“A good leader can recognize and morph styles to best fit the situation, even if that means the leader is less involved in controlling the team’s work and more focused on praising the team’s collaboration and work product.”
Andrew York
UT College of Law Class of 2022
Leadership opportunities frequently present themselves in unexpected ways.
I am blessed to be part of the Leadership Oak Ridge’s Class of 2024. One of the
requirements of Leadership Oak Ridge is to volunteer to complete a project in the
community. The project is broken into mini-tasks, each to be handled by a group that is
led by a task leader. Task leaders are selected in a meeting of the entire class.
During the class discussion on task leadership, I remained silent and avoided eye-
contact with my cohorts conducting the task leader selection process. As a young and
less experienced member of the class, I preferred to be a follower, rather than to vie for
a task leader position.
One of the mini-tasks was sanding a metal handrail. When that task came up for
assignment, one of my classmates asked if I had ever sanded something before. When
I admitted that I had, he declared that I sounded like the perfect task leader for the
sanding group. The position was out of my comfort zone, and I lacked confidence in my
skill set. Nevertheless, I decided that I would do my best and enjoy the opportunity to
lead.
On the morning of the volunteer experience, my thoughts began to race. I wondered
how I would teach my classmates how to sand metal when I had only sanded wood. I
worried that my lack of proficiency would delay the project, which would ultimately
cause inconvenience for the rest of my classmates—those working on other aspects of
the project.
The thing about leadership is that it rarely goes according to plan.
I showed up to lead the task and, to my surprise, found that my team members had
brought their own power sanding tools and grinders. Each team member was more
adequately equipped and skilled than I had ever imagined. They began to sand the
metal handrail with ease and excellence. They even taught me how to use the tools, so
that I was able to rotate in to help when they needed a break to ensure that we were
fresh and could efficiently complete the task.
I perceived as the day progressed that my leadership style needed to morph from what I
originally thought would be necessary— a highly controlled approach which resembled
a teacher leading his students. I quickly realized the absurdity of attempting to
implement that leadership style in a group consisting of team members much more
skilled than me. Ultimately, I decided the most appropriate leadership style was to
become my team’s biggest fan— a highly collaborative approach. I provided
encouragement, compliments, and most importantly, a timely Sonic lunch run.
My team was a well-oiled machine—a group of individuals who completed their
assigned task efficiently and effectively. The sanding was completed at a near professional level, without requiring any management or supervision. The truth is that
my team did not need me to control them to complete the task excellently, and I made
sure to direct all credit to my team members each time someone offered me praise for
the team’s quality work.
Finding the balance between control and collaboration can be difficult. Leaders can
either be too hands- on in a project, overly controlling every aspect of its completion and
minimizing room for healthy creativity, or be so lax, that the project can derail and get
completed far below a satisfactory mark. Therefore, being “the team’s biggest fan,”, or a
highly collaborative approach, is not always an appropriate style of leadership. But there
is rarely, if ever, a leadership style that a leader will always implement. A good leader
can recognize and morph styles to best fit the situation, even if that means the leader is
less involved in controlling the team’s work and more focused on praising the team’s
collaboration and work product.
In fact, it seems that the more a leader can credit the work of team members genuinely
and selflessly, the better the team is able to function and succeed. By stepping back
from our assigned task, assessing the situation, and implementing the appropriate
leadership skills to advance the team’s task and incentivize the team members’ best
work, I was able to be an effective leader of my group. I learned this by having flexibility,
attentiveness, and perseverance despite the situation not going as I had expected or
planned.
Ultimately, my essential leadership approach was to support and appreciate the work of
each individual group member, and in return, the team rewarded that collaborative
approach with professional quality work from a group of volunteers. If I, instead, had
focused on controlling the project to appease my ego—, rather than promoting the good
of the project, team, and community—accomplishment of, the mini-task would have
suffered. It occurs to me that this is a perfect example of the adage there’s no “I” in
“team.” When a leader focuses on the project, team, and community, rather than
himself or herself, the tasks are more successful, efficient, and fulfilling.
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