The Psychology of Team Leadership

What is Team Leadership

People who are not in a team leadership position simply do not understand how much effort, skill and knowledge is required to do the job and be a good leader at the same time. Whilst being a team leader is by and large highly satisfying, it is not easy, it is filled with a huge variety of daily challenges and stresses and takes a particular type of person to do it well. It requires a good understanding of people, the way they behave and think, and on top of it all, it requires you to build a team and then manage them.

What do today’s Employees want?

Building and leading a team today means being in touch with employee expectations and needs.

Today's generation unlike those before them are vocal about what they want their workplace to look like, they will not accept old-style methods of traditional management which they view as managing, administering, stifling, unreasonable and unwarranted. They want team leaders who recognize them for their efforts, and who work in a collaborative, supportive and motivational manner.

Today’s employees care deeply about diversity and do not want to be treated as employee but rather as colleagues, or partners. They believe (foolishly) that they should be promoted every two years, regardless of performance and want to feel like (reasonably) that they have an open and honest relationship with their team leader and co-workers. They want to know that their opinion is valued and receive a good deal of feedback.The more their team leader creates shared goals, the more they will feel a sense of being part of an ‘in-group’. That’s important to today’s employees because they believe it creates more accurate sharing of information, better collaboration, and motivation. They are passionate about autonomy, they love it when they have choices, for them it creates a sense of having more meaningful work making them feel more in control.

They will not accept toxic behaviours from their bosses such as playing favourites, bullying or team leaders who abuse their position to gain monetary or sexual rewards, these are deeply disliked.

Finally, they want a say in how their workplace is managed, where free-thinking, empowerment and service and community are put ahead of self-interest. The combination of a progressive management style and being a member of a Transformational team are perfect for them, these fulfil their willingness and desire to work across teams, as well as their constant need for feedback, reinforcement, and praise for being tech-savvy. No matter how they are viewed, the simple truth is that today’s employees look at work dramatically differently from the Baby Boomer generation that preceded them.

Transformational Team Leadership

This book is based on Team Leadership and Teams principles. It assumes a Transformational Leadership Style and also shows you how to build a (High-Performance) Transformational team. 

Transformational team leadership creates substantial change for team members as well as organizations. Expectations, aspirations, perceptions, and values are transformed into something better. Transformational develops the team members and motivates and inspires them to reach extraordinary success. Advantages of the Transformational Team Leadership Style:

·       It is excellent for change management and growth.

·       High transparency and strong communication build participation and engagement.

·       The shared vision results in inspiration, motivation, and collaboration.

·       It is excellent for change management and growth.

·       It builds and manages High-Performance Teams.

·       It suits a leadership position.

·       It significantly boosts self-confidence