The Team - Leader/Member

Effective teamwork relies on open communication, specific feedback, and realistic goals.

The significance of effective teamwork in leadership and management - (Dr Claude H. A. Simpson).

The leader should bear the most responsibility and be willing to set things straight by addressing and correcting the mistakes. Leading the team means taking on the responsibility of success or failure. Therefore, the leader should be accountable for such responsibility. Notwithstanding the fact, though, the team member should bear some amount of responsibility and be held jointly responsible. If the leader effectively communicates the goals and appropriately delegates the tasks, then, in that case, the onus should be on both the leader and the team to reap success or to acknowledge and admit the responsibility of failure. However, mistakes can be used as opportunities for growth instead of battling a failed outcome.

The truth will always stare you in the face. In any setting, one is inclined to think that the leader has the answer and can provide a solution to the problem. Self-reflection is critical; the leader should review, analyze, and evaluate the issue, check off the pros and the mistakes, and then seek to address the problem. The leader should shoulder the responsibility when things go wrong, accept the blame, and strive to correct the mistake. I hasten to add that the leader should provide the necessary guidance to accomplish the goals, so any success or failure should be the leader’s responsibility. The leader should be accountable for motivating the team to achieve the goals.

Feedback is always essential in any system to improve performance. Explicit feedback is an area of clarity that serves for better understanding, guides us on the right track, and is used as a route to accomplish organizational goals. Here, a leader should strive to engage in clear and open communication geared toward improvement consistently. As a leader, you should encourage regular, open, and honest feedback and, at times, a two-way feedback setting, especially if clear expectations are set to move the organization forward.
Creating clear expectations is vital as it hinges on accountability and success in achieving the goals. With a hardworking project team, setting measurable and achievable objectives with a clear pathway to the goals should lead to success. Incorporating the goals and expectations of a project should bring clarity to the project's success. So, as you move along with your project and endeavor to streamline "clear expectations" consistently, you will undoubtedly reap success and achieve your goals.

As for the manager and employee work relationship, time working together may reveal some redeeming qualities and bring clarity to personality traits, especially one’s behavior. As a leader, you may have to make some crucial decisions that may breed dislike, but understanding the other party’s reason is a step forward. It is wise to communicate the behaviors on both sides, you and your team member, and at the same time, try not to resort to fear tactics. Building trust is critical in enhancing work relations. Criticism offers us the opportunity to learn and improve. Seeing, identifying, and utilizing the skills of your employees is an excellent way to counter delegating responsibility so that you can spend time with the employee to interact and offer guidance where necessary. You are the leader, so the onus is on you to make crucial decisions.

A middle manager’s position is pivotal and interesting, as that position is an essential link and an effective liaison among upper-management executives, lower-level management, and employees. As I see it, nowadays, the culture in an organization is driven by a bottom-up leadership approach. Understandably, the new culture is generated from activities, social awareness, internal communication, and community demands from the working class to advance this work-life culture, a bottom-up approach where communication and collaboration at all levels are integral. The culture gap in many organizations is closing as the desired culture is better seen as the culture that will drive the organization to success.

A proactive leader will push and uphold the organization’s vision and mission to achieve the best outcome. As you try to understand the employees and treat them with care and respect, it is incumbent that you establish equal opportunity for all and encourage professional development. Similarly, as you embrace the changing culture of your organization, giving heartfelt support to your employees and supervisors, you are, in effect, leading by example. A leader/manager must garner support across the board, reflecting a bottom-up approach to drive the organizational culture change, as it is essential to receive buy-in and build trust to achieve the desired cultural change.