager of the Century, understood the value of engaging with his workforce. He spent more than 40% of his time internally with his people – teaching them, reviewing his people, talking to them, and even learning from them. And even though he was always busy with the chores of being a CEO, he never missed his teaching sessions or his employee roundtable sessions.

At Leaderonomics, we’ve realised that the relationship with our talent is a strategic alliance and that our top performers can leave the company anytime. But we know it’s the non-monetary benefits that keep them. At the heart of the matter, most people stay if they are engaged. And these four basic engagement steps will ensure your employees (and your family too!) is engaged to achieve your goals:

1. Know Me
2. Focus Me
3. Care For Me
4. Grow Me

by Roshan Thiran.

Read more @ http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2010%2F7%2F10%2Fbusiness%2F6630019&sec=business

Douglas McGregor, an American social psychologist, proposed his famous X-Y theory in his 1960 book ‘The Human Side Of Enterprise’. Theory x and theory y are still referred to commonly in the field of management and motivation, and whilst more recent studies have questioned the rigidity of the model, Mcgregor’s X-Y Theory remains a valid basic principle from which to develop positive management style and techniques. McGregor’s XY Theory remains central to organizational development, and to improving organizational culture.

McGregor’s X-Y theory is a salutary and simple reminder of the natural rules for managing people, which under the pressure of day-to-day business are all too easily forgotten.

McGregor maintained that there are two fundamental approaches to managing people. Many managers tend towards theory x, and generally get poor results. Enlightened managers use theory y, which produces better performance and results, and allows people to grow and develop.

Theory X (‘Authoritarian Management’ Style)

• The average person dislikes work and will avoid it he/she can.
• Therefore most people must be forced with the threat of punishment to work towards organisational objectives.
• The average person prefers to be directed; to avoid responsibility; is relatively unambitious, and wants security above all else.

Theory Y (‘Participative Management” Style).

• Effort in work is as natural as work and play.
• People will apply self-control and self-direction in the pursuit of organisational objectives, without external control or the threat of punishment.
• Commitment to objectives is a function of rewards associated with their achievement.
• People usually accept and often seek responsibility.
• The capacity to use a high degree of imagination, ingenuity and creativity in solving organisational problems is widely, not narrowly, distributed in the population.
• In industry the intellectual potential of the average person is only partly utilised.

Characteristics of the X Theory Manager:

What are the characteristics of a Theory X manager? Typically some, most or all of these:

• results-driven and deadline-driven, to the exclusion of everything else
• intolerant
• issues deadlines and ultimatums
• distant and detached
• aloof and arrogant
• elitist
• short temper
• shouts
• issues instructions, directions, edicts
• issues threats to make people follow instructions
• demands, never asks
• does not participate
• does not team-build
• unconcerned about staff welfare, or morale
• proud, sometimes to the point of self-destruction
• one-way communicator
• poor listener
• fundamentally insecure and possibly neurotic
• anti-social
• vengeful and recriminatory
• does not thank or praise
• withholds rewards, and suppresses pay and remunerations levels
• scrutinises expenditure to the point of false economy
• seeks culprits for failures or shortfalls
• seeks to apportion blame instead of focusing on learning from the experience and preventing recurrence
• does not invite or welcome suggestions
• takes criticism badly and likely to retaliate if from below or peer group
• poor at proper delegating – but believes they delegate well
• thinks giving orders is delegating
• holds on to responsibility but shifts accountability to subordinates
• relatively unconcerned with investing in anything to gain future improvements
• unhappy

How to Manage Upwards – Managing Your X Theory Boss:

Working for an X theory boss isn’t easy – some extreme X theory managers make extremely unpleasant managers, but there are ways of managing these people upwards. Avoiding confrontation (unless you are genuinely being bullied, which is a different matter) and delivering results are the key tactics.

• Theory X managers (or indeed theory Y managers displaying theory X behaviour) are primarily results oriented – so orientate your your own discussions and dealings with them around results – ie what you can deliver and when.
• Theory X managers are facts and figures oriented – so cut out the incidentals, be able to measure and substantiate anything you say and do for them, especially reporting on results and activities.
• Theory X managers generally don’t understand or have an interest in the human issues, so don’t try to appeal to their sense of humanity or morality. Set your own objectives to meet their organisational aims and agree these with the managers; be seen to be self-starting, self-motivating, self-disciplined and well-organised – the more the X theory manager sees you are managing yourself and producing results, the less they’ll feel the need to do it for you.
• Always deliver your commitments and promises. If you are given an unrealistic task and/or deadline state the reasons why it’s not realistic, but be very sure of your ground, don’t be negative; be constructive as to how the overall aim can be achieved in a way that you know you can deliver.
• Stand up for yourself, but constructively – avoid confrontation. Never threaten or go over their heads if you are dissatisfied or you’ll be in big trouble afterwards and life will be a lot more difficult.
• If an X theory boss tells you how to do things in ways that are not comfortable or right for you, then don’t questioning the process, simply confirm the end-result that is required, and check that it’s okay to ’streamline the process’ or ‘get things done more efficiently’ if the chance arises – they’ll normally agree to this, which effectively gives you control over the ‘how’, provided you deliver the ‘what’ and ‘when’.

Theory Z – William Ouchi:

First things first – Theory Z is not a Mcgregor idea and as such is not Mcgregor’s extension of his XY theory.

Theory Z was developed by not by Mcgregor, but by William Ouchi, in his book 1981 ‘Theory Z: How American management can Meet the Japanese Challenge’. William Ouchi is professor of management at UCLA, Los Angeles, and a board member of several large US organisations.

Theory Z is often referred to as the ‘Japanese’ management style, which is essentially what it is. It’s interesting that Ouchi chose to name his model ‘Theory Z’, which apart from anything else tends to give the impression that it’s a Mcgregor idea. One wonders if the idea was not considered strong enough to stand alone with a completely new name… Nevertheless, Theory Z essentially advocates a combination of all that’s best about theory Y and modern Japanese management, which places a large amount of freedom and trust with workers, and assumes that workers have a strong loyalty and interest in team-working and the organisation.

Theory Z also places more reliance on the attitude and responsibilities of the workers, whereas Mcgregor’s XY theory is mainly focused on management and motivation from the manager’s and organisation’s perspective. There is no doubt that Ouchi’s Theory Z model offers excellent ideas, albeit it lacking the simple elegance of Mcgregor’s model, which let’s face it, thousands of organisations and managers around the world have still yet to embrace. For this reason, Theory Z may for some be like trying to manage the kitchen at the Ritz before mastering the ability to cook a decent fried breakfast.

Source and further reading:

http://www.businessballs.com/mcgregor.htm

“People ask the difference between a leader and a boss…. The leader works in the open, and the boss in covert. The leader leads and the boss drives.” (Theodore Roosevelt)

“The marksman hitteth the target partly by pulling, partly by letting go. The boatsman reacheth the landing partly by pulling, partly by letting go.” (Egyptian proverb)

“No man is fit to command another that cannot command himself.” (William Penn)

“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” (President Harry S Truman)

“I not only use all the brains I have, but all I can borrow.” (Woodrow Wilson)

“What should it profit a man if he would gain the whole world yet lose his soul.” (The Holy Bible, Mark 8:36)

“A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline.” (Harvey Mackay)

“Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple, learn how to look after them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.” (John Steinbeck)

“I keep six honest serving-men, They taught me all I knew; Their names are What and Why and When, And How and Where and Who.” (Rudyard Kipling, from ‘Just So Stories’, 1902.)

“A dwarf standing on the shoulders of a giant may see farther than the giant himself.” (Didacus Stella, circa AD60 – and, as a matter of interest, abridged on the edge of an English £2 coin)

“Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.” (Samuel Johnson 1709-84)

“The most important thing in life is not to capitalise on your successes – any fool can do that. The really important thing is to profit from your mistakes.” (William Bolitho, from ‘Twelve against the Gods’)

“Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be, For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance, I have not winced nor cried aloud: Under the bludgeonings of chance my head is bloody but unbowed . . . . . It matters not how strait the gait, how charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.” (WE Henley, 1849-1903, from ‘Invictus’)

“Everybody can get angry – that’s easy. But getting angry at the right person, with the right intensity, at the right time, for the right reason and in the right way – that’s hard.” (Aristotle)

“Management means helping people to get the best out of themselves, not organising things.” (Lauren Appley)

“It’s not the critic who counts, not the one who points out how the strong man stumbled or how the doer of deeds might have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred with the sweat and dust and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause and who, at best knows the triumph of high achievement and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” (Theodore Roosevelt.)

“Behind an able man there are always other able men.” (Chinese Proverb.)

“I praise loudly. I blame softly.” (Catherine the Great, 1729-1796.)

“Experto Credite.” (“Trust one who has proved it.” Virgil, 2,000 years ago.)

Source:

http://www.businessballs.com/leadership.htm