Org 300 Applying Leadership Principals - Leadership Training

Portfolio Project

Leadership Training

Jake Rio

ORG 300 Applying Leadership Principals

Colorado State University – Global Campus

Mark Kelso

April 19, 2016

Organizational leaders play a pivotally crucial role regarding a team’s emotional and productive status.  An optimal team leader understands their team and is able to motivate through actions and a keen eye.  This motivation produces a prolific atmosphere conducive of group cohesion and efficiency; permitting the leader to be effective.  This program will teach team leaders how they can better themselves in order to better their team.  

Organizational Leadership Problems

        Over this company’s history the leadership has been problematic.  Teams are not generating results for specific projects and it’s the faulty leaders that are to blame.  To be successful leaders must make their team feel respected and a valued member of the team. Common Pitfalls that have been seen within this organization’s leaders are as follows:

Poor email response time:

 Timely responses to emails create value within a team.  This value can be best described as team cohesion.  A team can better perform if they are cohesive “group cohesion is associated with good performance… even though under some conditions cohesion could lead to groupthink, cohesion generally enhances decision-making. These studies suggest that under some circumstances there is a positive relationship between group cohesion and group performance” (Saenz 2003).  How does responding to emails create group cohesion? It creates a comfortable atmosphere where a team member feels respected and positively opinionated. When members’ questions are answered quickly it demonstrates a healthy work ethic.

Failing to provide Feedback/Improved Feedback:

 During annual reviews Human Resources has received reports about ambiguous feedback members received from their leaders.   It is important for leader to give feedback throughout the year so their team members are on schedule and have the best opportunity to discuss their successes.  The annual review meetings also allow leaders and team members to brainstorm ways to troubleshoot their failures.  Feedback throughout the year emulates a leader that cares and wants to invest time in a team member while also creating a positive attitude in the member’s mind about their leader. “Feedback is the cheapest, most powerful, yet, most under used management tool that we have at our disposal. Feedback is powerful as it helps people get on track, it serves as a guide to assist people to know how they and others perceive their performance.” (Lang 2014)