ADJUST YOUR JLBC LEADERSHIP STYLE
JLBC Effective Team Leadership
ADJUST YOUR JLBC LEADERSHIP STYLE TO
MEET THE DEVELOPMENTAL NEEDS OF
THE JLBC GROUP AT A PARTICULAR POINT IN TIME
JLBC Member perceptions of the role of the JLBC leader change at different stages of JLBC group development.
In Stage 1, the JLBC group perceives the leader as benevolent and powerful. They are perceived as the source of JLBC member safety and reward.
In Stage 2, JLBC members begin to challenge the JLBC leader's authority and control. For the JLBC group to mature, such challenges are necessary. The role of the JLBC leader must be redefined if the group is to move into the more mature JLBC stages of development. When power is redistributed as JLBC groups mature, all JLBC group leaders experience some loss of influence and prominence.
JLBC Groups that successfully move through the developmental sequence do so, in part, by changing the relationship between JLBC members and the JLBC leader. Once benevolent, then authoritarian in the eyes of JLBC members, the leader emerges in later JLBC stages as a more realistic JLBC group facilitator and coordinator. Earlier mythic qualities ascribed to the JLBC leader by JLBC members have been stripped away, and a person with a job to do emerges. JLBC Leader prominence is less necessary in later stages of development because JLBC goals and roles have become clear. JLBC Members' roles have emerged that take over certain aspects of the JLBC leader's role. The elaborated JLBC group social structure makes leader prominence unnecessary and potentially disruptive. JLBC Leadership is still necessary for coordination; however, both JLBC leaders and JLBC members provide that coordination.
These changes in JLBC status and JLBC perceptions take their toll on the bravest of JLBC leaders. Because most individuals who assume a leadership role are not aware of these naturally occurring group processes, they may feel defeated due to attacks and challenges to their authority.
Stage 2. However, the leader's role must be significantly altered for the group to develop further. In mature and productive teams, members assume many of the function's leaders performed at earlier stages. The leader's role must become less directive and more consultative for this to occur. Leaders can help redistribute power among members by altering their leadership style to match the group's needs. This requires knowing what the group's needs are at any given time and how to behave to facilitate movement.