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Insights In Being A Successful Leader

Managers Today Teambuilding & Games

Joshua A. Yampolski

Woodbury University

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Abstract

A leader is one who wears many hats, understands all aspects (or where to obtain and research

knowledge on all aspects), of every situation he or she may face, throughout the roller coaster of

life. Leaders can take many forms and even shapes. Common characteristics of leaders include:

intelligence, kind hearted, team players, and passion. Breathe in your nose for three seconds and

out your month for a period of six seconds. Let your mind form linkages, and create an

experience that is unique and personal just for you, as a reader. Leaders come in all shapes and

sizes. The ability to form linkages is essential to leaders today.

Keywords: Teambuilding, Managers Responsibility, Team Work, Leadership Today,

Success In The Workplace, Leadership & New Games,

Strategy, Self Help, Teambuilding Activities.

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Insights In Being A Successful Manager

Leadership Today Teambuilding & Games

Breathe in your nose for three seconds and out your month for a period of six seconds. In

1998, Peter Senge, said, “organizations learn only through individuals who learn” (p. 139)

What is Leadership?

Historically, “leadership has been conceived around an individual and his or her

relationship to subordinates or follows.” (Pearce & Cogner, 2003, p. 4) Theodore Roosevelt

once said in response to the difference of a “leader and a boss…” Teddy answered that, “the

leader works in the open, and the boss is covert… The leader leads, and the boss drives.”

What is to come in the next year; five years from now; or even tomorrow? If the readers has any

interest in leadership, one understand that being a leader involves making choices such as

“slowly killing ourselves with our own destructive emotions or letting go and living?”

(Clemmer,1999 p. 62)

Common characteristics of leaders include: intelligence, kind hearted, team players, and

passion. According to BusinessDictionary.com, a team is a “group of people with a full set of

complimentary skills required to complete a task, job or project.” (WebFinance, Inc., 2011)

Rather than simply focusing on the words that are juxtaposed and manipulating the contents of

this document, please focus on your breathing, and try to relax.

Leadership: A Brief Overview

Leaders can guide you on lives many journeys, and create loving families that can bond

over the simple matters of life. Einstein was a leader. Martin Luther king was too. Sports stars

are other forms of leaders. How are these human beings leaders? They share many common

characteristics, dreams, and goals in life. Try to discover some similar personality traits.

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Take a moment. Jot down three common personality traits. A plethora’s of linkages

should become apparent between what you created in comparison to characteristics of evident

leaders.

History of Leadership

The idea of leadership has greatly evolved throughout the ages. No matter who you are

in the world, be it an executive, scholar, child, wife, husband, or other element this vast universe

contains; all life forms in the galaxy should always stride for perfection. Perfections not only of

ourselves, but also for the ones around us including our loved ones, our friends, teammates and

yes even our employees. Human beings as caring animals, need to comprehend the importance

of the realm of leadership.

Only leaders, understand how difficult it is to make prompt decisions, influence,

motivate, and inspire their team. In the 20th century one would define these traits as a manager,

however today there proves to be a difference. Managers and leaders have different have various

associations to virtual any individual questioned on the matter.

According to Peter Drucker, author of The Effective Executive, “Your first and foremost

job as a leader is to take charge of your own energy and then help orchestrate the energy of those

around you.” Whereas, Pearce & Cogner, believe leadership is determined by “an individuals

capacity to influence peers and by the needs of the team in any given moment.” (Pearce &

Cogner, 2003, p. 4)

According to Peter Senge, In order to be a successful leader, one must possess “the

ability to learn faster than your competitors “ (1994, p. 5) Leaders must “tap into people’s

commitment and capacity to learn at all level in the organization”. (Ibid)

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Leaders understand that in order for Change to work, a “transition” must “occur”.

(Bridges, P. 3) Due to this it is important to recognize, that changes are situational whereas

transition involves a “psychological process” that “people go through to come to terms” with any

given “new situation” (Ibid). In 2003, Bolman & Torrence’s in their book, Reframing

Organizations, wrote, “unforeseen tragedy is one of many leadership tests”. (p. 5)

What Is A Leader?

Do you have a game plan or routine that you follow in relationship to your daily activities

that need to be accomplished every morning you wake up?

Tasks such as brushing your teeth, taking a shower, checking e-mail, eating three meals a

day…

Do you even think about these items?

Or are they innate, branded onto you like some sort of cow?

When an individual ponders over the word leader, various items flood ones mind.

Perhaps, images of Army Officers, Policeman, Sergeants, or Explores entered your imagination.

Others may visualize videos pertaining to Executives, Captains, War Heroes, Presidents, or even

Pilots. But what does this really mean? How does this help individual build clarity of vision?

According to Tim Collins, the key ingredient a company must possess in order to become

great is “having a Level 5 Leader”. What this entails is having an “executive in whom genuine

personality humility blends with intense professional will.” (Collins, p. 252) A level five leader

possess clarity of vision, and according to Collins, a Level 5 Leaders have the rare ability to

“produce high degrees of success but not enough to elevate companies from mediocrity to

sustained excellence”. (IBID, 253) The only way a company will be able to transform from

Good To Great is by having a “Level 5 Leader at the helm”. (Ibid, 253)

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Shared Vision: Shared Leadership

According to Peter Senge (1994), “Building Shared Vision” is an idea that “has inspired

organizations for thousands of years” (p. 9). The idea of building a shared vision is essential to

all future leaders on a global level. Organizations using this have the ability to “bind people

together around a common identity and sense of destiny.” (Ibid)

Pearson and Cogner, 2003, expanded on the idea of shared leadership. Shared leadership

includes both “dynamics and opportunities” is an intriguing to some, yet to other professional

scholars “shared leadership is still quite primitive”. (Pearce & Cogner, 2003, p. 4) The idea of

shared leadership can be traced back to 1924, when Mary Parker Follett created The Law of

Situation. (http://www.businessdictionary.com, 2011) The key issues discussed in The Law Of

Situation was to “let the situation, not the individual, determine the orders”.

Shared leadership has been studied using “three quantitate survey-based approaches”.

(Perce & Cogner, 2003, p. 297) Groups have been analyzed as “(a) a whole, (b) a sum of its

parts, and (c) a social network” (Ibid) Throughout the activities that were being examined the

leadership role seemed to switch off, pending the groups dynamics.

Shared leadership does have it’s drawbacks, as not everyone on a team has the

“knowledge, skills, and abilities” to lead. It is important to understand, that a true leader, possess

the ability to step back from a situation; hence it is of the upmost importance to grasp the concept

of shared leadership.

David Kolb, in 1984, published his findings regarding Learning Styles. He discovered,

that “we internally decide whether we wish to do or watch, and at the same time we decide

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whether to think or feel.” (Chapman, 2010) In other words, individuals grasping an experience,

choose to either “(a) watch or (b) do, and our emotional response to the transforming experience

preferring to (a) think or (b) feel.” (Ibid) This is important because it enables us to understand;

why or why not individuals wish to take on a leadership style mentality.

Teambuilding and Self-Awareness

Accepting the fact that everyone in life has personality flaws is greatly important to

understanding the key elements of leadership roles. In 2005, Feinberg and Tarrant created the

“self Destructive Intelligence Syndrome” whereas, “smart people act stupid because of

personality flaws” (p. 6) Unfortunately, “pride, arrogance, and the unconscious need to fail” has

been ingrained in our minds since the dusk of dawn. (Ibid)

Joseph Luft and Harry Ingram, created a model, “to help understand how we process

information and our self awareness” (www.managing-change.net/johari-window-model, 2011).

The model breaks behavior relationships into 4 quadrants, “represent the whole person in relation

to others, and organizations, as well as to individual relationships. (www.facilitationcenter.com,

2011)

Creative Games, Juggling, Group Meditation, Softball, Scavenger Hunts, and the Web of

Interconnectedness are just a few of the many examples of team building activities.

These activities, “promote development and awareness in the right-side of the brain,

which we use when we communicate and understand others.” (businessballs.com/motivation,

2011) Team activities and new games promote communications.

Team building activities encourage indivuals, increase ones skills sets, and even

contribute to a better mutual understanding of the team in it’s entirety. Additionally,

team-building activities assist the team in increasing their organizational performance along with

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other metrics used for measuring whether a task at hand is successfully completed. Team

Building activities along with the utilization of new games can help individuals develop the skills

needed to succeed at being a 21st century leader.

Team Building Activities

The value of teambuilding goes beyond the knowledge and tools sitting inside ones brain.

Rather communication skills are of the upmost importance to reach ones leadership potential.

Food for thought!

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Challenge, stimulation, problem solving, creativity, and ultimately decision making; are

all associated with positive motivation, inspiration, and teamwork. Leaders todays need to

understand that, “stimulating activities uses the intuitive brain to solve the problem… People

who can solve problems creatively can make decisions”. (businessballs.com/motivation, 2011)

It is essential to all organizations to integrate team building exercises into the workplace.

According to Susan Heathfield, in her to article, How to Make Teams Effective, she

discusses how teambuilding enables, “the bigger picture…” to “drives your actions; your

function exists to serve the bigger picture”. (P. 1) Additionally being a team player at the

workplace, “is a result of feeling part of something larger than yourself. It has a lot to do with

your understanding of the mission or objectives of your organization.” (Heatherfield, P. 1).

“Team activities and games promote communications and better mutual understanding - essential

for good organizational performance.” (businessballs.com/motivation, 2011)

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Communication & Teambuilding

The ability to communicate is the most essential function of a true leader. Sports

metaphors “contain little information about status and hierarchy”. (Perce & Cogner, p.19)

Sports metaphors are great ways to motivate members of a team.

“Lets go Dodgers!” is a saying virtually everyone in Los Angeles, California has heard

being screamed at Dodger Stadium or on a broadcasted baseball game. Due to this, many

correlations are evident between athletes and leaders.

Additionally, “depending on the demands of the moment, individuals can rise to the

occasion to exhibit leadership and then step back at other times to allow others to lead.” (Pearce

& Cogner, 2003, p. 4)

It is important to recognize, that each team member brings his or her unique perspectives,

knowledge, and capabilities to the table. “At different junctures in the team’s life, there are

moments when these differing background characteristics provide a platform for leadership to be

distributed among the team.“ (Ibid)

Creating Gold

Teambuilding and having an understanding about shared leadership can help companies

create gold. In a perfect world, everyone: no matter who you are or where you live, would have

the opportunity to focus on what they love to do in life and pursue this as a career. Unfortunately

we live in a world more where individuals are more interested in concepts such as

Schadenfreude; taking “satisfaction or pleasure felt at someone else's misfortune (Random House

Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2011.)

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Think Differently!

Breaking the rules is only half the battle. The inspiration to motivate a team is the true

test of today’s leaders. Below are 5 questions that will assist you as an individual to increase

your skill set, and become a better leader.

1.What does it take to inspire and motivate a team?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

2. What resources can you allocate to this very purpose?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

3. Who can you count on for assistance at your place of work?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

4. What time frame do we have to implement change?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

5. How can teamwork and motivation assist in your endeavors at work?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

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Conclusion

A leadership role takes years of practice to master. Numerous assets need to be studied

and researched for the vast knowledge to sink into a future leaders mindset. A true leader has the

ability to make light of the small things, and constantly adapt to the situations they face at hand.

What skills have you developed at work, at school, throughout lives hardships?

These skills directly transfer to many of the essential characteristics of being a true

leader. A true leader is hard to come by, and if your work place is lucky enough to have a level

5 leader, your place of work should do everything in their power to keep up their good work.

Level 5 Leaders are more difficult to find than winning the California State Lottery. According

to Kaplan, “managing your own career is 100% your responsibility”. Grasping this concept will

enable you to create a competitive advantage for yourself. Creating a competitive advantage for

yourself, requires the understanding of leadership and teamwork. Leadership and teamwork

enables one to think creatively, and increases performance and productivity at the workplace.

Throughout this paper, did you remember to pause in between every paragraph. If so

good work. Following instructions is a critical skill to master in order to be a successful leader

today. Simple teambuilding activities such as the following instructions mind game; not only

motivate individuals it inspires them as well. Be an inspirational leader at home and in the

workplace. The next time your office has a morning meeting, try starting it with a simple

breathing exercise, or by going around the room playing telephone. Perhaps an easy game, but

player beware: “the medium is the message” and the message is easily lost during the game of

telephone. In conclusion, teambuilding activities have capability to bring people closer together

like never before.

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REFERENCES

Bolman & Torrence , Reframing Organizations, San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, 2003.

(http://www.businessdictionary.com, 2011)

Conger & Pearce, Shared Leadership: Reframing The Hows And Why of Leadership
Sage Publications, INC. 2003,

Clemmer, Jim, Growing the distance: Timeless principles for personal, career and family
success TCG Press, 1999

Collins, Jim. Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve
Harvard Business Review, July-August 2008, P. 1-11

Chapman, Alan On David Kolb’s original concept review, code, diagrams 2003-2010
Retrieved From www.businessballs.com/kolblearningstyles.htm

Dynamic Leadership, Concept of Jori Window February, 2011

Retrieved From www.facilitationcenter.com

Mind Tools Ltd, Retrieved from www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_41 1996-2011

Senge, Peter. Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization.
New York: Currency Doubleday, 1994. Pp. 3-26, 139-173

Heathfield, Susan How to Make Teams Effective

About.com Guide, 2011

Heller, Stuart. The Language of Strategy

Dr. Stuart Heller, 2003

Kolb, David, Learning Styles Model, 1984

Random House Dictionary, 2011, Random House, Inc. Retrieved on iPhone Application

Retrieved From: http://www.businessballs.com/motivation.htm on February 18, 2011