In my earlier blog post about various leadership styles, I mentioned that I would be writing more about the mindset that the leaders & teams would go through during various situation and sequences. So, here, in this article I am taking the opportunity to write more about that.
Lets quickly remind ourselves, the sequences we played in the earlier article and situation we had.
Tom, played the character of the Leader. Jerry, represents the team.
Now look at, and compare, how each one would have felt during the sequences we reviewed earlier.
Sequence 1 was about Tom pushing Jerry and and Jerry resists. Jerry needs to keep the balance but should not push back.
Sequence 1LeaderTeamWhat do you get out of the situation ?Gets satisfaction of driving the show. Feels happy to push. Does not think of ‘how’ part of work, but always demanding towards the result.Initially starts resisting. Silent resistance for sometime. Give up hope and thinks the leader is always unfair.Job gets done. Employee dissatisfaction. Not a long term solution. Less growth opportunities, less comfort. E.g., Useful in emergency or crisis situations.
Sequence 2 was about Tom & Jerry both push each other and both needs to keep balance.
Sequence 2LeaderTeamWhat do you get out of the situation ?Wonders why the team is pushing back. Sometimes ego gets hurt. Feels confusion or irritation with resistance from Team. Gets uncomfortable.Feels good to resist the leader. Gets a feeling on being on equal footing. Sense of happiness initially, but turns to discomfort later on.New ideas ! Conflict situations / Deadlocks Loss of efficiency Not a long term solution Both parties feel stress / discomfort E.g., Useful in brainstorming situations.
Sequence 3 mentioned about Tom doing various hand movements, that Jerry was to follow up accurately.
Sequence 3LeaderTeamWhat do you get out of the situation ?Sense of freedom to start with, however soon losing direction No commitment / disengaged leader No boundaries / control over flow of work / scope Ends up with ‘Why am I doing it?’Sense of freedom to start with, looks easy to coordinate with leader Soon starts to wonder, where are we going ? Things look out of control Gives up hope and thinks the leader is not in line with team.Extremes and alternate solutions are likely to come out Mostly directionless team Cluelessness to Leader & Team both No relationship built up with team & leader E.g., Useful while exploring in unknowns or uncertain areas.
Sequence 4 was about Tom & Jerry doing random hand movements in coordination and taking turns to lead.
Sequence 4LeaderTeamWhat do you get out of the situation ?Makes the work simpler to understand Feels part of team and grows the engagement Work coordination happens in sync Feels less work pressure and freedomFeels more responsible Enjoys following and experiencing leadership Feels comfortable and less stressed Experiences mutual understandingShared accountabilities High quality job will be done Grooming up of next level will happen More engaged / trusted relationship Requires some iterations to get in ‘sync’ Sense of ease and comfort feeling develops Includes risk and requires time & investment from leaders E.g., Useful in day to day work, factory model working, building teams etc.,
Interesting read ?
Various leadership styles are required in various situations. However, one must understand that there is no set guideline of how a leader should behave in every situation, and I am sure you would have known this by now after reading above.
I hope you would be able to relate it to how you respond in situations and your own working style as leaders. Or you can hopefully relate this to what you see in your manager does and you wonder why things are happening in this way !
And as usual, a request to leave your comments or share what you think on the mindset of leaders and your experience with your team or your boss.
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