TEAM BUILDING AND

LEADERSHIP
INTERNAL ASSESSMENT-1
Q.1. Write answers for any two questions from below.
A. Explain Leadership styles in detail.

Leadership styles refer to the characteristic’s behaviours of the leader when he/she directs,
motivates, guides, and manages groups of people. Following are the various leadership styles:

1. Authoritarian (autocratic): This kind of leader provides clear expectations for what
needs to be done when should be done, and how it should be done by others. This style of
leadership focuses on both commanding and controlling its followers and there is a clear
division between the member and its leader. Hence, the decision-making is independent
with no output from other teammates. This results in fewer creative decisions but can be
useful to take calls for rapid and decisive actions. However, it will be difficult to shift
from Authoritarian leadership to a democratic style and can also create a dysfunctional
and hostile environment in an organisation.
2. Participative Leadership (Democratic): It is the most effective leadership style and the
leader not only offers guidance to the group members but also allows them to participate
and put their inputs in the decision-making process. However, the final call of decision
always remains in the hands of the leader. In this style, group members always feel
motivated and creative and strive hard towards the fulfilment of the organisational goals.
3. Delegative Leadership (Laissez-Faire): In this style, the leader offers little or no
guidance to group members resulting in the least production. However, this style can be
helpful in a situation that involves highly qualified experts and leads to poorly defined
roles and a lack of motivation.
4. Transformational Leadership: In this style, leaders tend to be energetic, emotionally
intelligent, and passionate about the work. A leader is not only committed to achieving
organisational goals but also helps other group members to work to their full potential.
This style of leadership results in higher performance and greater satisfaction among
group members than any other leadership style.
5. Transactional Leadership: This leadership style observes the leader-follower
relationship as a transaction and an individual has to obey the leader at any cost. Here, the
leader strives hard to motivate group members in achieving a particular transaction, and
in return, an individual will get monetary compensation. The main advantage of this style
is that all the roles are clearly defined among the members. They know what they are
 supposed to do and what they will be receiving in exchange after the completion of the
task. The leader is required to undergo a great deal of direction and supervision of the
group members. However, this style stifles creativity and out-of-the-box thinking from
the employees.
6. Situational Leadership: This leadership style focuses on the influence of the
environment and the situation on leadership. In this style, a leader has to tell the group
members what to do, convince the followers to buy into their ideas and messages, allow
group members to participate actively in the decision-making process, and delegate the
tasks to group members.

B. Explain Hersey Blanchard model in detail.

The Hersey-Blanchard Model states that a single leadership style is not sufficient and a leader
must adopt different styles according to the change in the situation. A leader should adapt to
the different styles and lead the followers and their abilities. It is an adaptive and flexible
style in which leaders are encouraged to consider their team members and then consider the
factors that impacted the work environment before choosing how they will execute their
leadership style. Hence, this model is popularly known as the Situational Leadership Model
or Theory.

This model is not static but flexible in that a leader can adapt his management style to the
various factors in the workplace. For example, providing minimal guidance to a worker with
having high maturity level and giving explicit directions and supervision to a person with
having low maturity level. Hence, The Hersey-Blanchard model helps a leader to adopt an
individualistic approach rather than a group approach.

There are four major styles developed by the Hersey-Blanchard Leadership model. These are:

1. Delegating style: In this, the leader allows the group members to take responsibility for
task decisions and can be used with followers having a high maturity rate.
2. Participating style: In this, followers are asked to give their opinions in the decision-
making process and their participation or contribution is considered equally important.
This style can be used with followers having a moderate maturity level.
3. Selling style: In this, a leader tries to sell his ideas to the followers by persuasively
explaining the task. This style can be used with followers having a moderate maturity
level. Also, in this style, the followers can do work but are unwilling to do the same.
4. Telling style: In this, the followers are given explicit directions and supervision from the
leader to work exactly what is said. This style is used only with followers having a low
maturity level.

Therefore, this leadership model gives full freedom to the executives, managers, and other
positions of authority to take charge of their group members on the understanding and context
of the group. The strengths, weaknesses, and awareness of the followers are considered so
that a leader can apply an appropriate structure and degree of control to achieve the desired
result. A leader can change his style at his discretion at any time and this can be a desirable
trait in a leader for the employees. It is also an easy-to-apply and simple leadership style,
where a leader or manager can quickly evaluate a situation and make decisions accordingly.
However, this style has some limitations as well. The position and authority of the leader may
be restricted because of the hierarchy of an organization, narrower field of operations, limit
on available assets, time constraints, etc. This style may put too much responsibility on the
shoulders of the manager and may not apply to every work culture. Also, the model may
prioritize leader-follower relationships as opposed to an organisation's long-term goals.

Q.2. Write short notes on all of the following topics.

A. What is processing information?

Processing information implies that leadership perceptions will be based on both affective
and cognitive processing strategies. It proposes that both affective and cognitive information-
processing mechanisms may work at a variety of levels (individual, dyad, and group) to
determine followers' perceptions of leaders. Although the role of affective processing in
leadership perception has been little investigated, it plays a key role in the rapid formation of
a general liking that then sets the basis for more elaborate cognitive and affective processing.
Cognitive processing is subject to group-level effects, as leader characteristics have the
potential to cue different prototypes in dyadic relations.

B. Explain squad.

A squad is typically comprised of two teams, with the team leaders who are reporting directly
to the squad leader who has in the past usually been a staff sergeant (E-6). The ranks vary
somewhat based on the staffing of the unit, as army recruiting and retention have been
challenged and the positions are often filled by more junior soldiers these days. Teams are
always deployed together as part of a squad unit and will generally always be stationed
together as one squad unit. They may move separately in a single maneuver, but remain
organic to each other.

C. Explain proscriptive norms

Proscriptive norms are those unacceptable actions and behaviours that remain undiscussed
and are defined by the expectation that individuals will intuit their existence while growing
into adulthood and entering society. Their existence is to guide individuals away from
behaviours that are considered disruptive or unacceptable by mainstream culture and help to
preserve the forms and functions of everyday interactions and practices in both the sacred and
societal acumen by giving more structure to all dealings between individuals. In management,
proscriptive norms can be not gossiping during office hours, not having an informal
relationship between two employees, etc.

D. Explain intellective tasks.

An intellective task refers to a group problem or decision for which there exists a
demonstrably correct solution within a limit of a conceptual system. This task can be used for
the selection of alternatives, as it involves choice regarding complex concepts and
applications for which often there was no certainty of correctness in the response. In
intellective tasks, the presence of a leader was redundant in helping the group to achieve the
final goal, hence leaders perform less as compared to judgment tasks. When the task is
intellective, the effectiveness of a leader is questionable irrespective of his ability.

E. What is command group?

A Command group is a formal group whose main function is to report directly to the leader
or organizational manager. This group is comprised of superiors and subordinates who carry
out the orders based on their authority within the group. This group is formed under the
organizational hierarchy chart and came together to accomplish a certain task or a job
assigned to them. For example, A group of salesmen will carry out the function of sales and
report their achievement to the marketing and sales manager of the organization. This way of
classification of the group leads to efficiency and transparency in tasks.

INTERNAL ASSESSMENT-2
Q.1. Write answers for any two questions from below.
A. What is the importance of self-motivational level of a leader?

A leader should be self-motivated first before motivating their team member and therefore,
self-motivation plays an important role in the life of a leader. A self-motivated leader can also
contribute to the realization of the organisation's vision by providing strategic direction and
motivation to his team.

Following are the importance of self-motivation in leaders are:

1. Lack of self-motivation hampers both the productivity of a leader and his team member.
Hence, a leader should be passionate and zealous and create an environment of
motivation and excitement for his team members for delivering their best capacity.
2. A self-motivated leader will tend to complete more complex and challenging long-term
projects with great success, and this will act as a natural confidence booster for the leader
to take up more new projects.
3. A demotivated leader will face an extreme level of stress which may lead to adverse self-
criticism and thinking. Hence, self-motivation will help the leader in coping up with these
kinds of feelings. A self-motivated leader will not criticize others as well as himself and
appreciate others' hard work.
4. Improved self-motivation helps a leader to improve continuously and control his self-
regret. Through self-assessment, a leader can assess his strengths and weaknesses and can
recognize the areas of potential opportunities, and tackle the work challenges with new
enthusiasm.
5. A self-motivated leader will be in a better position to fulfil his goals successfully and
achieve newer heights of success. Hence, career advancement can be considered an
outcome of self-motivation.
6. A highly self-motivated leader has definite goals and can find ways to attain such goals
more consistently.
7. A self-motivated leader can motivate others to adopt his style of leadership while dealing
with day-to-day responsibilities.
8. A self-motivated leader can evolve and improve himself continuously, and can also attain
new levels of motivation after the completion of every existing task.

The Self-Motivation level of a leader can be improved in the following ways:

 Indulging in a disciplined and healthy regime both physically and mentally.

 Surrounding yourself with a motivated group of people and attending various
motivational seminars. conferences, webinars, and workshops.
 Sticking to certain good habits and following them religiously like reading motivational
books or listening to motivational songs. This will help a leader to focus on his approach
and follow a disciplined routine.
 Adopt a high sense of accountability by completing the assignments within the stipulated
deadlines.
 Searching for ways to have fun and enjoy yourself.
 A leader should be resourceful because, in the absence of availability of proper resources,
the leader may fail to meet the desired goals. He should explore ways to acquire proper
resources by practicing brainstorming discussions, breaking down the goals into small
achievable aims, setting their priorities and preferences clear, and focusing on one
resource at a time.
 A leader should indulge in those activities which he enjoys while performing rather than
those that suck his time and energy.

B. Explain the problems in team cohesion.

Cohesive teams are those in which members are well-integrated, function well together, and
do not need to be disarticulated. Hence, team cohesion can be defined as a bond that
captivates people to the membership of a particular team and combats separation from that
team. In addition, team cohesiveness generally displays three characteristics. These include:

 Interpersonal attraction: This means that team members have an inclination or want
to interact with each other. Members of the team adore looking for this synergy.
 Team Pride: This requires team members regarding their membership to a specific
team with predilection. They feel proud of their team membership, and pervading in
the group feels beneficial.
 Commitment to the Work of the Team: Team members appreciate the work of the
team and consider its goals. They are eager to work together to accomplish tasks that
are parallel with these team goals, even though are a disaster.

Problems in team cohesion

 Team norms: Members of a cohesive team tend to follow team norms. Team norms
are the explicit and implicit rules that govern the conscience, attitudes, and behavior
of team members. Some norms empower the team to function more adequately, such
as motivating everyone to participate in decision-making or good timekeeping.
However, low-performance norms can be destructive to team productivity. For
example, in a cohesive team member will be hesitant to put in extra effort to meet a
deadline if the norm is to work at a steady pace.
 Team-think: When highly-cohesive teams make decisions, they run the liability of
team-think. Team-think occurs when team members are afraid to express dissenting
opinions to escape initiating disharmony within a cohesive team. Opinions held by the
majority or by key team members are regarded as unified and different views are
depressed. Overly cohesive teams are skeptical of contradictory opinions conveyed by
outsiders. Information from outsiders that contradicts the team's opinion may even be
hidden by team members. Team-think can lead to meager or irrational decisions.
 Resistance to Change: Members of cohesive teams rely mainly on each other and
stay away from external ideas and input. This can lead to isolation and a feeling of
superiority over others in the organisations. As a result, cohesive teams find it hard to
alter their conscience, attitude, or behaviors, particularly when the change is
galvanized by external forces. Even if an individual member of the group becomes
persuaded of the need for change, he may find it difficult to put it into practice due to
the strength of the group dynamic.

Hence. a high degree of team cohesion is a double-edged sword. Considering its positive
consequences, then cohesion leads to high commitment among team members and
satisfaction is also higher within cohesive teams. However, the leadership of causality
between performance and cohesiveness is still disputed. Cohesiveness and performance seem
to mutually influence one another. Cohesiveness may also lead to disagreement and bad
decisions. Also, it can affect the team structure due to the disengagement of team members.

Q.2. Write short notes on all of the following topics.

A. Define social identity.

A social identity theory of leadership states that leadership is a group process generated by
social categorization and depersonalization process which is associated with social identity.
This social identity perspective has provided an integrative conceptual focus for a revival of
interest among its members in a group phenomenon. According to this approach, leadership
is a function of the group and not of an individual. Leaders here are prototypical group
members rather than followers. Hence, they tend to be more socially attractive to make it
easier for the team members to accept their authority and comply with their directions.

B. What is interest group?

In an organization, an interest group is a group of people who shares common interests and
goals and work together to protect, promote, and achieve such interest. That interest may be
related to some sort of economic advantage for their members or working in an industry that
gives them all kinds of benefits. For example, labour groups that represent labour unions,
strike hard to increase wages and improve working conditions of both skilled and unskilled
labours or when there is any contract between labour union and the business entity then all
the members who are part of the contract will be benefitted.

C. Define aggregate of individuals.

An aggregate of individuals refers to the collection of people who are in the same place at the
same time but may or may not share common objects or goals. These people interact
regularly and share physical proximity that binds them together. For example, co-workers in
ABC Ltd. who are working in different departments and have different objectives but the
only thing that binds them together is that they are working in ABC Ltd. and they interact
regularly, or two people gathered in a concert on a particular evening and share a common
interest on music but have no connection apart from this.

D. What is praise and punishment?

Praise in leadership means offering positive feedback to the team members. A leader must
praise a member in public so that others can also join in the praise and allow the leader to
have a larger impact. After hearing such a positive response, other people may also strive
hard to do well. While praising, it is always good to mention the specific behaviour of the
person. Punishment means offering negative feedback to the team members. This must be
done in private to limit the embarrassment and resentment in a person. Constructive and
precise criticism can be the best example of punishment.

E. Define group size.

Group size refers to the number of people who are on board a group. The group size has a
significant impact on leadership effectiveness. The smaller the group size, the better the
performance of the leader. Small groups place the leader’s actions in close scrutiny of team
members, forcing them to work better, thereby raising the standards of leadership. In small
groups, there is effective communication, stability, meaningful interactions, problem-solving
at root levels, and individual involvement. However big groups have the advantage of the
availability of diverse skill-sets to solve problems and minimalise the stress of the followers.