1. What happened?

(Background, brief description of events, specific leadership

actions)
A: When I was in high school my “Investigation Methods” teacher asked us to form
groups of 4 with a leader for each group. The leaders were selected by the teacher
before the activity began, and I was chosen as one of them.

I then selected my teammates based in their skills and behaviors, considering the
upcoming activities. For example, I required someone with hard skills in archery, so I
chose the person with the most sports skills in the room, and then I selected the next
person according to the activities to be performed during the rest of the class.

2. What were the results? (Real or potential. Try to include both positive and negative
possibilities. Even if the event seemed clearly good or bad, consider unintended
consequences.)

At the end of the activity, my team won the contest, and I believe that my ability to
choose the right people for the job helped me to be an effective leader of a highly
skilled team.

If I weren’t capable to see the potential in each person I chose, based in the previous
knowledge I had from them and taking into account their personalities to assure they
would work well as a group, the success would be just a dream, and we would most
likely end up being the worst team in the contest.

3. Why did this happen? (Consider all possible factors, including the people and the
situation)

A: The careful selection I did considering the behaviors of my colleagues was crucial
because I knew them extremely well to define that they share a same framework of
values, with similar perspectives and expectations of life.

4. What class concepts are relevant to this situation? (Mention at least one concept
from class and how they can be used to interpret the situation.)

A: This experience can be related to the behavioral study applied in leadership styles.
The reason of this is that the analysis that I did was an example in how leaders
identified their potential next colleagues with the purpose to provide their teams the
 most talented people, but more importantly, the people most aligned in regard of their
behaviors towards the culture of the business.

5. What did you learn from this? (Broader lessons that might apply to other situations or
problems.)

A: The key takeaway from this lesson is that the behavior norms established within a
team are crucial for its success, with no tolerance to anyone to tries to undermine
those norms and to understand that this structure is above any individual.

In addition, leaders must identify the best talents since the beginning of any situation,
their capabilities, and the positive impact that they could bring to a team.