Team Leadership - what fun!

Leadership in teams is either a rewarding and productive experience or a miserable and disheartening one.

Communicating a vision is vital to a successful team leadership experience. Once a leader states the "end goal" then the team-supporters and the detractors emerge. By "detractors" I mean the individual who refuses to even try to be a team member. We have all worked with this individual - the naysayer, thrives on negativity or conspiracy, or wants control. I define supporters as those willing to give the vision or the mission a try - they are supporters of the team.

I just came out of a team meeting whereby I am the designated "leader". I should note that the committee or team I am "leading" was appointed by someone higher up. Having learned my lesson from the LPI, I stated the goal/mission of the group and asked for input on the best means to achieve the goal. Whereby, I was promptly told that our mission was a "token exercise in futility" designed to make a specific group look good. Wow!!! Once that was out, chaos reigned (debating, arguing, and angst). I think I will go back to the individal who built the team and ask his thinking behind assigning this person to the team. With this fresh experience, I can confidently state that a negative team leader leadership experience may result with the emergence of a "second leader."

On a more positive note, an area to watch in a "team leadership" situation is to make sure an individual does not take on too much of the team's work. Always great to have someone willing to contribute, but there is a danger to having one person shoulder the work - it impacts perspective, could prejudice opinions or results. Finding balance within a team as far as sharing responsibilities, opinions and committment is a primary challenge facing many team leaders.

An ideal team leadership experience typically means working with individuals with different perspectives, initiative, and backgrounds with a shared culture to get something done. The best type of arrangement is when the Leader is available to state the mission, serve as a sounding board - providing ideas, insight and advise. I have been fortunate enough to have experienced this several times in my career, so I know it is not a myth - teams can and do work.

Nonetheless, I cannot wait for my next meeting with the committee of "discord" - and the evuhl naysayer!!! Suggestions on how to manage (as opposed to Lead) this individual?