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 Second Edition

LEARNING TEAM SKILLS

Arthur H. Bell, Ph.D.
School of Business and Professional Studies
University of San Francisco

Dayle M. Smith, Ph.D.

School of Business and Professional Studies
University of San Francisco

Prentice Hall
Boston Columbus Indianapolis New York San Francisco Upper Saddle River
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 Dedication
We dedicate this book with love to our children,
Arthur James Bell, Lauren Elizabeth Bell, and
Madeleine Alexis Bell—our favorite team.

Executive Editor: Sande Johnson Senior Art Director: Jayne Conte

Editorial Assistant: Clara Ciminelli
Vice President, Director of Marketing: Quinn
Perkins
Executive Marketing Manager: Amy Judd
Marketing Assistant: Robin Holtsberry
Project Manager: Holly Shufeldt
Cover Designer: Karen Noferi
Cover Art: Getty Images, Inc.
Full-Service Project Management and Composition:
Joseph Barnabas Malcolm, GGS Higher Education
Resources, A Division of PreMedia Global Inc.
Text and Cover Printer/Binder: STP Courier/Stoughton

Copyright © 2011, 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Allyn & Bacon, 501 Boylston Street, Suite 900, Boston,
MA 02116. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. This publication is protected by
Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a
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Many of the designations by manufacturers and seller to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks.
Where those designations appear in this book, and the publisher was aware of a trademark claim, the designations
have been printed in initial caps or all caps.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bell, Arthur H. (Arthur Henry)

Learning team skills / Arthur H. Bell, Dayle M. Smith.—2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-13-715259-9
ISBN-10: 0-13-715259-0
1. Teams in the workplace. I. Smith, Dayle M. II. Title.

HD66.B443 2011
658.4'022—dc22
2009053312

Upper Saddle River, New Jersey Columbus, Ohio

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN 10: 0-13-715259-0
ISBN 13: 978-0-13-715259-9
 ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Arthur H. Bell is Executive Director of MBA Programs and Professor of Management Communication in the
School of Business and Professional Studies at the University of San Francisco. He holds his Ph.D. from
Harvard University and is the author of 51 books on management, communication, language, and literature
topics. Art is an avid cyclist and a jazz pianist in his spare time. Together, books by Bell and Smith have been
translated into 16 languages.

Dayle M. Smith is Director of the Honors Program and Professor of Management in the School of Business
and Professional Studies at the University of San Francisco. She has written 12 books on a variety of manage-
ment topics, ranging from employee motivation to the challenges for women in the workplace to leadership
development. Dayle is a club tennis player and an active community leader.

iii
 CONTENTS
Preface vi

Chapter 1 Why Teams? 1

Teams and Buy-In 5
Teams and Censorship, Pro and Con 6
Teams and Cross-Training 7
Teams and Follow-Up Responsibilities 8
Teams and the Social Aspect of Enterprise 9
Summing Up 10

Chapter 2 Assessing Your Team Experience and Insights 11

Summing Up 18

Chapter 3 Building a Balanced Team 19

The Importance of Balance 19
Causes of Team Imbalance 20
How and When to Plan for Balance 21
The Limits of Personality Tests 22
Making the Most of Gender Balance 23
Characteristics of Men’s and Women’s Communication Habits 24
Summing Up 32

Chapter 4 Becoming a Team Member and a Team Leader 33

How to Know If Your Organization Needs Teams 33
Putting Together Your Case for a Team 34
A Sample Communication to Management Regarding
Team Formation 35
Preparing for Team Membership 36
Preparing to Lead a Team 36
Activities for the First Team Meeting 37
Writing an Informal Agenda for Team Meetings 39
Taking Notes or Minutes for Team Meetings 40
Keeping the Team Informed Between Meetings 41
Virtual Teams 42
Summing Up 42

Chapter 5 Observing Team Leadership Skills at Work 43

Welcome to the New Employee Orientation Team 44
The Meeting Begins 44
Summing Up 50
iv
 Contents v

Chapter 6 Observing Team Member Skills at Work 51

Welcome Back to the New Employee Orientation Team 52
The Meeting Begins Again 53
Summing Up 59

Chapter 7 Understanding and Resolving Team Problems 60

A Case History of a Troubled Team 61
Teaching People How to Be Team Members 62
Five Common Team Problems and Tools for Repair
and Prevention 63
How People Indicate That a Team Is in Trouble 70
A Lighter Look at the Challenge of Managing a Team 71
Summing Up 73

Chapter 8 Motivating Team Members and Leaders 74

Eight Motivators for Productive Teams 74
Summing Up 89

Chapter 9 Completing Collaborative Projects Through Teamwork 90

Why Teams Often Have Trouble with Collaborative Projects 91
Why Collaborative Projects Are Good for Teams and Good
for Business 93
Steps in the Collaborative Process for Documents
and Presentations 94
Guidelines for the Team Leader of a Collaborative Project 99
Summing Up 100

Chapter 10 Developing Intercultural Teams 101

Shared Information Without a Shared Culture 101
What’s at Stake in Understanding Cultural Differences 102
Grasping the Deeper Aspects of Cultural Difference 106
Communication in the Intercultural Team Meeting 109
Summing Up 111
Recommended Resources 112
Index 113
 PREFACE

This second edition of Learning Team Skills takes seriously the fact that teams have become even more impor-
tant in U.S. and international business since the publication of the first edition. Companies large and small
have discovered that work teams offer immense productivity advantages in terms of employee morale, cross-
training for various company roles, accountability, organizational “buy-in,” and innovation. To serve this
surge of interest in teams, we have added many new topics and instruments to this thoroughly revised second
edition, including best practices for virtual teams, ways to diagnose team problems, measurement instru-
ments for evaluating the motivation of team members, cultural considerations when building a strong team,
effective inclusion of Millennial team members (born since 1985), and more than a dozen online resources for
forming and managing excellent teams.
As with other books in this series, we intend this discussion of teams to be more of a conversation than
a lecture. At dozens of points throughout these chapters, you will have the chance to “talk back” in the Your
Turn exercises. We hope that you will use these opportunities to write down your own experience, attitudes,
opinions, objections, and feedback. In this way, you will participate with us in learning about the importance
of teams in organizations and understanding the workings of actual teams to which you’ve belonged. You can
also talk back to us in a more immediate way by e-mailing us with your questions, comments, thoughts, and
reflections about the contents of this book. Please contact us at bell@usfca.edu.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are grateful for the decades of scholarship of thousands of professors, researchers, and social scientists that
allow us to speak more confidently now about the proven advantages of teams in organizations, the skills of team
leaders and members, and the ways team problems can be overcome. Our current academic colleagues at the
School of Business and Professional Studies, University of San Francisco and past academic colleagues at
Harvard University, University of Southern California, and Georgetown University have been generous over the
years in sharing their insights about the nature and workings of teams. Equally generous with their ideas and
experiences have been the many executives and managers we have met in our consulting work for teams in
dozens of companies and organizations, including PriceWaterhouse Coopers, TRW, Lockheed Martin, IBM,
Citicorp, PaineWebber, the U.S. State Department, China Resources, Charles Schwab, Sun Microsystems, Cost
Plus World Market, the Colonial Williamburg Foundation, American Stores, Deutsche Telekom, New York Life,
the U.S. Coast Guard, Infogenics, Apple Computer, Nations Bank, Santa Fe Railroad, Marriott Corporation, the
Central Intelligence Agency, the Private Industry Council, Bain & Co., and Quaker Oats.
Special thanks go to Mike Duffy, Dean of the School of Business and Professional Studies, and Associate
Dean Zhan Li, both of whom encouraged this book from the beginning and generously gave of their own
considerable expertise in team management. Art Bell also extends thanks to his exceptional MBA Programs
team at the University of San Francisco: Kelly Brookes, Mitchell Friedman, Monica Bernal, Danielle Glynn,
Joanna Woo, Melissa Lincoln, Mike Teodosio, Ali Winston, Julie Rabang, Courtney Ewing, Tiffany Wong, and
Kyle Bastien. Finally, we would like to thank our reviewers, Elisabetta Ghisini and Renn Vara, for their input
on this revision.

Art Bell
Dayle Smith
Belvedere, California

OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES BY BELL/SMITH

Developing Leadership Abilities
Motivating Yourself for Achievement
Interviewing for Success
Building Your Network Through Communication

vi
 1
Why Teams?

GOALS
䊏 Understand advantages of the team approach to work.
䊏 Grasp importance of “buy-in” for team effectiveness.
䊏 Relate team concepts to your own work opportunities and challenges.

B
eing on a work team is much like being on a sports team. No matter what your
sports interest, you can learn much about leading and participating on a team in
your company or school by reflecting on what you have experienced in baseball,
basketball, football, soccer, volleyball, or other sport.
Let’s take basketball, for example. On the court, five players form a team. One
person, of course, could dribble the ball downcourt and shoot (making basketball a one-
on-one sport similar to tennis singles), but the sport has evolved as a team endeavor for
at least five reasons:
1. A team offers the possibility of more talent on the floor. All parts of the game move
more quickly due to the specialized skills of individual players and the mutual cooper-
ation of team members.
Imagine the limitations of one player compared to the team. That person would
have to do it all, including jumping, shooting, rebounding, playing defense, and so
forth. At least two disadvantages of this approach come to mind. First, the person prob-
ably cannot be equally good at each of those sports skills. A great rebounder, for exam-
ple, is not often a great ball-handler or dribbler. Second, the player who tries to do it all
quickly becomes exhausted.
1
2 Chapter 1 • Why Teams?

Let’s translate this basketball analogy into the practical world of business and
other organizations. In business and school endeavors, you require a broad range of tal-
ent to understand problems, recognize opportunities, and carry on the many processes
necessary to meet the organization’s goals. Even the smallest company needs someone
adept at financial management, someone attuned to personnel recruitment and devel-
opment, someone to oversee operations, someone who is good with the public and
press, and yes, someone to sweep the floors at night. This team understands the impor-
tance of allowing each member to do his or her job. Team members are careful not to
trespass unnecessarily onto one another’s job responsibilities. In short, they trust one
another to carry out each of their specialized tasks. The company as a whole works well
because each member of the team performs well.

Insight 1

The team approach brings together the specialized skills of many individuals to resolve
problems, seize opportunities, and meet organizational goals.

Your Turn

Call to mind a team on which you served in business or school. List the specialized strengths
of each of the team members. Was the team missing any particular skills it needed to reach its
goals? If so, how did the team make up for this skill deficit?

2. Each player can count on backup in case of a stumble, a bad game, or an injury.
A team provides an insurance policy of sorts for unexpected interruptions and
disabilities. Even when one of the team’s stars is unavailable for play, the concerted
efforts of other team members can often make up the difference and achieve
success.
In the same way, a team in a business or academic setting ensures that important
goals can be met regardless of the ups and downs of individual team members. Too
much is at stake in such environments to risk failure over one member’s sudden ill
health, family emergency, job transfer, or other unexpected circumstances. The
Broadway slogan for this ongoing effort continues to be, “The show must go on.” The
cast—or team—pulls together to fulfill its mission even if key members are missing in
action.

Insight 2

Teams provide a backup system that ensures continuity and mission fulfillment even if
particular team members are unable to perform.
 Chapter 1 • Why Teams? 3

Your Turn

Think about a time when a team on which you served was “left in the lurch” by the sudden
absence of one of the key members of the team. Did your team survive this change? If so, how
did your team compensate for the missing member? What was the ultimate result?

3. Individual eccentricities are tempered by the team for the good of the game.
In basketball, some players love to shoot the ball. Even when they miss repeatedly,
they try and try again. If their failure to consistently make baskets begins to harm the
team’s efforts and success, team members take it upon themselves to change the “ball-
hog’s” behavior. When the team refuses to pass the ball to the ball-hog, the message
comes through loud and clear: Quit shooting all the time and become more of a team
player. In this way, individual idiosyncrasies are suppressed for the good of the team
effort.
Similarly, on business and school teams, the wild ideas of some team members get
tested by the judgment and experience of the rest of the team. If the team as a whole re-
jects the wild ideas of one member, those ideas usually fade away and play no role in
the eventual report, project, or other activity developed by the team. This self-censoring
function of teams is a valuable aid to upper management. Without the idea filters natu-
rally provided by teams, upper management could easily face a plethora of documents,
all written by individuals, and all expressing highly individual ideas about company
problems and opportunities. It would then be the difficult task of upper management to
sift through the set of often bizarre ideas in search of a few that made sense. Teams take
much of this burden from upper management by squelching unworkable ideas from
the outset.

Insight 3

Peer pressure on teams operates to enforce common sense judgments and ideas. Extreme or
impractical ideas are usually rejected by the team before such ideas find their place in the work
output of the team.

Your Turn

Think about a time when one of your team members expressed an idea that was judged to be
“crazy” or “way off track” by the rest of the team. How did other team members let this per-
son know that the idea did not meet the approval of the team? How did the person react?
What was the ultimate result for the person and the team?

4. Motivation increases as team members take pride in one another and try not to let
each other down.
When members of a basketball team win their league championship, they do not
come to the microphone to speak about “motivation from my million dollar salary” or
4 Chapter 1 • Why Teams?

“special treatment I was given by the coach.” Instead, they almost always talk about the
inspiration they received from their teammates; the effort all members made so as not to
let each other down; and the powerful influence each member felt by seeing other team
members working so hard for victory.
That same kind of team motivation occurs in business and school environments.
When a meeting is called for 9:00 A.M., you try to be on time, not merely because your
boss expects promptness, but because you respect the time of your fellow team members.
You do not want them sitting around waiting for you to arrive. When an approaching
deadline requires that the team work late, you do your part in seeing the project
through to completion. You are willing to go the extra mile not only because you want
the project to be successful, but because you do not want to let your teammates down.
This is not to say that we automatically become close friends with all team
members we serve with over the course of a business or academic career. Some team
members don’t earn our respect and it is hard to feel much obligation, responsibility, or
liking for them. But other team members—perhaps the majority we encounter—are
hard-working, well-intentioned coworkers with whom we feel bonds of camaraderie.
In these cases, a significant factor in our motivation to do a good job and see the project
through to success stems directly from our feelings toward other team members.
Esprit d’corps on a team, in fact, can be one of the most powerful motivators in profes-
sional life.

Insight 4

Teams whose members respect and like one another gain the advantage of motivation internal
to the team. Members of the team want to perform not only for external rewards, but for the
internal rewards of partnership, mutual respect, and friendship engendered within the team.

Your Turn

Recall a team made up of people you liked and admired. How did these positive feelings to-
ward other team members influence your performance on that team? Would you have per-
formed differently if you had little liking or admiration for your fellow team members?

5. The task of beating the opponent requires the combined talents of five players.
Finally, teams are required in sports because opponents are strong and shrewd. In
other words, external challenges have much to do with the necessity for forming teams.
In the case of basketball, it would be folly for a single player to go up against an oppos-
ing team of five players. Teams form in response to the challenges they face.
Let’s take business examples of this same principle. If the “opponent” to a new
product is millions of consumers who don’t know about the product, a company wisely
assembles a marketing team to take on this significant challenge. If a competitor comes
out with a similar product to your own but priced considerably less, your company will
probably act quickly to put together a response team made up of representatives from
 Chapter 1 • Why Teams? 5

marketing, research and development, accounting, operations, and other specialities to

determine how this challenge can be met and overcome.

Insight 5

Powerful challenges must be met by powerful responses. Such power often comes in the form
of a talented, motivated team.

Your Turn

Remember a time when your company or school organization faced a significant challenge or
problem and, in response, formed a team on which you served. In what ways was the mem-
bership of the team determined by the nature of the challenge or problem? In your opinion,
were members well chosen for the responsibilities they had to perform? How successfully was
the challenge or problem met by the team?

TEAMS AND BUY-IN

In the best of all worlds, companies would be made up of individuals, work groups,
departments, and divisions all equally committed to reaching common company goals.
In such a world, the head of finance would not mind giving up 50 percent of his or her
department’s budget if that sacrifice would help the marketing department do a better
job for the company.
Anyone who has worked even a few days in an organization of any size quickly
realizes that politics play a major role in determining the behavior of individuals and
groups. The head of finance, for example, probably had to battle long and hard against
other department heads for his or her share of the company budget. He or she will bat-
tle even harder to keep other departments from taking his or her budgeted money or
otherwise intruding on his or her turf. In many companies, work groups and depart-
ments seem to be more concerned with their own growth and financial support than
with the overall welfare of the company. This competition for resources pits all divi-
sions in the company against one another in an ongoing political wrangle that con-
sumes enormous energy and attention.
In such a political minefield, the steps and missteps of one division alone may be
doomed to disaster. “That’s a report from marketing,” the head of accounting may blus-
ter. “They’ve skewed everything to support their own needs.” The head of marketing
may be just as suspicious of any data or other information sent forward exclusively
from accounting. How does business get done in such a charged environment where
the left hand doesn’t trust what the right hand is doing?
The simple answer is teams. By assembling representatives from the various polit-
ical entities within the company, upper management ensures that the work product of
the team will be generally acceptable to all company members. “After all,” the head of
marketing explains, “we had one of our people on that team. Our interests were repre-
sented.” Other department or division heads feel similarly. In short, the buy-in assured
6 Chapter 1 • Why Teams?

by the membership of the team extends to its work product. A report from the team, for
example, will be greeted with much more credibility by the company as a whole simply
because that document arose from the combined efforts of somewhat opposed interests.

Insight 6

Even though teams and teamwork may be more cumbersome and time-consuming than indi-
vidual action, the team approach may nevertheless be justified, in large part, for the buy-in it
facilitates in politically charged organizational environments.

Your Turn

Think about a time when you served on a team made up of individuals representing different
and perhaps opposed interests within the company or organization. Was it difficult for the
team to make decisions? If so, why? Did the team complete its work? If so, was that work
widely accepted by the company or organization?

TEAMS AND CENSORSHIP, PRO AND CON

As discussed earlier, a team provides an early-warning system and an effective suppres-
sion mechanism for member ideas judged by the team to be impractical or outlandish.
Filtering out such ideas at an early stage saves money and organizational energy.
Imagine the damage a wrong-headed idea could do if allowed to proceed forward in the
development of a project or other company activity.
On the other hand, teams must exercise caution that they do not become guilty of
what Harvard Professor Irving Janis has called GroupThink. This phenomenon occurs
when a group refuses to hear ideas or information in conflict with the majority opinion.
The group may put too much stock in the strength-in-unity notion, to the point that all
dissent is ridiculed or angrily dismissed. Influential group members may urge other
team members to adhere to the party line for the sake of group harmony.
Perhaps the classic case study of GroupThink occurred at Morton Thiokol
Corporation in the days just prior to the Challenger disaster. Although one engineer, Roger
Beaujolais, raised serious concerns about the safety of “O”-ring functions at low tempera-
tures, his dissent was discounted by Morton Thiokol project managers and ignored by
NASA administrators. These managers and administrators felt pressure from their supe-
riors and from the press, including Dan Rather’s reporting on the nightly news, to launch
the often-delayed shuttle. Safety concerns aroused by the “O”-ring matter did not fit in
with NASA’s overarching agenda. The team in this case squelched dissenting information
that could have saved the mission as well as the lives of the astronauts involved.
GroupThink can be prevented in teams by getting all members to agree to several
procedural guidelines:
• Rules of order (such as Robert’s Rules of Order) should not be used to silence dis-
senting opinions. Rules or Order, or course, can prove useful in organizing effec-
tive team interactions at meetings. But the point here is not to left rules crowd out
or stifle the opinions and perspectives of team members.
 Chapter 1 • Why Teams? 7

• Pressure for consensus should not be applied in such a way as to prevent the ex-
pression of minority perspectives.
• Each team member should be a critical evaluator of team processes. In doing so,
team members must call attention to symptoms of GroupThink that occur during
team discussion.
• The team leader must not impose a preordained perspective or foregone conclu-
sion on group members.
• The group must welcome outside information and opinion, especially when such
input disagrees with the dominant direction of team discussion.

Insight 7

In suppressing worthless and impractical ideas, the team must be careful not also to suppress
valuable dissent.

Your Turn

Bring to mind a time when you or another team member disagreed strongly with the direction
of discussion and decision making taken by your team. How was that disagreement presented?
How did other team members respond? What finally happened?

TEAMS AND CROSS-TRAINING

An additional defense of teams arises from the need for cross-training in organizations
of all kinds. When specialists gather as members of a team, a certain amount of cross-
fertilization takes place. Like actors in a play, each team member learns at least a portion
of the “lines” of other team members. For example, an advertising specialist on the
team shares his or her approach to product marketing with the human resources (HR)
representative. Even though the HR representative does not then become an instant ex-
pert on advertising, he or she nevertheless has important insights into the art of adver-
tising and can add to discussion and decision making on the topic. If the advertising
team member had to miss a meeting, others on the team would be able to carry on,
thanks to their cross-training.
Companies and other organizations maximize the contributions of their employ-
ees by such cross-training. Especially in economically stressed times, companies may
not have the luxury of hiring specialists as needed for every project underway in the
company. Upper managers must rely on employees to use not only their first areas of
expertise, but also their background knowledge in secondary areas (achieved through
cross-training) to keep projects on target and on time.
Cross-training within teams can be facilitated in at least two ways:
• Take regular cross-training breaks from usual team activities. For example, you
can devote an hour every few meetings exclusively for sharing core aspects of
each member’s expertise and techniques. Rather than overloading any one meet-
ing with too much cross-training data, one or two team members can share their
8 Chapter 1 • Why Teams?

perspectives and knowledge at each cross-training occasion. Put in common

terms, a cross-training session can be labeled, “How to Think Like a . . . (marketing,
finance, operations, etc.).”
• The team can invite outside experts to visit team meetings with the goal of sharing
techniques, skills, and concepts as an upgrade to the existing knowledge and skill
base of team members.

Insight 8

Cross-training makes each team member more valuable to the team and ensures against
knowledge and skill gaps during the life of the team.

Your Turn

If you have received valuable cross-training as a part of your membership on a team, tell about
that cross-training and how you used it. If you have not received cross-training in this way,
write briefly about the kind of cross-training you would like to receive and how it could help
you contribute to the team.

TEAMS AND FOLLOW-UP RESPONSIBILITIES

Like most assemblies of individuals, a team has a life span ranging from a matter of
days to several years. No matter how long the team survives, someone must remain ac-
tive and available as its spokesman, interpreter, and perhaps defender. Here’s an exam-
ple of follow-up responsibilities after a retailing team finished its work. Someone had to
• present team findings to several levels of management
• draw together team documents, data, and meeting notes
• answer questions about what the team decided, meant, suspected, and recom-
mended
• meet with other teams who wanted to learn from the success of the previous team
or continue its work in some way
Although these duties often fall to the team leader, they can be assumed by other
team members. A high-performing team can distribute these follow-up responsibilities
among its members partly to lighten the load on the team leader and partly to prevent
team history from being rewritten in the retelling by just one member.

Insight 9

The work of a team is not over after the team’s last meeting. Many important follow-up
responsibilities can be distributed among team members.
 Chapter 1 • Why Teams? 9

Your Turn

Recall the aftermath activities of a team on which you served. What kinds of things happened
after the team’s last meeting? Who took responsibility for those tasks and opportunities? Did
the person(s) do a good job? If not, what improvements in follow-up responsibilities can you
suggest?

TEAMS AND THE SOCIAL ASPECT OF ENTERPRISE

Finally, teams have the advantage of being more enjoyable than most work accom-
plished all alone. Here’s the opinion of one manager in the computer industry after a
six-month period of service on a six-member team within her company.

We met at least once a week. Even though we didn’t know one another be-
fore our first meeting, we quickly gelled into a comfortable and stimulating
work group. I looked forward to seeing my teammates each week for at least
four reasons. First, I wanted to find out how their individual portion of our
work was going. Second, I needed perceptive people to hear about the work
I had accomplished and give me meaningful feedback. Third, we all needed
other people with whom to share our joys and frustrations about the project.
Finally, we just got along as people. Although we didn’t spend a lot of time
on social talk, there was the inevitable chat about kids, pets, hobbies, life
stresses, good restaurants, interesting movies, and so forth. For all those rea-
sons, I found team membership much more energizing and fulfilling than
simply laboring away by myself in my cube.

Social aspects of teamwork are particularly evident in messages passed among

team members on MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Ning, and other social networking sites.
Even when the message at hand contains a kernel of business information, it usually
also includes a social gesture or comment of some kind—a bit of humor, a friendly or
teasing comment, or a response to a recent posting by the message recipient. This is all
to say that the social dimensions of belonging to a team extend far beyond actual face-
to-face meetings to the many additional contacts, including texting, made possible by
Internet connections and the telephone.

Insight 10

Most people have a natural tendency to seek out the company of others. This tendency can
help to make teamwork more motivating and fulfilling than the same work undertaken alone.
10 Chapter 1 • Why Teams?

Your Turn

Compare a time when you accomplished a project or task by yourself with a time when you
accomplished a similar project or task as a member of a team. Which form of work was most
fulfilling to you? Which was most efficient? Why?

Summing Up
Teams offer many advantages as an or-
ganized way to accomplish tasks. First,
work teams have all the positive qualities
of sports teams in extending available
expertise, coordinating knowledge and
resources, and utilizing internal modes
of motivation. Second, teams provide a
means of achieving buy-in in politically
charged work environments, where oppo-
sing interests may resist accepting the
work product of any one constituency in
the organization. Third, teams act to censor
worthless ideas before they negatively
influence the development of decisions
and projects. Fourth, teams encourage
cross-training, with resulting advantages
to the company in case particular special-
ists are unavailable. Fifth, teams provide
more people to handle follow-up respon-
sibilities than in work accomplished by a
single individual. Finally, teams are often
fun work experiences. Such enjoyment
and satisfaction promotes employee loy-
alty, motivation, and commitment. A wide
variety of electronic connections made
possible by social networking sites and
cells phones have increased the social
aspects and advantages of belonging to a
team. More than ever, teamwork is con-
sidered more enjoyable by most employ-
ees than “lone contributor” work.
 2
Assessing Your Team
Experience and Insights
GOALS
䊏 Assess characteristics of effective team membership and leadership.
䊏 Discover evaluation instruments that can lead to productive discussion of team
issues.
䊏 Develop personal priorities for improvement in team skills.

T
he poet Robert Burns wished that “the gift God would give us/To see ourselves as
others see us.” His sentiment echoes that of Socrates: “Know thyself.” In both cases
we are being counseled to delve beneath the surface layers of self-congratulation
and image enhancement to learn what really makes us and others “tick” as team lead-
ers and members. The instruments and exercises contained in this chapter can prove
helpful in moving beyond subjective assessment (“What I think about myself”) to more
objective analysis (“How I appear to others”). Like the personality test contained in
Developing Leadership Abilities 2e (Bell/Smith, Prentice Hall, 2009), Chapter 2, these
instruments provide information that may indicate major tendencies, strengths, and
weaknesses in our individual portfolios of team skills. These test indications are best
used as a starting place for self-reflection and development rather than as a judgment of
any kind on one’s present or future potential as a team member or leader. The results
of these exercises are best used as the focus for in-depth discussion by all team members,
including the team leader. In some cases, you may want to complete the instruments
anonymously so that answers can be discussed without any threat to individuals on
the team.
11
12 Chapter 2 • Assessing Your Team Experience and Insights

EXERCISE 1 What Do You Expect of a Team Leader?

Directions: Put the following qualities associated with team leadership in order of your percep-
tion of importance, 1 through 11, with 1 being highest. Then compare your ranking with that
of seven years of surveys recently published in Best Practices1 magazine.
I believe a team leader should be (in order of importance):
Dependable
Straightforward
Broad-minded
Intelligent
Forward-looking
Honest
Imaginative
Courageous
Fair-minded
Inspiring
Competent

Here are the percentages of thousands of survey respondents who ranked the
importance of these qualities:
Honest 87%
Competent 74%
Forward-looking 67%
Inspiring 61%
Intelligent 46%
Fair-minded 42%
Broad-minded 38%
Courageous 35%
Straightforward 33%
Imaginative 32%
Dependable 31%

Insight 11

We each have different expectations of a team leader. The same leader can fulfill the expecta-
tions of some members of the team while disappointing other members. A team can usefully
discuss its expectations of leadership and communicate those expectations to the team leader.

1
“Establishing the Credibility Factor,” Best Practices, January 1999, p. 121.
 Chapter 2 • Assessing Your Team Experience and Insights 13

Your Turn

Choose two or more qualities that you ranked significantly higher than the survey respon-
dents. Explain why you believe the qualities you selected are of special importance for an
effective team leader.

EXERCISE 2 When the Team Makes a Mistake

Directions: Write down three mistakes for which a team could easily be forgiven or that could
be used without penalty as learning experiences, such as not keeping detailed minutes of their
team meetings. Once you have completed your three items, try to find them on the list of actu-
al team mistakes gathered from managers and supervisors by researcher Deborah Harrington-
Mackin; all mistakes in her list were judged as forgivable by these business professionals.
I believe teams can be easily pardoned for making the following mistakes:
1.
2.
3.
The following is Deborah Harrington-Mackin’s2 list of forgivable team mistakes. A team’s mis-
takes can be accepted and forgiven by management if:
• the mistake doesn’t have significant negative impact upon the company
• it is a first-time mistake, not part of a pattern
• team members were working outside the team’s usual area of responsibility
• the team member was following explicit instructions or proper procedures
• the team member was working with shared equipment that was not always available
• the team learns from the mistake and is able to say how it will be avoided in the future
• the mistake occurred within the scope of the team’s authority in pursuit of the team’s goals
• the team was really trying to do things right
• the team’s actions were consistent with the policies and rules of the company
• incorrect information was given to the team
• the team was taking initiative and reasonable risks
• procedures weren’t clearly defined by management
• different skill and ability levels of team members caused erratic results
• there were extenuating circumstances
• the situation was outside the team member’s control
• the error was not caused by negligence or lack of action
• there were unavoidable time constraints
• there was poor training

Insight 12

Knowing that your team can and will make pardonable mistakes frees each member of the
team to take risks, explore options, and “push the envelope” of imagination.

2
Harrington-Mackin, Deborah. Keeping the Team Going. New York: American Management Association, 1996, p. 15.
14 Chapter 2 • Assessing Your Team Experience and Insights

Your Turn

Recall a past job, perhaps a summer job, in which your boss at the time was critical of each
mistake you made as a new employee. (If you have not had this work experience, recall a per-
son in your life who has been too critical of your missteps.) How did you respond to the threat
of criticism hanging over your head? Did it help your work performance in any way? Did it
hinder that performance in any way?

EXERCISE 3 Who Pulls Your Strings as a Team Member?

Directions: Each member of the team, including the team leader, should complete the following
assessment, then compare and discuss results with one another. From its discussion of the
results of this instrument, the team can accurately appraise the various types and degrees of
influence perceived by the team.
For each worker category, circle the number that best represents your estimate of influ-
ence this worker category has on your performance as a team member:

Category Very High High Moderately High Some Little Very

CEO/president 6 5 4 3 2 1
Top managers 6 5 4 3 2 1
Mid-level managers 6 5 4 3 2 1
Team leader 6 5 4 3 2 1
Team members 6 5 4 3 2 1
Subordinates 6 5 4 3 2 1

Insight 13

Team members often seem as if they are acting in response to an unseen boss. Learning
who that perceived boss is can help team members distinguish their real priorities from imag-
ined ones.

Your Turn

Think about a time when you had to guess what your boss was thinking about you, your job,
and company operations. (This approach to management is called MBM—Management
by Mystery.) How did this uncertainty affect your work performance and attitude toward
your job?
 Chapter 2 • Assessing Your Team Experience and Insights 15

EXERCISE 4 Does the Team Control Its Own Destiny?

Directions: Circle the “a” or “b” option you most agree with for each pair of questions. Then
transfer your answers to the interpretive scoresheet. Your cumulative totals under the respec-
tive columns will indicate the degree to which you believe the team to be in control of its own
destiny or controlled by forces external to the team.
1. a. Team members must often deal with issues they do not understand and cannot control.
b. Team members understand most issues they deal with and have substantial control
in their decisions regarding those issues.
2. a. The value of the team’s work is usually determined by the hard work and insights of
the team members themselves.
b. The value of the team’s work usually depends on how well others in the organization
do their work.
3. a. A good team leader is born, not made.
b. Depending on the situation, any member of a good team can perform well in the role
of team leader.
4. a. Teams fail most often due to internal strife and lack of focus.
b. Teams fail most often because they lack organizational power and support.
5. a. The amount of support given to a team in an organization depends primarily on the
intelligence and fairness of top management.
b. The amount of support given to a team in an organization depends primarily on how
well the team makes its case for deserving support.
6. a. The success of a team is often due as much to good fortune or luck as to good work.
b. The success of a team is almost always due to the quality of its work.
7. a. Teams that make careful plans for their activities usually succeed.
b. Teams do better to remain flexible because changes in the marketplace and in organi-
zational priorities usually can’t be anticipated.
8. a. Being a valuable team member depends most of all on one’s previous level of power
in the organization.
b. Being a valuable team member depends most of all on one’s ability to listen well and
respond intelligently.
9. a. The work of competent teams is usually rewarded in the organization.
b. Organizational rewards go most often to teams with the right contacts inside and
outside the organization.
10. a. Team skills can be learned by almost all employees.
b. A significant percentage of employees could never learn to be good team members.

Scoresheet

Perception of External Control Over Team Perception of Internal Control Over Team
1a 1b
2b 2a
3a 3b
4b 4a
5a 5b
6a 6b
7b 7a
8a 8b
9b 9a
10b 10a
Totals
16 Chapter 2 • Assessing Your Team Experience and Insights

Insight 14

The issue of control is crucial for any team. Team members who feel that they have little to say
or do about their own destiny may show signs of discouragement and lack of initiative in
working on team projects.

Your Turn

Recall a time in your work or academic life when you had little control over the activities and
duties expected of you—you had to do them but had little choice over what, where, or when.
How did this lack of control affect your performance and attitude?

EXERCISE 5 How Effective Is the Team Leader?

Directions: Using the scoresheet provided, circle the number that comes closest to your opinion
for each statement. A total of all your circled scores will provide a single number measurement
of the leader’s effectiveness, at least in your opinion. The lower the final total score, the more
effective the team leader is in your view.
1. The team leader supports my efforts on the team.
2. The team leader usually goes along with decisions of the team.
3. The team leader accepts differences of opinion among team members.
4. The team leader makes good use of time spent in team meetings.
5. The team leader is a good listener to problems I face as a team member.
6. The team leader makes sure that I am fairly rewarded for my work on the team.
7. The team leader helps the team resolve its internal conflicts.
8. The team leader helps team members develop and improve.
9. The team leader leaves many important decisions up to the team.
10. The team leader treats all team members fairly.

Scoresheet

Strongly Slightly Slightly Strongly

Agree Agree Agree Disagree Disagree Disagree
1. 1 2 3 4 5 6
2. 1 2 3 4 5 6
3. 1 2 3 4 5 6
4. 1 2 3 4 5 6
5. 1 2 3 4 5 6
6. 1 2 3 4 5 6
7. 1 2 3 4 5 6
8. 1 2 3 4 5 6
9. 1 2 3 4 5 6
10. 1 2 3 4 5 6
Totals
Cumulative total of all scores:
 Chapter 2 • Assessing Your Team Experience and Insights 17

Team members should take this assessment anonymously and present scoresheets to the team
leader for review and discussion. Once these perceptions are known to the team leader, goals
can be set for both the team leader and team members to achieve more effective relations with
leadership.

Insight 15

Although team relationships depend on more than the leader’s action, this key figure has
much to do with the way team members think about themselves, their work, and the team
itself. By understanding their feelings about the team leader, team members can make the
most of the leader’s strengths and find ways to address his or her weaknesses.

Your Turn

Think about a time when you worked for or served under a leader you did not like or respect.
Did you communicate your feelings to this person in any way? How did your feelings toward
the leader influence your work performance and personal satisfaction in the position?

EXERCISE 6 Assessing My Participation in Team Meetings

Directions: Each team member and the team leader should fill out the following assessment as
soon as possible after a team meeting. Results should then be discussed openly as a direct
means of improving team relationships and interaction.
1. Where I sat during the meeting. Sketch your seating position in relation to other team
members.
2. How this seating position influenced my participation.
3. Types of participation during the team meeting. Place numbers in each blank according
to the following scale: 1—Agree; 2—Not sure; 3—Disagree.
I spoke up to initiate new ideas.
I spoke up to disagree with other speakers.
I spoke up to agree with other speakers.
I spoke up to offer additional information.
I spoke up with questions.
I spoke up to clarify points for others.
I spoke up to summarize points for others.
I spoke up in a humorous way related to the point at hand.
I spoke up in a humorous way unrelated to the point at hand.
I did not speak up.
Other forms of participation: (specify)
18 Chapter 2 • Assessing Your Team Experience and Insights

4. My attitudes toward participation. Place numbers in each blank according to the following
scale: 1—Agree; 2—Not sure; 3—Disagree.
I felt I expressed myself clearly and persuasively.
I felt I expressed myself clearly but not persuasively.
I felt that I did not express myself clearly or persuasively.
I felt that the team usually let me have my say.
I felt that I was usually cut off by other team members before having my say.
I felt that I spoke up too often.
I felt that I wanted to speak up more often but did not.
I felt that I spoke up too little.
I felt that I communicated an impatient attitude toward the meeting.
I felt that I communicated a discouraged attitude toward the meeting.
I felt that I communicated an upbeat, energetic attitude toward the meeting.

Insight 16

The usual forum for team gatherings is a meeting. A team member’s physical position in the
meeting room and ways of participating in the meeting itself can tell much about the team
member’s relationship to the rest of the team and that member’s contributions to the work of
the team.

Your Turn

Call to mind the last meeting you attended. In your view, was it a good, bad, or indifferent
meeting? Write out how you reached your judgment about the meeting. What aspects of the
meeting were important to you in arriving at your judgment?

Summing Up
Talking about what’s right and what’s
wrong with a team can often be difficult for
team members and the team leader. A
variety of exercises offer insightful questions
that should be answered by the entire
team. These answers can form the basis of
a productive discussion of team policies,
procedures, processes, and problems.
Another random document with
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 BATTLE OF RICH MOUNTAIN.

Colonel Lander called for twenty sharpshooters, who speedily left

the cannon without men to work them. Their places were filled by
others, when the Nineteenth Ohio, which had gained a position on
high ground in the rear, poured in a tremendous volley, and giving
loud cheers, rushed forward for a closer struggle. The Eighth and
Tenth immediately charged upon the guns and carried them, and
then the entire entrenchment. The enemy found it impossible to
resist the impetuous and daring onset, and broke up instantly in a
total rout. The action was short, but fiercely contested. One hundred
and forty rebels were found killed, while the Federal loss was only
twenty-five or thirty.
The victors attempted to follow the flying enemy, but after
proceeding a short distance were recalled, and formed in line, in
anticipation of an attack from the fort, at the foot of the mountain. It
appeared, however, that when their cannon ceased firing they gave
up all as lost, and deserted their works. General Rosecranz remained
on the field burying the dead, and taking care of the wounded, till
next morning, when he marched down to the fort with his forces, and
took possession. Several hundred prisoners were taken on the field,
and Colonel Pegram, after wandering about nearly two days without
finding a chance to escape, surrendered unconditionally to General
McClellan, with the remnant of his command, numbering six
hundred men.
 BATTLE OF CARRICK’S FORD.

July 13, 1861.

While these stirring events were transpiring, General Garnett,

hearing of the combined movements, and conscious that he would be
unable to maintain his position, or make a successful retreat if
defeated, withdrew his forces from the Laurel Hill camp, and was
proceeding towards Beverly, when he received intelligence of the
surrender of Colonel Pegram and the rapid advance of General
Rosecranz, accompanied by the intrepid Colonel Lander, towards the
spot he was himself approaching. He then struck off on the Leading
Creek Pike, half a mile from Leadsville, and commenced a rapid
retreat towards St. George, in Tucker county.
General Morris’s brigade entered the rebel camp at Beverly at 10 A.
M. of Friday, the 12th of July. At 11 o’clock the Federal troops detailed
to follow General Garnett started in pursuit, under Captain Benham.
The advance comprised Colonel Steedman’s Ohio Fourteenth,
Colonel Milroy’s Ninth and Colonel Dumont’s Seventh Indiana, and
two pieces of artillery, with forty men—total about eighteen hundred
and fifty. At two o’clock on the morning of the 13th they set out in a
pitiless storm, guided by the baggage, tents, trunks, blankets,
knapsacks, and clothing thrown away by the enemy. The roads had
been obstructed by the retreating foe. A guide, however, led them by
a cross-road, which enabled them to gain rapidly on the enemy. On
reaching the track again, it was found necessary to keep an advance
of axemen to clear the obstructions. This was performed with the
greatest zeal and alacrity, while the storm raged furiously around
them.
 About noon General Garnett had reached and passed Kahler’s
Ford, twelve miles from St. George. When the advance of the Federal
troops emerged from the ford they caught sight of the rear of the
enemy, and they were instantly nerved with new life. The retreating
Southerners were also excited, and redoubled their speed, if possible,
throwing away everything that encumbered their progress. General
Garnett had become thoroughly convinced that there was no
alternative but to make a stand, and thus test the question of
superiority without delay. He continued his course, however, until he
came to the fourth ford on the river, known as Carrick’s Ford, and
prepared to receive his pursuers. On the left bank of the river were
level bottom lands, cornfields, and meadows. On the right high bluffs
commanded the fields below, and its bank was thickly hedged in with
impenetrable thickets of laurel. Fording the river, and placing his
men on the high bluff on the right, they were completely concealed,
while the situation gave his artillery every advantage. The wagon
train was left standing in the river, evidently to mislead his pursuers
with the idea that they were unable to cross the rocky bed of the
stream. The Federal troops advanced to seize the train, and were
consequently within range of his artillery on the bluff.
The Federal columns pushed rapidly forward, Colonel Steedman’s
Fourteenth Ohio in front, and as they approached the teams their
drivers called out that they would surrender. The position, and the
conduct of the teamsters, however, excited the suspicions of the
regiment, and the men were disposed in order, with skirmishers
thrown out towards the ford, the line moving down after them in the
finest order. Just as the advance were approaching the stream, and
only about two hundred yards from the steep bluff on the other side,
an officer rose from the bushes and gave the order to fire.
Immediately a volley of musketry was followed by a discharge of
artillery. The Fourteenth Ohio and Seventh Indiana were directly
under the fire, and returned it, doing good execution, while that of
the enemy flew harmlessly over their heads. The Fourteenth Ohio,
being nearest the ford, were almost exclusively aimed at, and for a
time the storm of war was frightful. The roar of cannon, the crashing
of trees, the bursting of the shells, and quick volleys of musketry
made the wild scene of terrible and appalling havoc. Amid it all our
men stood undaunted, and returned the fire with great rapidity, and
in superior order. Burnett’s artillery then came up, and opened, and
under cover of their fire the Seventh Indiana was directed to cross
the river and climb the bluff on the enemy’s left. They made the
attempt, and two companies had already reached the top, when they
were directed to descend and make the ascent so as to turn the
enemy’s right. Colonel Dumont led his men down the stream with
such dispatch, that the enemy could not turn his pieces upon them
until they were concealed from view by the smoke, and beyond the
guns on the bluff. During this movement the Fourteenth Ohio, and
Colonel Milroy’s Ninth Indiana, with our artillery, kept up a brisk fire
in front, until suddenly Colonel Dumont’s men, having scaled the
bluff, appeared on the right, and poured in a volley. The appearance
of our troops there was the signal for a retreat, and the enemy
instantly broke up in rout and disorder, precipitately flying from the
field.
Our regiments and artillery then crossed the river in hot pursuit.
At a distance of a quarter of a mile the road again crosses the stream,
and General Garnett sought in vain to rally his troops at this point.
Major Gordon of the Seventh Indiana led the advance, and soon
reached the spot where General Garnett, on the opposite side of the
river, was endeavoring to rally his forces around him. Gordon called
upon Captain Ferry’s company, and ordered them to fire. The rebels
greeted Major Gordon with one volley and fled. General Garnett
turned to call his men, and motioned them back, but all in vain. At
this moment, Sergeant Burlingame, of Captain Ferry’s company,
raised his piece, took aim, and fired. General Garnett fell backward,
his head lying towards our forces, and with open mouth, as though
gasping for breath. He uttered not a groan, and when Major Gordon
reached him, a few moments afterwards, he was just expiring. The
Major stooped down, tenderly closed his eyes, disposed his limbs,
and left a guard of loyal soldiers around him to protect all that
remained of the chivalrous and honored, but mistaken leader of
Western Virginia.
Every Virginian among the followers of this gallant man fled, and
left him to fall and expire alone. But a young soldier wearing the
Georgia uniform and button, sprang to his side, only to share his
fate, for a musket shot answered this devotion with death, and he fell
side by side with his commander. The Federal troops, even in the
glow of victory, stopped to pay a tribute of respect to this generous
youth. They placed a board at his grave and cut rudely upon it, “A
brave fellow, who shared his General’s fate and fell fighting by his
side. Name unknown.”
The loss of our troops was killed, two; wounded, twelve. The
enemy lost eight on the field, three died in hospital, and ten others
were wounded. A large number of prisoners were taken, including six
Georgia captains and lieutenants, a surgeon, and a number of non-
commissioned officers. Beside prisoners, there were also captured
two stands of colors, one rifled cannon, forty loaded wagons,
hundreds of muskets and side arms, with other effects of various
kinds.
This action is honorable in the highest degree to all engaged in it.
They had pursued and overtaken an enemy who had twelve hours
advance; they had made a forced march of nearly thirty miles in less
than twenty-four hours, over the worst of roads, and with scarcely
any food, some of the men having been without nourishment for
thirty-six hours. They then fought a battle, cut off the enemy’s
baggage train, captured their cannon, routed their army, and found
themselves in full possession of the field. The day and the event will
ever be memorable, and Ohio and Indiana may well be proud of their
sons.
The remainder of General Garnett’s army effected their escape
through the Cheat Mountain Gap, which was seized and fortified by
General McClellan. In these two engagements 150 of the enemy were
killed, 300 wounded, upwards of 1000 prisoners were taken, and
nearly all their war material fell into the hands of the victors.
The loyal troops were too much exhausted by the incessant labors
and privations of their three days’ struggle to pursue the scattered
and dispirited enemy any further through the mountains, and went
into camp at Huttonville and Laurel Hill, to await the next call to
duty. General McClellan closed his dispatch of July 14th, with the
words, “I firmly believe that secession is killed in this section of the
country.”
During the battle an incident illustrating the coolness, bravery and
generosity of Colonel Lander towards a brave foeman occurred, that
deserves honorable mention. The horse of the Colonel had been shot
from under him, and he, dismounted, had taken his stand upon a
rock directly in front of a rebel gun. Discharging musket after
musket, as fast as they could be loaded for him, he remained a noted
mark for the enemy to shoot at. At a short distance, all the men
belonging to a cannon of the Confederates had been shot down or
fled, and their Lieutenant was undauntedly serving and firing it,
single-handed. Three times had it belched forth flame and ball, when
Colonel Lander, noticing the bravery of the man, called out to him—
“If you fire that gun again you are a dead man!”
“Sir, I shall fire it as long as I have life in my body!” was the cool,
fearless and curt reply.
This was an instance of noble courage well calculated to be
appreciated by a true soldier, and the Union Colonel, leaping from
the rock, shouted to his men—
“Boys, that is too brave a man for me to kill.”

On the 21st of July the Federal army under General McDowell,

having suffered severely, and retreated from Manassas, General
McClellan, who by his achievements had earned a brilliant prestige,
was ordered, on the 22d, to Washington, to take command of the
Department of the Potomac, and General Rosecranz was appointed
to succeed him in the Department of the Ohio.
 THE WEST.

Comprehended within the boundaries of that noble portion of our

country called “The West,” is a people who can justly claim to be not
only of the best muscle and nerve of the land, but second to none in
intellectual vigor and sterling integrity of character. A single thought
tells us how just this claim is. The West was settled by the picked
men and women of the old States. When the sloping-roofed
farmhouses of New England became too circumscribed for the sons
and daughters that filled them, the most enterprising members of a
household left the rest to till the homestead acres while they went
forth into the wilderness to cut the forest trees away, and let
sunshine into the shadowy bosom of the woods, to build their log
cabins in the first clearing, and so work out a sure independence for
themselves, as they became benefactors to the world.
In the end both position and wealth followed these daring
pioneers. As the roving Indian slowly retreated from the frontier
which was stretching westward every hour, sweeping the wilderness
away with it, he found the rich earth lavish of her returns for his self-
sacrifice and his labor. He drank in enlargement of thought and
purpose from amid the luxuriant prairies and vast wilderness which
spread its untrodden bosom between his home and the Rocky
Mountains. He watched the Father of Rivers cleaving the best
portions of a continent with his broad waters, and drank in lessons of
true freedom which will never lose their value to his descendants.
With a rifle for his companion and an axe for his best friend, the
backwoodsman of America learned the art of border warfare, and
trained himself in a school of hardship that made his sinews firm as
iron and capable of resisting any fatigue.
With hearts and minds expanding with the boundless scenes
around them, these adventurous men grew so careless of danger that
the word fear was blotted from their lexicon long before the present
generation came into existence.
Is it strange that the descendants of such men should be open-
handed, grand-hearted and brave, as we have found them in this war
for our common Union? The enthusiasm of the old men who have
dropped quietly away into their western graves, has broken forth
anew in this younger generation. Like a spark of fire dropped upon a
prairie in the autumn, their enthusiasm is easily enkindled. A single
word against the old flag, one sacrilegious touch upon its flagstaff,
was enough to rouse them into action. Nowhere on earth is the stars
and stripes held more sacred than in the West. The first ball that cut
through the flag at Fort Sumter aroused the old pioneer blood into
determined and terrible resistance.
The history of the Mexican war is a record of what western men
can do on the battle-field—charges at which even their countrymen
who knew them wondered—sufferings patiently endured, marches
that taxed the strongest—all these things have proved of what true
metal the West is made. With war-wreaths dyed in blood at Cerro
Gordo, baptized in fire at Chapultepec, and rendered immortal at
Buena Vista, these men were not likely to see their own Government
turned upon without rising as one man to defend it.
Through the golden grain and the rustling cornfields of the West,
the news of the bombardment of Sumter, the attack at Baltimore,
and the call of the President, rushed like one of its own tornadoes
from city to village, from farm-house to cabin. The news ran and the
answer came thunder-toned. The old man took down his rifle from
the antler bracket on the cabin wall. His son left the plow in its
furrow, and all classes and conditions of men came forward with
brave hearts and ready hands, and laid them on the altar of their
country.
The watchfires of freedom were kindled, and on every hill and
through the valleys poured a tide of armed men, unconquerable and
resistless. These western men took the field, ready at once for the
deadly strife. Their entire lives had been one incessant training for
the hardships and dangers of war. They had but one regret—that
their march was against brothers armed against the nation—all else
was merged in the glorious thought that they, the very children of
liberty, had the power to yield up everything, even life, and home,
that a great country should be maintained in every inch of its soil and
every right of its people.
Long had the great West toiled to feed the starving nations of the
earth. Long had she poured from her overflowing storehouses
countless millions of food into the waiting lap of the needy
manufacturing countries. From her great wealth of food she had
always been ready to feed the world. When the war-cry aroused her,
she was just as strong and just as prompt to fight the world. The
national honor was hers to reverence and avenge. The old flag—its
emblem and its glory—who should spring to its rescue if not the
West? Did not a chain of crystal lakes crown her at the north, clasped
together by the eternal emeralds of Niagara? Was not the
Mississippi, her great highway to the gulf, a mighty thoroughfare,
which no force should wrest from her while she had power to hold its
banks with serried walls of steel? Was this river, the pathway of her
greatness, one source of her renown, to be blocked up while she
could cleave her own mountains asunder, and force them to give
forth iron for gunboats, or gather lead from her bosom to mould into
bullets? Not while these people could turn their workshops into
manufactories of war-missiles, and their prairie steeds into chargers,
should an enemy—brother or stranger—take one right from the West
by force. This was the stern resolve of our pioneer men when the
war-trumpet rang over the prairies of the West, and quick to act as
prompt to resolve, her people arose as one man. There was no cavil
about trifles then. Her fertile fields were stripped of their wealth, and
her prairies of their cattle to furnish food—not alone to furnish food
for themselves, but for the armies of the East. Soon her rivers
swarmed with iron-clad gunboats, and her railways became military
roads—her cities tented fields, her palaces recruiting offices, her
cabins free homes for soldiers when their faces turned toward the
war.
The West was impatient of nothing but delay—but she chafed
wildly at any obstacle that impeded the progress of her armies.
How well these men have fought, and with what heroism they have
suffered, let the record we are about to make of Henry, Donelson,
Pittsburgh Landing, and many another bravely contested point,
answer. Let the noble hearts stilled in death, and countless graves
upon which the tender grass is now springing, answer.
 With battle songs on their lips they marched away from their
homes, with battle cries upon their lips many of them fell gloriously,
never to see those homes again. If the West has been brave in war, so
will she prove generous when Peace shall come. The nation they have
helped to save, and those in revolt, when true brotherhood comes
back, will yet give the West a monument worthy of its fame.
 MISSOURI.

The geographical position of Missouri is such, that if thrown into

the scale, she would weigh heavily either for or against the Union.
When the war broke out her people were divided, though the
majority were believed to be loyal to the Constitution; and when the
Governor refused to meet the requisition of the President for troops
to sustain the national flag, Hon. Frank P. Blair and other prominent
citizens of the State, replied, on their personal responsibility, that the
quota of four regiments should be raised, without either the aid of
the Governor or his consent. In order to give character and legality to
their proceedings, and to guard against the power of the State rulers,
Captain Nathaniel Lyon, of the United States army, then in
command of the Arsenal at St. Louis, was directed by the
Government, on the 30th of April, to enrol in the military service of
the United States, from the loyal citizens of the city and vicinity,
10,000 men, for the purpose of maintaining the authority of the
Government—for the protection of the peaceable inhabitants of
Missouri, and to guard against any attempt on the part of the
secessionists to gain military possession of the city of St. Louis.
Captain Lyon was also instructed that this force should be disbanded
when the emergency ceased to exist.
Recruiting offices were opened, under his direction, the loyal
citizens were prompt in their response, and on the 2d of May,
Colonel F. B. Blair announced that the four regiments called for from
that State had been enrolled, equipped, and mustered into service.
The Police Commissioners of St. Louis had called upon Captain
Lyon, on the opening of recruiting stations, and demanded the
removal of the United States troops from all places and buildings
occupied by them in the city outside of the Arsenal grounds, but he
declined compliance, and the Commissioners referred the matter to
the Governor and the Legislature, alleging that such occupancy was
derogatory to the Constitution of the United States—that Missouri
had “sovereign and exclusive jurisdiction over her entire territory,”
and had delegated a portion of that territory only (the Arsenals, etc.,)
to the United States for military purposes.
 CAPTURE OF CAMP JACKSON.

In response to Governor Jackson’s order directing the military in

certain districts to go into encampments for the purpose of
improvement in the tactics of war, a camp had been formed at
Lindell’s Grove, in the suburbs of St. Louis, called “Camp Jackson.”
On the 4th of May it was inaugurated, under the charge of General D.
M. Frost, and within a week numbered 800 men. Having received
intelligence that it was the purpose of Captain Lyon to break up this
encampment, General Frost addressed him a letter, dissuasive in its
tone—disclaiming any intention on the part of himself and men of
hostility to the Government, and containing an offer to preserve the
public peace and guard the property of the United States.
The answer to this, was the surrounding of the camp by 5,000
Federal troops, and the following notice from Captain Lyon:
“Sir,—Your command is regarded as hostile towards the
Government of the United States. It is, for the most part, made up of
those who have avowed their hostility to the General Government,
and have been plotting for the seizure of its property and the
overthrow of its authority. You are openly in communication with the
so-called Southern Confederacy, which is now at war with the United
States, and you are receiving at your camp, from the said
Confederacy and under its flag, large supplies of material of war,
most of which is known to be the property of the United States.
These extraordinary preparations plainly indicate none other than
the well-known purpose of the Governor of this State, under whose
orders you are acting; and whose purpose, recently communicated to
the Legislature, has just been responded to by that body in the most
unparalleled legislation, having in direct view hostilities to the
General Government and co-operation with its enemies.”
 Actuated by these considerations, and also by the failure to break
up the camp, in obedience to the Presidential Proclamation of April
15th, Captain Lyon demanded its immediate surrender. After a hasty
consultation with his officers, General Frost complied, and the place
was surrendered unconditionally. But when the result was
announced to the troops, it was received with the wildest yells, curses
and groans. Some railed out against treachery, but the more loyal
were rejoiced at the prospect of escaping from what they
denominated a school of secession. Numbers of outsiders, also, when
the news became known, rushed into the camp and gave loud voice
to their feelings of indignation. The camp had in reality become a
vast mob. Hurrahs for Jeff. Davis were given—many of the now
disarmed soldiers joining in them. The United States troops were
insulted in every possible manner, and rowdyism ruled the hour
triumphantly. Officers had broken their swords and privates their
guns before surrendering them. The task of marching the men out
was a work of great difficulty, but at last it was accomplished, and the
prisoners surrounded by two files of loyal troops. This act brought
the fury of the mob to a climax, and when most of the troops had left,
the few German soldiers that brought up the rear were attacked by
the crowd, and showers of stones rattled upon them. The Federals
presented their muskets, for the purpose of intimidating the mob,
but without avail. The order to fire at length became necessary. It
was given and executed with terrible effect, and the swiftly retreating
mob left behind them from thirty to forty of their number, either
dead or lying on the ground weltering in blood.
Many of the prisoners took the oath of fidelity to the Constitution
and the laws, and were set free. A large amount of arms,
ammunition, stores, camp equipage and stock was seized.
The event roused the secessionists in the city of St. Louis to the
highest fury, and the night was made hideous by bloody encounters,
in which several lives were lost.
The Legislature, then in session at Jefferson City, alarmed by these
vigorous measures on the part of the Government, passed, the same
afternoon, a “Military Bill,” authorizing the Governor to call out and
equip the State militia, and appropriating all the available funds of
the State for that purpose, in addition to the issuing of bonds to the
amount of $1,000,000, and authority to borrow $500,000 from the
State banks. The bill also gave to the Governor supreme authority in
all military matters, and subjected every able-bodied man in the
State to such authority, under penalty of $150 fine. The telegraph
was seized by order of Governor Jackson, and the bridges on roads
leading from St. Louis destroyed, from fear that Federal troops might
reach Jefferson City by railroad and arrest the conspirators.
The loyal citizens of St. Louis trembled for their safety—fearful
alike of an uprising of the secessionists in their midst and invasion
from without. The “Home Guard” was organized—a reserve of
volunteers proceeded to the arsenal for arms, and to take the oath of
fealty, and other measures adopted for defence. On the afternoon of
the 11th, a body composed mostly of Germans was assailed by a mob
on their return from the arsenal. A fierce struggled ensued, and
several were killed on either side.
The following day Brigadier-General Harney, of the regular army,
reached St. Louis, and assumed command of the Military
Department. Being himself a citizen of Missouri, and enjoying the
confidence of the people in a very large degree, his presence
produced a marked and salutary effect. By proclamation he
demonstrated the madness and futility of any attempt to withdraw
the State from her allegiance, and gave warning that any disturbance
would be promptly suppressed. On the 14th he issued a second
proclamation, declaring the “Military Bill” in conflict with the
Constitution and laws of the United States, and therefore a nullity—
equivalent to an ordinance of secession, and cautioned all good
citizens against obeying it. The geographical position of the State,
and her best interests, he asserted, rendered it absolutely necessary
that she should remain in the Union, no matter what might be the
position of the cotton States; and he emphatically declared that the
whole power of the United States would be exerted, if necessary, to
keep her within the national domain.
But secession influences were exceedingly active in almost all parts
of the State, and the fact that the Governor and members of the
Legislature were disorganizers, occasioned great apprehension in
regard to her future destiny. The neighboring States of Iowa, Illinois,
and Kansas made tender of liberal aid to the loyal men of Missouri,
whenever required, to maintain their rights and their freedom. The
secessionists now threw off their disguise, and resorted to violent
aggressions and bitter persecutions of Union men. Many loyal
citizens of Potosi, Washington county, seventy miles from St. Louis,
were driven from the town, and their property injured or
appropriated by the rebels.
Previous to the arrival of General Harney at St. Louis, Captain
Nathaniel Lyon was commissioned a brigadier-general, having
command of all the troops at St. Louis. On Tuesday, the 14th of May,
he sent Captain Cole, of the Fifth Missouri Volunteers, with one
hundred and fifty men, to Potosi, who surrounded the town before
daylight, and arrested about one hundred and fifty persons. They
were marched to the court-house, and fifty of them required to give
parole not to take up arms against the Government. Nine of the
leaders were taken to the St. Louis arsenal. On his return to St. Louis,
Captain Cole led his troop through De Soto, Jefferson county, where
a body of secession cavalry was collected, who fled at his approach.
Thirty of their horses were captured by Captain Cole, and a large
secession flag seized, which they had just raised on a pole in the
town, and the stars and stripes elevated in its place.
On the 21st of May, General Harney was induced by Price to enter
into an arrangement which was professedly designed to “allay
excitement,” and “restore peace;” and for this common object, the
“general officers of the Federal and State Governments were to be
respected.” Price was recognized as “having by commission full
authority over the militia of the State,” to direct the whole power of
the State officers, and to maintain order. General Harney admitted
that this, faithfully performed, was all he required; and that he had
no wish to make any “military movements” on his part. This was all
that Price desired. Having by these plausible pretences tied the
hands of General Harney, knowing that he would regard his
obligations, the secession leaders continued their plots, and took
measures for consummating the rebellion in the State. Loyal men in
Missouri, as well as in other States, soon perceived the situation of
affairs. The General Government became cognizant of the
embarrassment in which General Harney was placed, and to release
him from his engagements with General Price, as well as to secure
the most efficient action at this stage of the rebellion, relieved him
and appointed General Lyon to the command. Under his
administration, vigorous, all-observant, prompt, and decisive,
General Price found himself under a pressure very different from
what he had anticipated.

SECTION OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

SHOWING THE DISTANCES FROM

NEW ORLEANS, AND THE ISLANDS
BY THEIR NUMBERS.
SECTION OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

SHOWING THE DISTANCES FROM

NEW ORLEANS, AND THE ISLANDS
BY THEIR NUMBERS.
 CAIRO.

The most important strategic point in the West at this time was the
city of Cairo, situated at the extreme southern point of the State of
Illinois, at the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, where the
latter river separates it from Missouri, and the former from
Kentucky. It completely commands both streams, and in a military
point of view may be properly considered as the key to what is
usually denominated “the Great North-west.”
The Illinois Central railroad connects it with Chicago, the greatest
grain city of the world—with Lake Michigan, and the chain of lakes,
and with the vast net work of railroads that branch from thence
eastward. On the Missouri bank of the Mississippi river, two miles
distant, is Ohio city, the initial point of the Cairo and Fulton railroad,
designed to be extended to the Red river, in Arkansas, and thence to
Galveston, in Texas. Twenty miles below, on the Kentucky side of the
same giant river, is Columbus, which was soon after occupied and
fortified by the rebel troops.
As soon as General Lyon was vested with supreme command in
Missouri, one of his first steps was to order a body of Federal troops
to take possession of Cairo, under General Prentiss, who
immediately proceeded thither, with 6,000 men, and commenced
fortifying the place.
On the 28th of May, Bird’s Point, on the Missouri side of the river,
a commanding position, was also occupied, by direction of General
Lyon, by the Fourth Missouri Volunteers, under the command of
Colonel Schuttner.
On the 11th of June, Governor Jackson, at his own instance,
accompanied by General Price, had an interview with General Lyon
and Colonel Blair at St. Louis, when he requested that the United
States troops should be withdrawn from the soil of Missouri. General