My understanding of leadership and team work grew through my participation in the case studies. My insights were evident in the post where I explained that there needed to be somebody who took on the organiser role within the group to ensure responsibilities and expectations were clear (Linquist, 2019, August 18). I learnt that this leadership role can be assumed without any legitimate position of power, and sometimes a leader emerges through necessity. This is in contrast to my previous thinking that leadership roles had to be appointed.
Mindtools (2016) suggested that different characteristics of leadership matter in different circumstances. This cemented the notion that these group tasks required good decision making, team work and empathy. All members of our group were juggling multiple roles, and some were dealing with difficult personal situations requiring empathy. As a group we had common goals which made it easier to work as a team to achieve them. Module 2.2 was useful in highlighting the leader’s organisation of the group as being servant leadership. Servant leadership is where the focus is on collaboration, trust, empathy, and ethics (Burkus, 2010).
Case study 5 had strong applications to my real life with the deeper issues for the library revolving around advocacy and marketing. My contribution to the group for this centred around strategies that are proving to be beneficial at work. I was able to solidify my ideas using strategies suggested by others to better advocate for the library in practice. I responded to Group 5s point about the need for showcase sessions at staff meetings by explaining that this was proving beneficial at my school (Linquist, 2019, September 21). Korodaj (2019a) suggested that this highlights the purpose of the case studies, as relating the theory to practise is useful for practitioners. This learning made me realise the importance of connecting with colleagues to share ideas and strategies. I realised, from this process, the importance of networking as other people may have devised solutions to my problems.
An article in Module 3 highlighted the importance of setting realistic targets to help manage stress (Welham, 2013). This made me appreciate that I needed to manage my workload carefully and not take on more work when I already had enough. My natural reaction to tasks is to agree to them without considering the consequences on my wellbeing. I have learnt through the case studies that I have to trust in others more to complete tasks, as this will help to generate greater success for the school overall. In our group, people worked to different timelines, some getting things completed early and some at the last minute. I realised that it was important that leaders set clear targets and deadlines, and to offer assistance if required, but not complete the work for them. In case study 6 it became clear that one member had not understood the expectations set, so I assisted her. Lori responded to the post by indicating that this was a sign that we had good support of one another, and there was obvious appreciation of that within the group (Korodaj, 2019b). From this I learnt that team work requires some give and take to ensure the successful achievement of goals.
References
Burkus, D. (2010, April 1). Servant leadership theory. In DB: David Burkus. Retrieved from http://davidburkus.com/2010/04/servant-leadership-theory/
Korodaj, L. (2019a, September 22). CS5 – Group 5: Adam Hands, Abby Jansen, Donna Lechte, Marla Robertson-Jones, Tanya Silver [Online Discussion Comment]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University Library Interact 2 website: https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_42385_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_78888_1&forum_id=_164188_1&message_id=_2499707_1
Korodaj, L. (2019b, September 30). Case study 6 group 2 [Online Discussion Comment]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University Library Interact 2 website: https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_42385_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_78888_1&forum_id=_164187_1&message_id=_2507950_1
MindTools. (2016). Core leadership theories. Retrieved from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/leadership-theories.htm
Welham, H. (2013, November 6). 10 ideas to help teachers beat stress. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/nov/06/teachers-beat-stress-10-ideas
