1. Team Leader Training I Got The Job!
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2. I Got The Job!
Ed’s Team Leader retired, and he applied for and got the Team Leader job. He is pleased with this move as he hopes to someday become a unit chief. He spent a couple of years as GS-12 right out of graduate school and four years as GS-13. He feels prepared for his new role. He works hard and efficiently, he is detail oriented, and when he does something, he does it right.
With his go-getter style, he wants his team to be the most productive in ARI. He feels like his team has excess capacity. He recently took advantage of contacts he’d developed over the years to take on some Technical Advisory Service and applied for some UFR and SBIR opportunities as well.

3. I Got The Job! (Continued)
Ed doesn’t want to burden his researchers too much, so he has been taking on a lot of this new work himself. Clearly, he is now working much harder than anyone on his team. In addition, he is continuing to execute the research project he was working on prior to becoming the Team Leader. He feels it is his responsibility to be thoroughly familiar with the actions his team members are taking on the projects they are working on. He wants to protect the reputation ARI has with its military sponsors, so he also handles all the contact with military sponsors for his team.

4. Question & Answer Session
Q1. How do you think his researchers view his approach to managing the team’s work? What are the pros and cons as they would see them?

5. Question & Answer Session
Q2. What steps can Ed take to develop subordinates on his team without taking undue risk that they will damage his team’s or ARI’s reputation while they are learning?

6. Question & Answer Session
Q3. Do his team members know how to perform the tasks they were assigned?

7. Q4. When is a ‘stretch assignment’ too much?
Question & Answer Session
Q4. When is a ‘stretch assignment’ too much?

8. Question & Answer Session
Q5. What are some of the signs to look for that might indicate he is being too critical or micromanaging his team?

9. Question & Answer Session
Q6. What do you think his researchers remember about his conversations with them?

10. Question & Answer Session
Q7. What are some of the behaviors you exhibit when you become overloaded?

11. Lessons Learned, Slide 1 of 3
Often one of the toughest things for new TLs is modifying or adapting the work habits that were successful for them as a researcher.
While being diligent and hard-working are good traits, they can veer toward either doing too much of the work themselves or toward micromanagement of others. Ed’s researchers may feel as though he does not trust them to do the work properly, or that he does not value the quality of their work.
His chief may see his behaviors as inconsistent with his current role. While maintaining research program activity is a positive thing for a TL, Ed cannot do it all nor should he.

12. Lessons Learned, Slide 2 of 3
You have to develop trust in your team’s ability. They cannot show you they are trustworthy if they are not given challenging assignments and allowed to work on them with an appropriate level of feedback from you. Excessive involvement on your part may impact their feelings of competence and could lead to resentment of your behaviors.
If you give someone a first assignment and they have difficulty with some aspects of it, how you handle the situation will set the tone for interacting with that person for a long time to come.

13. Lessons Learned, Slide 3 of 3
Balance trust in your people with reasonable amounts of review/oversight.
Always consider the long-term effects that a decision you make can have on the developmental progress of a team member.
It’s up to you to determine if you can afford for team members to make mistakes in the hands-on learning process of a challenging assignment. Your goal as a leader is to see them handle things on their own, do a great job, and feel great about their contribution to the team, ARI, and the Army.
Balance helping your team members accept responsibility for their shortcomings (if/when they happen) with stepping up and taking responsibility yourself if the assignment you gave them was a bridge too far or you didn’t prepare them to begin with.
Themes
Accepting Responsibility; Developing Subordinates; Perspective Taking