Model The Way: Team Analysis

After taking the test and receiving my results, I was not surprised by what I saw. I scored moderate in Model the Way, moderately high in Inspire a Shared Vision, moderately low in Challenge the Process, High in Enable Others to Act and Encourage the Heart. The three observers were teammates from a previous class (MGMT 313) taken earlier this year. We were assigned as a team in the beginning of the quarter and worked on multiple projects together. The leadership roles between my teammates and I switched depending on our strengths and weaknesses considering the project.

I am the most comfortable with Enable Others to Act and Encourage the Heart because it is the most natural to me in a leadership setting. I consider these leadership behaviors

strengths because making others feel important and motivated leads to team cohesion as well as better results on projects. Enable Others to Act is a strength because it can be used to build relationships and gain knowledge about my fellow teammates to help collaboration amongst the team. By knowing my team, I can strengthen their self-determination which in turn will give them more confidence and believe in the team’s purpose.
Encourage the Heart is a strength because it makes working harder easier knowing that someone appreciates it. Even though a person is a part of a team, recognition for individual excellence makes a difference because not everyone is the same and does the same job. The team may be working towards a common goal but everyone is a piece to the puzzle and contributes different assets. By acknowledging a teammates’ accomplishments, you show that you have been observing their efforts and that they did a good job.
I am moderately comfortable in Inspire a Shared Vision because I like being a part of a team and working with others.

For example, when I played on sports teams, I often dreamed about making it to the playoffs with my teammates and the journey we would experience together to get there. Once we made it to that place, or didn’t, it was satisfying to see the work we did collectively and how the team evolved over time. Leaders should believe in dreams and visions because if they didn’t, what would people work for? A dream drives and inspires a leader which will then influence their teammates to commit and aspire to that vision as

well.
Model the Way is a leadership behavior that I am moderately comfortable with and need more practice in, an opportunity to improve.

I know my guiding principles and that I have a voice but tend to not express it. Creating a leadership philosophy helped with voicing my values and what I believed in so in the future I can clearly state them to my co-workers or teammates. Though a leader should know their own values and guiding principles it doesn’t stop there, it matters what others values or guiding principles are too. If a leader can understand others values and differences, they can align their colleagues’ values with their own. This makes it easier to agree on decisions if everyone shares the same values because if not, it will create conflict and false expectations.

The leadership practice that I am least comfortable with is Challenge the Process because I don’t necessarily like quick changes as well as taking risks. I, personally, am not a risk taker and don’t favor the unknown. This is a weakness and an opportunity for improvement because leaders don’t wait for an opportunity, they go out and seek one. With taking risks, leaders can create an atmosphere of experimentation which will open doors for improvement. Mistakes and failures are bound to happen so accepting that fact and learning from them will only enhance my leadership and make me more comfortable with

change.
The observers agreed with most of my self-evaluation except for one category, Model the Way. My self-evaluation scored higher in this area than my observers because I thought I expressed my values and demonstrated them during our projects but their scores tell a slightly different story. Looking back, I could have made my values more transparent so my teammates had a better understanding of what I stood for. Other than that, the observers agreed with my self-evaluation because their scores exceeded mine in all the other leadership behaviors.
The observers agreed with each other mostly across the board but there are a few leadership practices that reveal differences between the observers. Throughout the whole report, Observer 2 and 3 often had the same scores for a behavior while Observer 1 would be 1 or 2 off. For example, in the leadership practice Inspire a Shared Vision, Observer 2 and 3 scored me higher (4 and 5) in the behaviors concerning describing idea capabilities and showing others how their interests can be realized while Observer 1 scored rather low (2). The two leadership practices that were consistently high amongst all the observers were Enable Others to Act and Encourage the Heart while Challenge the Process was consistently low. In the leadership practice of Challenge the Process, each of the behaviors had a wide range of scores but leaned towards the lower end.
The observer and self-evaluation lines on the graph are similar except for in the category of Model the Way (the self-evaluation was higher). The pattern of the graph is consistent in all other practices which determines that the observers and myself have a common viewpoint. The observers’ lines were often somewhat higher than my own because I am harder on myself but collectively, myself and the observers were alike.
I think my scores came out this way because while I was working with that team, I focused on encouraging others and motivating our team to the project done as a unit which answers why I scored high in Enable Others to Act and Encourage the Heart. I didn’t necessarily focus on what I represented or stood for, such as my values and guiding principles, so it is understandable why I scored moderate in Model the Way. When I collaborated, and worked with my team, I concentrated on the projects that we were working on in that moment. Without giving any consideration to what changes we could have made to improve our future projects in the class reduced our growth and I believe that is why I scored moderate in the leadership practice of Inspire a Shared Vision. In the past, I focused on getting the work done and moving forward, by not searching for different opportunities or innovations to make our projects better, I believe it withheld my team from becoming superior and that is why I scored so low on Challenge the Process. It means that there is always room to improve and this report clearly identified what I need to work on.

Action Plan
1. I would like to get better at “Model the Way”. I would like to become more comfortable with expressing and implementing my values amongst my teammates and aligning my actions with those shared values.

2. I will make a goal of asking for feedback at least once a day whether it is classmate, a professor, or a teammate and make a note (actual written note) to hang up where I can see it every day. I want to have more critical incidents such as opportunities to clearly point out my values and act upon them. I will demonstrate this by arriving to class or a meeting at least 10 minutes early to emphasis punctuality and telling my teammates that it is important to me, especially if we are meeting with a client. By expressing my values, it can create a shared value among my team and further enhance our cohesion.

3. First step: Approach a classmate and ask them for feedback at the end of next class.
Action: Every class period, I will ask someone how I can improve and how they would like to see what they said implemented. I will write this feedback down in my notebook and then on a sticky note so when I place it on my desk at home, I will be able to see it every day and be mindful on working on those things. My first sticky note will be after my classes on Monday.
People involved: My project teammates, family, and friends
Target date: I will begin on Monday, April 24th.
4. I will know I have improved in this leadership skill when I don’t hesitate to share my values with others in my group and act upon what I believe in.

5. I will review my progress on May 23rd.

Action Plan
1. I would like to become better at “Inspire a Shared Vision”. I would like to become more comfortable with thinking about future opportunities, imagining possibilities, and communicating with my teammates on what they think our team is capable of.

2. I will allocate more time to thinking or discussing the future with my team and collaborating on how we can do it together. Two times a week, I will make a goal to sit down by myself and write in my notebook at least one vision I have of the future (one for individual and team projects), meet with my team and talk about it. I will ask them to share a least one vision they have thought of as well. This will contribute to creating a shared vision among my teammates and I while having mutual understanding of what we all want.

3. First step: Write one vision I have for this up-coming week.
Action: Two nights out of the week, I will sit at my desk and think about what I or my team has accomplished to determine what our next step will be in the future. I will write down my thoughts and ideas in my school notebook so after class or during our team meetings, I can share them and inquire about my teammates views. I will begin by bringing a vision to my next class on Monday.
People involved: My teammates, family, and friends
Target date: I will begin on Monday, April 24th.
4. I will know I have improved in this leadership skill when I routinely think about future possibilities and ask my fellow teammates their thoughts on a regular basis.

5. I will review my progress on May 24th.

Action Plan
1. I would like to become better at “Challenge the Process”. I would like to become more comfortable with searching for initiatives and trying to make something happen in a timely manner.

2. I will start by looking for opportunities outside of my comfort zone as well as if something is staying the same, make a change to challenge myself or my team to be better. I will make a goal to write down once a week one action that will be a challenge and express my passion for it. I want to understand why it is a challenge and having a passion will help me overcome it.

3. First step: Write down a challenge that I will face this up-coming week.

Action: Before every school week, I think about what is ahead and what the challenges will be. I will write down each challenge in my notebook and plan how I will act and conquer the issue. After that week, I will look back at what I wrote and see if I completed the challenge or not. If I did, I will start on the next week’s challenge but if not, I won’t move on until I have and make a note on how to improve the process. I will begin this week on Sunday.

People involved: My teammates, family, and friends.

Target date: I will begin on Monday, April 23th.

4. I will know I have improved in this leadership skill when I don’t avoid hardships but feel excited for the opportunity to overcome it.

5. I will review my progress on May 24th.