Leadership, Teamwork and Collaboration
Leadership is the ability to influence a group towards a shared goal without relying only on authority; teamwork is the collaboration that turns that influence into results. The exam tests qualities, styles, functions, delegation, team stages and conflict handling.
Core concepts
- Leader vs manager: a manager administers systems and current work; a leader sets direction and builds commitment. Effective supervisors do both.
- Qualities commonly examined: integrity, vision, self-confidence, decisiveness, empathy, communication, responsibility, initiative and the courage to admit mistakes.
- Styles: autocratic (leader decides; fast in a crisis, poor for morale), democratic (team contributes; better commitment, slower), laissez-faire (team decides; works only with skilled, motivated members).
- Functions: planning, initiating action, guiding, motivating, coordinating, representing the group and evaluating performance.
- Delegation gives a task with the authority and support to do it while accountability stays with the leader; it is not dumping work.
- Tuckman's stages of a team: forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning. Storming is normal, not failure.
- Synergy means the team's combined output exceeds the sum of individual outputs; social loafing is reduced by naming tasks to individuals.
Worked example
A class has three weeks to organise the annual function. Reasoning: in the first week the leader should be democratic - collect ideas, assign roles by strength, set checkpoints. In the last two days, if printing is stuck, a temporary autocratic decision ('we print the simpler design today') protects the deadline. Using one style for every situation is the error.
Traps
- Claiming laissez-faire is best because it gives freedom.
- Treating leadership as a title rather than behaviour.
- Saying all conflict must be avoided; functional conflict improves ideas.