W 320 long Answers

Describe the monitoring function of team leadership. How does it change in a fast-paced environment?

Functions as tool to assess whether the leader needs to step in and repair problem. Includes continual scanning and observing both the internal functions of the team and the team's environment, as well as the need to gather, analyze, organize, and interpret information to make informed decisions.

What conditions will it take for research on followership to become as popular as research on leadership? Consider global, cultural, or societal conditions.

Answers will vary. Students may acknowledge that followership research is in its infancy and, unlike leadership research, lacks formal theories based on empirical data. However, interest in followership is growing. Students may discuss various changes occurring in society that are putting followership in a brighter spotlight. Those changes include the evolution of organizational hierarchies into flatter dimensions where positional, authoritative leadership is falling out of fashion and leadership is shared. That is, with the rise in our knowledge that 'good' leadership is relational (with contemporary follower-focused frameworks such as Transformational, Servant, Authentic, and Adaptive leadership), it is more likely that the other side of the leadership equation--followership--is next to be studied. Another factor is globalization and the mixture of various cultures inside organizations, especially cultures with a collective 'we' orientation that value the good of the group and those cultures that may be less leader-centric. Finally, students may discuss the rise in our awareness of toxic leaders in various domains around the globe and how fields such as politics, business, athletic administration, and others will be examining the phenomenon of people following destructive leaders and how followers can influence change.

Gender is not mentioned as a relevant factor in this model, but has been mentioned in other chapters of our textbook. How would Watson and Hoffman (2004) predict that male and female leaders would be perceived when using the team leadership model? What would you predict?

Because so much of the decision making in the team leadership model is task related, Watson and Hoffman would predict equal influence and team performance outcomes for men and women leaders. However, women leaders would be rated lower on likability and leadership, which might affect team effectiveness factors such as collaborative climate. If the decision-making process involved more internal relational decisions, one might expect women to be rated equal to men or perhaps even more highly.

The communications director for a national political candidate noticed that the campaign's speechwriting team was feeling unmotivated and underappreciated because no one at campaign headquarters had ever recognized them for their hard work. The communications director decided to produce a series of short, fun videos profiling each speechwriter and shared it with top campaign officials in order to better connect the team to powerful people in the organization. This is an example of what kind of leadership action?

Networking and forming alliances, an external environmental leadership action

What are the three decisions a leader must make as he or she strives for team effectiveness?

Should I monitor the team or take action? Should I intervene to meet task or relational needs? Should I intervene internally or externally?

Name and give a brief description of two characteristics of team excellence as identified by Larson and LaFasto.

Students must give two of the following with an appropriate description.Clear elevating goal--An overarching purpose that engage and unites the teamResults driven structure--Effective task design, team member composition, and team norms of conductCompetent team members--Appropriate number of people with requisite technical and interpersonal skillsUnified commitment--Carefully designed and supported to develop a sense of identity and spirit.Collaborative climate--Environments that develop trust, openness, honesty, and foster risk takingStandards of excellence--Clear norms of conduct that are consistently communicated and reinforcedExternal support and recognition--Material resources and rewards, educational access, and information systems for necessary data.Principled leadership--Commitment from leaders/members to provide cognitive, motivational, affective, and coordination support.

The Leadership Co-Created Process model has four elements. Describe those elements and describe how the elements are related.

The leadership co-created process model is really meant to describe the importance of followers. The four elements include leading behaviors, following behaviors, leadership, and outcomes. The model starts with following behaviors and leading behaviors in mutual or reciprocal interaction together. Leading behaviors are attempts to influence and use various types of power. Following behaviors involve giving power to another, complying, and/or challenging. These leading and following behaviors have a mutual influence on each other and leadership is what occurs as a result of that interaction. This 'leadership' process is then said to produce outcomes.

How can a leader create unified commitment on a team?

Using characteristics of team effectiveness (i.e., enabling structure, expert coaching, clear direction); creating a "collaborative climate"; and getting members to invest in the "clear, elevating goal". The text also suggests that "team spirit can be developed by involving members in all aspects of the process."