BSMAN2007

Fundamentals of Leadership
 Table of Contents

Introduction............................................................................................................................................ 2
Leadership Styles ................................................................................................................................. 3
Leadership Skills .................................................................................................................................. 5
Understanding Teams ......................................................................................................................... 7
Motivating Team ................................................................................................................................... 9
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................... 10
Reflection and Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 10
Reflection ......................................................................................................................................... 10
Analysis............................................................................................................................................ 10
References .......................................................................................................................................... 11

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 Introduction
Being a leader and leading teams is a skill that is developed over time. Leadership
comes from experience in dealing with people and systems over a period of time.

Organisations have different methodologies is choosing a leader, some can be

successful some are not. To use a sporting analogy the Australian Cricket team choose
their leader from the best eleven players in the country, whereas the English Cricket
team choose their best 10 players, then a person who can lead these this team.

Understanding teams is a science that a leader has to be a psychologist, mentor, coach,

trainer and leader. Great leaders have these traits naturally and some have to work at it
over a period of time. Winston Churchill was a great leader due some mistakes and
decisions he made such as the ANZAC Gallipoli disaster, (Nicholas, Herbert G),
Churchill went off to become a soldier to learn leadership.

Working with teams is a hard task, however if you treat employees as adults, respect
your team as adults and care and love your team the results will follow (Webster,
Andrew, 2015)

Once the team is established and work in a cohesive environment it is a pleasure to

watch and being involved in.

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 Leadership Styles
The leadership style I would use with the underperforming sales staff is to develop the
relationship more. They may be feeling left out due to their personality traits and not
part of the corporate culture. I would create a team building lunch to make the
underperforming sales staff to become more of this team. Other long term team building
exercises is to have a car rally for the sales team and their families. Depending on how
fit the employees are is to enter this team into a Tough Mudder day and last one will be
an Amazing Race day with obstacles in place and prizes awarded. The skills style of
leadership I would use with the two sales staff would be that as a developer of their
skills, show empathy, include these two in everything, and be a positive role model.
(Armstrong, Michael).

Team building helps work groups to develop effective team accomplishment. The goal
of team building is to develop this team in a formidable outfit were the can be the best in
the industry. (Bartol et al)

Other leadership styles for the underperforming staff would as be: (Northouse, Peter G,
2014)

Executing this would using the strengths of the leader and team to help the
employees. Once the employees see how the team and leader plan, develop and
delivers the actions to make the business successful this may jolt the other two in to
action.

Influencing using the charisma of the team leader ask what these staff members need
to help them makes sales and deliver the company vision of increasing sales in the
building industry.

Relationship Building - have team building lunches to help inspire all members of the
team. By having this exercise the staff members who are not performing may ask for
advice in a more relaxed atmosphere to help them feel comfortable in the new
organisation. They will feel more comfortable in getting feedback from colleagues on
how to achieve in this organisation.

Strategic Thinking as these new staff members are very experienced in this field.
Install a plan for them to achieve, if they are unable to achieve the steps in the plan
devised maybe it is time for these employees to move on and go through the recruitment
process again.

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My leadership style is a leader who is creative and inspiring. In a sales orientated team I
would inspire confidence in the team as a sales person will receive more rejections than
approvals in selling building products. By being an inspiring leader this will make the
team as well as underperforming sales staff the will to come to work each day to go
ahead and make the next sales pitch to either the same customers who rejected the last
sales proposal and to an entirely new customer. To help me become a more effective
leader, I will also have a mentor or a business coach, the reason for this is that I may
need help in my style to become a more effective leader.

To make me a more effective leader the above cycle using experiences from myself and
the team will help make me a better leader and able to deal with obstacles that come up.
(Wallace & Gravells)

My leadership style will also instil confidence in the team that the products that we are
offer the building industry are the best quality for the best possible price.

My leadership style is also one of communication as in my experiences I find that

feedback is essential to improving confidence and inspiration with members of the team.

This style can also be known as transformational (Burns, 1978), this is dependent on
high levels of communication to meet targets set by the team at budget time. I focus on
the big picture which is in my personality trait and delegate smaller tasks to the team to
meet the goals that they have set for themselves.

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 Leadership Skills
The skills required for the leader to help the two sales staff would be a high level of
communication. As the two underperforming sales staff have been successful in the
past as a leader help the new sales staff in the following -

Forward Looking where we would like to be as a team in 12 months and in 2 5

years, how the sales staff can help the company achieve the goals for the team and
other stakeholders who are concerned in the success in the organisation.

Competent go through the skills required to help make the sales staff competent in
the company systems and how they can network with other people in the organisation to
help make them a success. Look at the competencies of their past roles, did they have
a good team behind them to make them achieve. Develop new competencies to their
goals can be met as well as the team goals.

Honest communicate with the sales staff that they were bought into the business for
their previous results in another organisation. We are requiring that they show the same
skills that made them achieve their goals in their past roles.

Empower People let the sales staff it is OK to make a sale if it is not under their
control. As they are experienced account managers they should know the network, give
the some room to be comfortable in their new roles, however there are some
expectations to be met that are under their control.

Inspire People create an environment where I am a mentor not a dictator. Use me as

a sounding board for their ideas to make them perform. What training do I and the sales
staff need to make them a champion of the business.

Set Example share examples of other successes in the sales team. Make sales calls
with the underperforming sales staff. Look at what they are doing wrong and how I can
help them on the sales call. What systems do we have to change to make them
successful? Look at the tools the industry is using and do we have to change in what
we sell.

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Lead Change change may be that these new employees do not share the culture of
the business and maybe we have made a mistake in hiring. Our recruitment process
may have been perfect however the network of people in this industry may have been
flawed in hiring these two employees may have been wrong. They may have slipped
through the cracks as we did not have all the information required when hiring. Look at
the processes involved and try to get more market information next time we hire people
from outside the organisation.

Share Vision The vision needs to be broken down to a micro level to achieve the
macro vision, help the sales staff to share the vision of the business. What they need to
do help make the vision work in their roles, to make the team vision work as well as the
business vision.

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 Understanding Teams
This area of business and sport has led to executives in business, coaches in sport to
premature retirement, grey hair, increased levels of stress and issues with their health.

The main issue with understanding teams is that each team member has a different
motivation on why they are working. As with a different motivation there are also the
diversity backgrounds of the members of the team.

A good leader will seek out the issues of the team in the stages of team development:
(Tuckman, Bruce W, n.d.)

Forming this is beginning of understanding the team, the expectations that are shared
by the team leader as well as the team members. This is also the honeymoon period
where positive things are happening and small issues are looked over and some issues
may fall between the cracks. Relationships in the team are formed, goals are
established and the vision is clear for the team.

Storming - this is the stage the team is at now; some members are confused on what
they need to be done, and having issues with leadership strategy and goals.

Norming this is stage when all issues have been addressed, however in the scenario
of Bigger Building Products we may have to go through the forming and storming areas
if the two senior staff do not perform. However if they can may productive once the
storming area has been reiterated to them again we can get onto the stage of this
process.

Performing this is where trust is gained, the team is performing at the desired levels,
and communication is effective, easy and instant.

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The team members behaviours should be present in the stages of development for the
team. Some behaviour maybe present during the forming stage such as:

Resentment are the other sales staff upset that senior sales staff have been bought in
how do not know the company culture and a period of time training the account
managers in systems and culture.

Right fit the new account managers may have had the right team behind them in their
previous business who helped with the weaknesses that they are showing in our
organisation.

Once these issues can be resolved then we can move on to creating an effective
cohesive team. Below is table showing how this team will become great.

Results of Team Cohesiveness (Molnau, Daniela)

Once all the development stages of the team have been met we are then able to have a
highly cohesive team to achieve the goals of the team and vision of the business.

However as a leader I must be aware of some negative issues of team cohesion such
as: if the social aspects of the group intensify, it may lead to conformity and resistance to
change.

If a team leader is aware of this and can work with it, the team will have a greater level of
participation and collaboration because of the team members trusts each other, has a
sense of team identity and confidence in the ability and effectiveness.

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 Motivating Team
Motivating a team is a task that an effective leader must do each day while they are in
this role. This is not an easy task as a leader I may have my own social and family
issues to deal. My issues may lead me to underperform and my judgement may not be
right at a certain time, however with a mentor that I have, I can address these issues
with someone independent. As well as my own issues there are also social, work and
family issues that each individual must deal with. However an effective leader will take
this into consideration when communicating with each team member.

Once all the issues have been dealt with we can then go on and make the business a
great place to work and a place where each individual can be successful.

To help motivate a team and keep them motivated the following will help in the team
goals and vision.

Make time to appreciate each other skills each team member brings a different skill
and background to the sales team. Have a team lunch once a week to pass on the skills
that each team member has and how they achieved their sales goal for the week. Do
not have meetings as usually only one person talks and most team members are in a
hurry to get out the meeting. Appreciate each other skills during a fun, relaxed
atmosphere.

Raise and manage emotional concerns to help the team - It is important to establish
comfortable, team-endorsed ways to express the unavoidable anger, tension and
frustration that arise in a team effort and to positively redirect that energy. Both humour
and playfulness can be helpful tools in resolving conflict and relieving tension and stress.

Celebrate success winners have parties, losers have meetings. The more parties the
team has the more successful the team is. However in motivating the team have the
success parties a different theme so it does not become mundane. Have the
celebrations something for the team can strive for and enjoy their continued success.

When motivating the team ensure that all the team is congratulated from the weakest
link to the strongest link. Do not single out one person as there could be reasons on
why some staff in the team did not contribute as much as others. Motivate the individual
in private one to one meetings.

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 Conclusion
Better Building Products have followed their procedures and systems that have in place
for recruitment, however all processes that are in place can go wrong, (Andrew
Flanagan Myers General Manager) (Mitchell, Sue, 2014).

After all processes and team building exercise have been completed and performance is
still an issue, the underperforming staff may be let go to further their careers; however
the business must not suffer due to issues not under our control.

Reflection and Analysis

Reflection
When starting this assignment I thought that a narcissistic leader (such as Kevin Rudd)
would be the best to lead the team. This is one who leads from the front, however it
believe that a transformational manager is the one to best lead this team, such as a
Nelson Mandela, one who motivates, inspires and is open to experiences (Schoemaker,
Paul, 2013).

Analysis

The evolution of transformational leadership in the digital age is tied to the development
of organizational leadership in an academic setting. As organisations move from
position-based responsibilities to task-based responsibilities, transformational leadership
is redefined to continue to develop individual commitment to organisational goals by
aligning these goals with the interests of their leadership community. The academic
community is a front-runner in this sense of redefining transformational leadership to suit
these changes in job definition.

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 References

Armstrong, Michael. (n.d.). In Armstrong's Handbook of Management and Leadership (pp. 5-10).

Bartol et al. (n.d.). In T. M.-L. Bartol, Management a Pacific Rim Focus (p. 275).

Burns, J. M. (1978). Burns Transformational Leadership Theory. Retrieved from

http://www.leadership-central.com/burns-transformational-leadership-
theory.html#axzz3jQx48Gxx

Mitchell, Sue. (2014, 06 25). Australian Financial Review. Retrieved from

http://www.afr.com/business/myer-fires-new-recruit-andrew-flanagan-over-fake-rsum-
20140624-jgq7c

Molnau, Daniela. (n.d.). High Performance Teams - Understanding Team Cohesiveness. Retrieved
from http://www.isixsigma.com/implementation/teams/high-performance-teams-
understanding-team-cohesiveness/

Nicholas, Herbert G. (n.d.). Encyclopedia Brittinica. Retrieved from

http://www.britannica.com/biography/Winston-Churchill

Northouse, Peter G. (2014). Engaging Peoples Strenghts. In Introduction to Leadership (p. 55).

Schoemaker, Paul. (2013). Nelson Mandela, Transformational Leader.

Tuckman, Bruce W. (n.d.). Tuckman - Stages of Development. Retrieved from

http://infed.org/mobi/bruce-w-tuckman-forming-storming-norming-and-performing-in-
groups/

Wallace & Gravells. (n.d.). How to be a good Mentor. In S. &. Wallace, Mentoring, Second Edition
(pp. 21-33).

Webster, Andrew. (2015, 08 22). Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from l:

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/how-wayne-bennett-has-turned-the-brisbane-
broncos-around-with-tough-love-20150820-gj4bvk.html

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