2. MIDTERM ESSAY 2
Midterm Essay
In a self-directed work team (SDWT), the group has the authority to make decisions
about team organization, spending resources, and implementing new decisions (Harris &
Sherblom, 2011, p. 135). The aspects of a SDWT that make it more inventive and productive,
like self-sufficiency and authoritative power, also make it more susceptible to failure. Each
SDWT is distinguished by its unique goals and diverse set of members, so initial organization is
a complex problem. Special considerations should include leadership roles, strategies for
interpersonal communication, and conflict management procedures. A good self-managing team
requires enough structure to keep things organized, but not so much structure that it limits the
group's creativity and flexibility. There are many organizational leadership theories available to
help design a team plan that is well organized, but also flexible and fluid enough to change with
the group.
Leadership Theories
Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory
Campbell (2015) describes situational leadership theory as "one of the contingency
theories of leadership that depends upon both the situation and the team or followers." In this
theory, leaders must first analyze their followers' level of maturity, by examining their
motivational, confidence, and skill levels. Maturity level 1 (M1) is designated to followers that
lack commitment, confidence and skills, maturity level 2 (M2) is for followers that are motivated
but unskilled, maturity level 3 (M3) is for followers that have skills, but lack motivation and/or
confidence, and maturity level 4 (M4) is for followers who are confident, committed and skilled
(Campbell, 2015). There are four leadership styles in this theory, "Telling or Directing (S1),"
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"Selling or Coaching (S2)," "Participating or Supporting (S3)," and "Delegating (S4)"
(Campbell, 2015). The main idea is to pair (M1) with (S1), (M2) with (S2), etc.
This leadership theory complements a career in teaching. When teaching, it is important
to know the maturity level of the students. If students have a high level of maturity, then less
micromanaging, lecturing, confidence boosting, and motivating will be required. Lectures and
class objectives can be better tailored to fit each new group of students. This theory can be
applied to each individual task, or objective too. The teacher's leadership style should continually
be altered. If the students have more confidence, or higher skill levels in new objectives, the
leadership style should be adjusted to match. If the leadership style is matched to the students'
maturity level, they will not get bored from excessive details and lecturing when it is not
required. In theory, the students' maturity levels should improve over time, if the correct amount
of confidence boosting, support, and responsibility being provided.
Democratic/Participative Leadership Theory
A democratic/participative leader includes the other members in the decision-making
process. This leadership style distributes responsibility among all the group's members. The
group's leader has the ultimate authority in deciding what amount of input actually gets used and
also decides how much participation the group is entitled to. The leader can make autocratic
decisions, can suggest decisions and listen to feedback, can equally share decision-making
responsibilities with members, or the leader can fully delegate the decision making process to the
team. In theory, this type of leadership style increases corroboration levels, increases members'
commitment to the group, and decreases competitiveness. (Gill, 2016)
The self-managing work group at the Chalk Bluff Water Supply in Waco, TX is an
example of participative leadership. There is a group leader, but all of the customers are equal
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members. They share the responsibility of making all decisions that relate to the way the
company runs, decisions on how the meetings are conducted, and what changes will be
implemented. The idea is that several people deciding together can make a better decision than
just one. Another example is when I used this type of leadership style to facilitate a group
research project. I lead the group, but only in setting up a meeting time and encouraging
brainstorming. All the group members contributed equally in adding ideas, dividing up research,
and in making decisions.
Trait Theory
According to Malos' (2012) research, trait theories assume that leaders have inherent
traits and skills that make them good leaders. These theories identify and measure the personality
or behavioral characteristics that leaders tend to share, and focuses on the differences in
individuals. Some examples of these traits are adaptability, dependability, assertiveness,
dominancy, and alertness (Trait Theory, n.d.). Skills that leaders possess include intelligence,
ability to conceptualize ideas, creativity, and social skills (Trait Theory, n.d.). Traits were
categorized into three levels, (cardinal traits, central traits, and secondary traits), by psychologist
Gordon Allport (Malos, 2012). The cardinal traits are the dominant traits that define a person, the
central traits shape the foundations of a person's personality, and secondary traits are often
situational and related to attitude (Malos, 2012).
The more diverse a group is, the better it is at problem solving. Trait theory can be
helpful in the "phases of group development, "especially during the "forming" and "storming"
stages (Harris & Sherblom, 2011, p. 58-60). During the forming stage, knowing the possible
group members' traits can assist in adding diversity, and also help eliminate members that will be
disrupt the team's synergy. During the storming phase, understanding people's personalities can
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be very helpful in understanding a person's communication behaviors. Not all group members
have the same social skills and confidence levels. Understanding their personality traits can help
the group aid them during group discussions.
Interdisciplinary Leadership
Interdisciplinary leadership combines research, theory, methods, and integration to lead a
diverse team and solve complex problems. The main challenge to the success of an
interdisciplinary team is communication and the diversity among individuals. Each individual
will be diverse in their communication style, and their disciplinary, experience, or training
knowledge. Since this diversity is what makes the interdisciplinary team produce creative and
unique ideas and solutions, taking the time and effort to develop a functioning team has many
benefits. (Harris & Sherblom, 2011)
According to Repko (2012), "The four primary drivers of interdisciplinary research and
education are the inherent complexity of nature and society, the desire to explore problems and
questions that are not confined to a single discipline, the need to solve social problems, and the
need to produce revolutionary insights and generative technologies" (Kindle Locations 1512-
1513). This means that interdisciplinary work groups have the ability to change the way people
think and do things. Effectively integrating the participative leadership theory into
interdisciplinary teamwork can have many impacts on the the Twenty-first Century workplace.
There can be many benefits for the organization, for leadership and for the individuals involved.
The organization's goals are the main purpose for forming an interdisciplinary team and
they can benefit from integrating the participative leadership theory. Harris & Sherblom (2011)
stated that, "if the group itself is not as diverse in its membership as the larger organization of
which it is a part, then it may have difficulty adequately representing and responding to the
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multiple needs of the organization" (p. 73). If the team is diverse, the solutions synthesized
should benefit a wider range of individuals. Since organizations are comprised of individuals
with different backgrounds, religions, social customs, and communication barriers, it benefits the
organization to have solutions produced by many different perspectives. The organization also
benefits from "more motivated and loyal employees," "mutual trust between labor and
management," and productivity increases as a result of a solutions-centric workforce" (Gill,
2016). The organization can also benefit from more loyal employees or members. Gill (2016)
states that, "Most people prefer to work within a leadership structure that encourages thoughtful
discussion and rewards collaborative processes." An organization that allows its members to
contribute to the process of making changes, will promote more approval of management. It
would also benefit from reduced "segmentalism," and promote a more even distribution of
"power or control" (Harris & Sherblom, 2011, p. 135). If all organizations allowed It's members
some participation in decision-making processes, work environment as a whole would benefit.
Gill (2016) states that, "Democratic/participative teams are not only capable of making good
decisions but they also support their group’s goals."
Leaders of interdisciplinary teams can also benefit from integrating the participatory
leadership theory into their team process. They will become more flexible, open-minded, and
more sensitive to other perspectives. These leaders can also become more capable of "developing
the synergy," and "empowering group members," because they must make sure that all
perspectives in the group are utilized to synthesize more diversified solutions (Harris &
Sherblom, 2011, p. 239). Due to the diverse nature of the group, the leader will also learn more
about conflict management and how to "build trust and openness" (Harris & Sherblom, 2011, p.
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137). Since interdisciplinary teams share the responsibility of creating and implementing
changes, their leaders become more adept in facilitating group productivity.
Individuals also benefit from being part of an interdisciplinary team that has integrated
the participatory leadership theory. These teams are designed to "create member interaction and
interdependence" (Harris & Sherblom, 2011, p. 239). Team members benefit from actively
listening to and integrating multiple perspectives. This will make them more understanding and
empathetic to different beliefs and personalities, and improve their intercommunication skills;
because of this, their ability to work as a team also improves. These individuals share all of the
group responsibilities and their team dynamic constantly adapts and changes. Harris &
Sherblom (2011) stated that, "learning to solve problems as they develop makes each team
member increasingly better qualified to solve future problems" (p. 137). Individuals in
interdisciplinary teams become better critical thinkers. These individuals can also benefit from
intrinsic rewards. People who participate in leadership responsibilities have "increased job
satisfaction and a sense of empowerment" (Gill, 2016). People will feel valued and accepted
when they are actively listened to.
People, leaders and organizations can grow and diversify from integrating participatory
leadership styles. All three learn to adapt and change by learning to work as interdependent
groups. This means more diversely productive individuals, leaders and organizations.
Organizational Leadership
Just like diversity is important to team productivity, biodiversity is important to boost an
ecosystem's productivity. In the future, I would like to lead a interdisciplinary work group that
uses perspectives from multiple disciplines to maximizes biodiversity in areas. My teams
mission would be to return biodiversity to ecosystems that humans have damaged or destroyed,
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research ways to restore natural resources and native wildlife, and to strive to remember that all
species have an important part to play. The team will be comprised of eight members from eight
different discipline backgrounds, which include specialists in biology (myself), natural resource
management, zoology, aquatics, agriculture, computer technology/programming, statistics, and
non-profit communications. The application process will be designed to test for communication
barriers, confidence levels, discipline knowledge. Diversity will also be added by varying the
team members' demographics. While building the interdisciplinary team, different leadership and
communication techniques will be applied to the various "stages of group development; forming,
storming, norming, and performing" (Harris & Sherblom, 2011, p. 56).
Forming
During the forming stage, the team will decide together on "group norms, rules, roles and
structure" (Harris & Sherblom, 2011, p. 56). Leadership will not be fixed in this team, and will
change when needed. Initially, I will lead the group as a facilitator, encouraging participation and
brainstorming, while we set realistic and attainable group goals. The leader will change with
each new environment or problem, and will be chosen by the group based off of who has the
most background knowledge on the situation. The Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership
Theory will be utilized here. The current leader will adjust their level of management based off
of the rest of the members' understanding of the methods and processes agreed upon by the team.
Storming
Due to the diversity in educational and demographic backgrounds, there could be power
struggles and disruptive behavior. During this phase, the current leader will make extra effort to
eliminate "perceptional," "cultural," and "emotional barriers" (Harris & Sherblom, 2011, p. 166-
169). The leader will challenge the group to disagree and use conflict as a resource for
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brainstorming. The leader will also limit negativity, and provide a safe and creative environment.
The goal for this phase is to "air, hear, and accept" as many conflicts as possible and learn to
work with the diverse perspectives (Harris & Sherblom, 2011, p. 62).
Norming and Performing
In the norming phase, the group becomes more cohesive and labor will be equally
divided. The members will contribute to the overall success of the team by "open exchange and
feedback" (Harris & Sherblom, 2011, p. 63) Here the team will "define the problem," "generate
possible solutions," evaluate the solutions and "create an action plan" (Harris & Sherblom, 2011,
p. 64-65). The team's interdisciplinary characteristics should allow it to create unique solutions
from overlapping disciplines. The diversity of the team members will allow it to benefit more
biodiversity and environments.
I will effectively lead this team by using systematic feedback methods, like post and pre-
meeting questionnaires. The group will also get evaluated regularly. These combined with
communication methods should create a positive environment. (Harris & Sherblom, 2011)
10. MIDTERM ESSAY 10
References
Campbell, J. (2015). Situational leadership theory. Salem Press Encyclopedia.
Gill, E. (2016). What is Democratic/Participative Leadership? How Collaboration Can Boost
Morale. St. Thomas University.
Harris, T., & Sherblom, J. (2011). Small group and team communication. Boston: Pearson/Allyn
and Bacon.
Malos, R. (2012). The most important leadership theories. Annals Of Eftimie Murgu University
Resita, Fascicle II, Economic Studies, 413-420.
Repko, A. F. (2012). Interdisciplinary Research: Process and Theory. SAGE Publications. Kindle
Edition.
Trait Theory. (n.d.). Changing Minds. Retrieved March 11, 2016, from
http://changingminds.org/disciplines/leadership/theories/trait_theory.htm#nav
11. MIDTERM ESSAY 11
Midterm Essay Grading Rubric
Criteria
Points
Possible
Points
Earned
General
Paper adheres to APA formatting (title page, citations, references
page, etc.). Filename correct. This rubric pasted at the end of the
assignment.
15
Writing is clear with appropriate grammar, spelling, and
punctuation. Headings are appropriately labeled
10
Leadership Theories (750 words)
Student should identify and briefly discuss three leadership theories
not previously discussed in class. Student integrates theory into
professional and academic practice.
25
Interdisciplinary Leadership (750 words)
Student synthesizes a leadership theory from the previous section
with the concept of Interdisciplinary Leadership & Teamwork.
Student discusses how will the integration of leadership theory and
interdisciplinary teamwork impact the workplace?
25
Organizational Leadership (500 words)
Student concisely summarizes an organization they might lead in
the future. Student discusses the mission/vision of the organization,
utilization of interdisciplinary teams/leadership, impact
interdisciplinary teamwork will have on success, and the
interdisciplinary characteristics they possess that will help you lead
the organization.
25
Total 100
Instructor Comments:
