Resiliency in Leaders : Kelley School of Business X420 Discussion Session #63

The Resilient Team leader Teamwork is essential, but any group effort can degenerate into argument and anger….

Every career requires dealing with people … you cannot escape dealing with people problems….

How to Cope With it All Three areas of concern: 1. Yourself 2. Your Team 3. Difficult Personalities

Sometimes personalities clash or a co-worker is just having a bad day Occasionally, a co-worker’s personality can make most days bad days As a manager, or a key team member, your attitude and skills can build, preserve or destroy a team. First things first – you have to be ready to cope.

Attitude IS everything when it comes to dealing with any task, as well as difficult people or situations…. Your attitude is the key to dealing successfully with difficult people and situations on the job, or off….

 The “can do” attitude is fundamental 

You communicate attitude … …in three ways. ….the percentages….

Three general attitude types -- NEUTRAL NEGATIVE POSITIVE

How to do a personal “attitude adjustment”….  “Listen” to yourself  words  tone of voice  body language  Think good thoughts  Pursue happiness  Don’t “second guess” yourself

“Attitude maintenance”….  Start fresh every day  Clarify your purpose  Visualize your future  Express your feelings  Seek out positive influences

 SELF-AWARENESS  Mental  Physical Leaders who are consistently successful practice…

 OPENNESS  Attitude  Posture  Environment

 TRUTH and HONESTY  Words  Deeds

A flexible approach to internal team dynamics or the hurdles a team faces is essential.

The effective leader is self-aware, practicing openness and honesty as a leadership style…. BUILDING TRUST Trust builds a team….

BEWARE! As the “official” team leader, or as a key team member, there are many ways of committing “teamicide”. A short list of the most common teamicide techniques include:  Defensive management  Bureaucracy  Physical separation  Fragmentation of people’s time  Quality reduction of the product

Defensive management “People who feel untrusted have little inclination to bond together into a cooperative team.” “People who feel untrusted have little inclination to bond together into a cooperative team.” NOTE: All quotes taken from Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams, by Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister

Bureaucracy “ Mindless paper pushing is a waste.” It cripples productivity and team spirit. “ Mindless paper pushing is a waste.” It cripples productivity and team spirit.

Physical separation When what could be a tightly coherent team is scattered over floors or in different buildings, casual interactions are sacrificed. Casual interaction is essential to team formation When what could be a tightly coherent team is scattered over floors or in different buildings, casual interactions are sacrificed. Casual interaction is essential to team formation

Fragmentation of people’s time “Fragmentation is bad for team formation” and bad for efficiency. “Fragmentation is bad for team formation” and bad for efficiency.

Quality reduction of the team’s product Almost always referred to as a “cost-reduced” product, but even when the result is deemed acceptable (less quality for cheaper and earlier delivery), it can kill a team. Almost always referred to as a “cost-reduced” product, but even when the result is deemed acceptable (less quality for cheaper and earlier delivery), it can kill a team.

Teams made up of dynamic, creative individuals will almost always suffer from periods of conflict.

The Resilient Team leader: EVALUATION QUESTIONS USE: USE: –a. Strongly agree –b. Agree –c. Disagree –d. Strongly disagree –e. Don’t know 1.I found the presentation material easy to understand. 2. This Advantage session increased My knowledge of the subject presented. 3. I will be able to use some of the Information from this session in the future. 4. The presenter was well prepared for this Advantage session. 5. This presentation should be repeated in future semesters.