MGMT250 10/27 - The burden of leadership
What is expected from a leader? This is a question that must be asked in any team setting, especially in the business world. In the immediate situation, our HR simulation group, it is a very relevant question that I ask myself every time we meet. Since I was chosen by "upper management" to be the official team leader, I have 'divine right' to lead. However, this mandate is ambiguous at best because of the lack of guidelines and a lack of real, concrete authority given to the team leader.
Our particular group is very a very collegiate, collaborative group with no real hierarchical structure. Because I have no concrete authority, I choose not to portray myself as the authority figure in most cases. Since I must rely upon other group members to do their part to complete the requirements demanded of us, I must allow a certain degree of flexiblity in the methods or data sets that they use to do their jobs. My tendency to micro-manage people's activities is apparent to me every meeting, and I do my best to repress it. The drawback is that I feel as if I am not in control of the team; but one finds it hard to question the structure of a team that consistently produces results in a timely manner.
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