CHAPTER 2
YOUR TEAMWORK RESPONSIBILITY:
SHARING LEADERSHIP
The premise that every member has a responsibility for sharing leadership and for guiding the
ethical processes of the group is central to this book. In this chapter, we develop the principles
of leadership (as contrasted to being the leader, which is the subject of Chapter 12) and what
developing leadership can mean to the student as well as to the team. We examine traditional
concepts of roles and group and task maintenance and put these into the perspective that
leadership moves task and transactional processes.
Chapter Outline
The Meaning of Leadership
Success and Leadership
Short-Term Success
Long-Term Success
Leadership and Personal Qualities
Preparation
Involvement
Credibility
Principles
Adaptability
Responsibility
Leadership and Teamwork
Roles People Play
Team Processes
Transactional Processes
Task Processes
Obstacles to Leadership
Leadership and Ethics
Ethical Dilemmas and Conflicts
Ethical Issues for Teams
Personal Standards
Team Processes
Leadership Development
Developing Credibility
Building Confidence
Visualization
Relaxation
Practice
Summary
Exercises
Discussion Suggestions for Boxes
Looking for Leaders in “Stretch Assignments”
This box provides a good opportunity for students to discuss what they hope to get out of class.
Their first job out of college will likely feel like a “stretch assignment.” They may wonder how
well prepared they will be when they take on their first major professional position, even if they
have already worked in their chosen field. Even older students, in mid-career change, may feel
anxieties about being promoted or switching professions, but they may also provide some
perspective to younger or less experienced students.
Talking Points:
• Are “stretch assignments” a good idea or just a chance for the “Peter Principle” to come
into play?
• What do you hope to get out of this course to help you prepare for more responsibility in
the work place?
Developing Credibility and Building Confidence at Whole Foods Market
The ad cited in this box was emphasizing visualizing, creative, listening, and social skills for the
position. Classified ads are usually filled with code words. Ask students what underlying
meanings they would draw from this ad, and how they would analyze it in the context of this
course.
Talking Points:
• What words would you use to describe yourself and your experiences to convince the
interviewer you were the right person for this job?
Suggestions for Guiding Chapter Exercises
Exercise 1: Assessing Your Leadership Skills
Assign students to complete this exercise outside of class and bring their completed leadership
assessment forms to the next class meeting.
• Break them into small groups and instruct them to report to each other what they think
their strengths are and what skills they would like to develop;
• Ask each group to discuss the similarities and differences among their members;
Talking Points:
• What skills do they think they already have a good start on?
• How did they develop those skills? For example, students might feel they think it’s fun to
work with different kinds of people (#6 on the form).
• Why would that be a leadership advantage?
Exercise 2: Practicing a Specific Leadership Behavior
• Break students into their small groups and ask them to discuss their experiences in
practicing a specific leadership behavior;
• Have them report to the class what they learned from their experience;
• As they discuss the experience, ask questions to help them elaborate for the class.
For example, one way to develop #3, getting quiet people to talk, is to practice asking
others for their opinions. Students might resolve to practice this at home, in their study
groups, and so on.
Exercise 3: Leadership Observation
It’s very helpful to have some practice sessions so students can develop skill in using the tally
form before they actually do the exercise.
After setting up some short discussions:
• Have one group discuss a question (for example, “What are the worst problems on this
campus?” or, “If you could change anything about the course requirements, what would it
be?”) for ten minutes while the rest of the class records their responses on the observation
sheet;
• Then have another group discuss another question for ten minutes while the rest of the
Talking Points for Discussion Group Observations:
• Which roles specifically seemed to combine with which others?
For example, one individual might be an evaluator-critic and standard setter—and also be
a dominator; or perhaps one might be a procedural technician and recorder but also be a
recognition seeker.
• Is there any kind of pattern? And if so, should members look for ways to enlarge their
range of contributions? How can they do that?
• What specific roles made it easier or more difficult to discuss ethical issues? Where did
students see the possibility of ethical issues in their discussions? When and how were
those issues raised and discussed; when and how were they buried?
Exercise 4: Budget and Ethical Issues
Have students discuss this exercise in small groups; ask them to identify what questions of ethics
they think each statement raises; then have them report out to the class. Try to get them to
expand their understanding of ethics as they pertain to group process and to individual decisions.
Encourage students to challenge one another’s positions, but set some ground rules:
1. Nobody makes a personal attack on another’s morals, religion, or beliefs.
Talking Points:
• If Clarissa keeps silent, is the group operating with a dialogical ethic? A dialogical ethic
would enable her to speak because her opinions would be respected. Perhaps Harold has
higher status than Clarissa. What obligations does he have to the group to enable
members to express their opinions despite status issues?
• If the group looks down on Ron’s race, what does that say about the ethics of its
transactional processes? What does it say about the ethics of individuals? From where
would they derive those ethics? Consider the effects of situations, cultural standards,
religions, and law on the ethics of racism. How does it affect dialogical ethics in a
group? And how does that, then, affect the processes of the group and the outcomes of
the group’s efforts?
• Shelley may be copping out of the discussion—if so, what ethical question does that
raise? What ethical obligation does she have to encourage a discussion of the ethics of
padding the budget? On the other hand, Shelley may be raising a legitimate need for
more information. If so, what ethical standards might be involved in a group’s seeking—
Additional Exercises
EXERCISE 1: CREATING AN OBSERVATION FORM
Objectives
1. To apply learning from the text and from personal experience.
2. To synthesize concepts.
3. To explore and identify new ways of viewing group processes and individual participation.
Time
One hour
Materials
Paper and pencils
Procedures
2. Divide students into new groups and ask them to do the following:
A. Brainstorm and add any roles that you observed
3. Pair groups; give each group a discussion question (e.g., “In what ways could local
businesses improve job opportunities for college students?” or, “In what ways can the
college improve career preparation for students?”).
4. Have each group test its observation form in this way:
A. Have group A discuss its question for ten minutes.
5. Merge each pair of two and ask them to explain their forms and what they observed to one
another.
Debriefing
1. Have each group report their forms and what they discovered with them to the class.
2. Encourage students to examine what new issues their observation forms raised—what
advantages did they have, what disadvantages?
3. Ask students what benefit they could derive from creating their own assessment
EXERCISE 2: ETHICS ASSESSMENT OF A GROUP DISCUSSION
Objectives
1. To apply learning about ethics to a real-life discussion.
2. To sharpen awareness of ethical issues.
Time
This can be done in one class period if it culminates in a paper. With discussion, it’s a good two-
class activity.
Materials
1. Paper and pencils.
2. Videotape of a televised panel discussion or a live discussion. Select a discussion that deals
Procedure
1. Have small groups of students meet, and instruct them as follows:
2. Have groups report out their lists to the class.
3. Discuss the lists and condense them into one.
Debriefing
2. Have groups report out to the class what they observed.
3. Discuss what ethical issues were exposed by their observation and how they can apply that
learning to their own groups. Get them to think of some specific applications of their ideas.
Case Study: The Creative Team Crunch
A creative team is in the process of researching and designing a safety training film for a
manufacturer. Terry is the primary researcher, John is the writer, Kelly is the director, Martin is
the producer. It’s their fourth meeting, and the discussion goes like this:
Martin: Okay, folks. It’s time to get this show on the road!
John: Whoa! I can’t start writing a script until I get something to write about, and I haven’t
got beans.
Terry: Well, I’ve run into a problem…
Terry: Yeah, that’s what the manual says. But I found out the production rules say the machine
operators can be fired if production drops on the machines—and it’ll drop if the
machines are shut down!
Martin: What are you looking at that for? The machine operators didn’t hire us, the company
did!
Terry: I just thought—I mean, people can get maimed or killed…
Martin: Just get us what we need for the film, no more.
Terry: Well, but—the workers don’t shut the machines down for repair. They don’t want to
lose their jobs. They make repairs while the machines are running and…
Questions
1. How would you describe the transactional processes of this team? To what extent do they
exhibit a dialogical ethic of group process? Identify specifically how the transactions reveal your
conclusion.
2. What ethical issues are involved in this discussion?
3. How do personal standards influence the transactions? What dilemmas are created for
individual members? For the team?
4. How would different members—or observers—apply each of the points of view on ethics?
In what ways do you think legalistic, situational, and philosophical views influence each of the
participants’ contributions?
Suggestions for Debriefing the Creative Team Crunch
After groups have discussed the questions, have them report their conclusions to the class. Some
issues that should come out are as follows:
1. The transactional processes obviously focus, through Martin’s domination, on the task. The
processes that would allow the team to develop or individual interests to be recognized are
suppressed. It’s hardly a dialogical ethic. Martin tries to silence Terry, and her concerns are
treated as irrelevant. Ask students how they would feel in Terry’s position. How hard would
they fight to be heard?
2. Students will recognize that the major issue is the company’s manipulation of workers so
they perform unsafe procedures. Ask them what other issues there are. Is the way Martin treats
Terry an ethical issue? Why? What ethical questions are raised by the need for complete, as
opposed to partial, information? What ethical questions are raised by using the company’s point
of view without exploring other perspectives?
3. Ask students to speculate about the personal standards of each character. How do those
standards seem to influence the dialogue? It appears that Martin’s standards do not include
4. Ask students to look at this dialogue from each point of view. From a legalistic point of
view, do they think the team has an obligation to probe the conflict between safety rules and
procedural rules? Probably not. How would situational ethics apply? The team is in a money-
making venture; its objectives are to satisfy the company, not the union or the workers; it can
easily “overlook” the undesirable information. How about individual members’ situations?
Additional Resources
Print Resources
Anderson, L. R. (1990). Toward a two-track model of leadership training: Suggestions from
self-monitoring theory. Small Group Research, 21, 147-167.
Barge, J. K. (1994). Leadership: Communication skills for organizations and groups. New
York: St. Martin’s.
Barry, D. (1991). Managing the bossless team: Lessons in distributed leadership.
Organizational Dynamics, Summer, 31-47.
Counselman, E. F. (1991). Leadership in a long-term leaderless women’s group. Small Group
Research, 22, 240-257.
Eckert, Erica. (March-April 2008). Higher Ground: Ethics and Leadership in the Modern
12.2 p49(20).
Taps, J., & Martin, P. Y. (1990). Gender composition, attributional accounts, and women’s
influence and likability in task groups. Small Group Research, 21, 471-491.
Wallace, K. R. (1955). An ethical basis of communication. Communication Education, 4, 1-9.
Yildirim, Aysegul, Ates, Metin, Issever, Fevzi, Halim Akinci, Ross, Thomas Isci, Emre and
Selimen, Deniz (Oct 2006). Turkish version of the Jefferson Scale of Attitudes Toward
Physician-Nurse Collaboration: a preliminary Study.(Survey). Contemporary Nurse, 23.1 p38.
Media Resources
The Credibility Factor. Carlsbad, CA: CRM Films.
Understanding group dynamics. New York: Insight Media. 15 min.