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Module 5: It Starts with the Seed!

 Leadership & Teamwork

Reflecting on Module 5 Readings

Personal Takeaways & Key Insights: 

  • Purpose, Goals, & Approach need to be relevant and meaningful
  • Commitment & Confidence
  • Create opportunities
  • Do REAL work
  • Remove Obstacles
  • Diversify & Strengthen Skill Sets
  • Team design matters

Summary of Reflection: 

This module expanded upon leadership considerations to developing and supporting teams. The most critical step a leader should take when considering the need for teams is the team's design. Without a well-designed team, a leader can spend a tremendous amount of time improving the environment; however, the team will not flourish. After ensuring optimal team design, leaders must focus on establishing the proper structure for oversight and support.  


Reading through the content, I reflected on the concept of purposeful leadership. I performed independent research, which reinforced how adopting this leadership principle facilitates alignment around a common purpose and promotes responsibility for achieving this purpose. Key benefits of this approach include: 

  • Promotes motivation and well-being
  • Provides consistency
  • Offers clarity during complexity 
  • Creates health boundaries (quiets noise while leaving space to focus on highly influential work)

Lastly, this module highlighted the importance of creating opportunities to grow individuals within the team and how this creates a sense of value for individual team members and teams.  

Journal Entry Archive: 

Elaboration 

This week’s readings highlighted important characteristics for leaders to adopt when developing and overseeing effective teams. These six things from the first article stood out to me as essential characteristics I want to be aware of and thoughtfully implement when leading.  

  1. Keep purpose goals and approach relevant and meaningful
  2. Build Commitment & Confidence
  3. Strengthen the mix and level of skills
  4. Manage Relationships with Outsiders, including removing obstacles
  5. Create opportunities for others
  6. Do REAL and equivalent work

Specifically creating opportunities for others. This is important for teams and individuals to feel valued. I recall opportunities I have had in my career to explore new opportunities in team settings, and these experiences were very rewarding for me personally and professionally. 


Concrete Examples

Supporting the concept of leading by “aligning around a purpose and sharing responsibility for it,” I recalled a great leader I once had the privilege of working for. This leader epitomized what it meant to lead with purpose and to draw the team in and around the broader purpose by defining their purpose as individuals and collectively as a group. I found a Forbes article explaining why this leadership characteristic is critical when leading effective teams. The article highlighted four benefits of purposeful leadership: 

  1. Motivation and Well-Being
  2. Consistency
  3. Clarity during Complexity
  4. Creation of Healthy Boundaries
    1. Defining what is and is not important allows space for the team to focus on the “big stuff” that ultimately aligns with the purpose. 

Gambill, T. (n.d.).  What Is Purposeful Leadership And Why It Matters. Forbes. Retrieved November 26, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/tonygambill/2021/12/14/what-is-purposeful-leadership-and-why-it-matters/?sh=5fda33687d5d


‌Dual Coding 

It starts with the seed! 

Seedling = Well-Designed Team

Organizational Context = Soil

  • Infertile Soil / Unsupportive Context
    • The environment will cripple team growth initially or over time.
  • Fertile Soil / Supportive Organization
    • Even nutrient-rich soil will not facilitate growth if the seed is not well-designed; however, a supportive environment will foster growth if it is a well-designed seed. 


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