Posted on: July 31, 2017 / Categories: EDL 700, learning about leading, Uncategorized
“The more you know, the more you know you don’t know.” Okay… read it again. The more you know, the more you know you don’t know. As a leader, you are (or should be) continually learning. Learning on your own, learning from others, learning through activities and professional development.
But don’t we sometimes think that as the leader, we are supposed to already know everything needed to lead a particular group? Don’t we think that if we don’t appear to be “all knowing” we will lose our credibility as the leader of the team?
Through my first semester in VCU’s Educational Leadership Doctoral Program, I have spent a lot of time looking at the make up of a team and the leader of a team. We read and analyzed Patrick Lencioni’s Book The five dysfunctions of a team: A leadership fable. Through this study we learned that there are five dysfunctions that can cause a team to be ineffective. These dysfunctions are the lack of trust, the fear of conflict, the lack of commitment, the avoidance of accountability, and the inattention to results.
As a leader it is our responsibility to assure that the team we are leading does not fail because of these (or any) dysfunctions. So how do we do this????
We have to begin by looking at ourselves. Find out about yourself as a person and as a leader. What kind of leader are you? How do you respond to situations or conflict? What is your plan of attack when a problem arises.
Next, we have to look at our team. Differing personalities and/or styles of learning can often be the root of problems on a team or in a learning environment. Once you have a clear understanding of yourself and your team members, you can begin to make progress toward your goals or toward rectifying the dysfunctions that are holding your team back.
So, being a leader involves more than just “having the facts.” Being a leader involves knowing yourself and knowing your team. Dysfunctions could be easily fixed if everyone involved shared the same personality, ideals, and beliefs. But that rarely happens. Do yourself a favor, before attempting to lead a team or a group through a problem, get to know them. Find out what is important to them and find ways to connect to them and connect them to each other. Otherwise, you’ll never know what you don’t know!
Tags:dysfunctions, leadership, learning, team