( 1 ) WEEK 9 DISCUSSION
Never forget that the most important member of your team is you. You must behave as a team player—in Joe’s words, “lead from ahead, not above.” To foster collaboration and success within your team, you need to lead by example and be a member of your own team. Don’t ask your team members to do things you wouldn’t do yourself. This helps break down barriers between team members and leaders and creates a sense of teamwork. This week, you see examples of how other leaders apply these principles to their own teams.
Identify someone in your professional work life (past or current) who leads by example. Describe their specific actions and the impact that those specific actions and their leadership has on others.
( 2 ) WEEK 9 DISCUSSION
Describe a time when you encountered one of these barriers in your personal or professional life.
How can recognizing these barriers help you to avoid them in the future?
BARRIERS LISTED BELOW ONLY PICK ONE
Confirmation Bias
Mental Set
Functional Fixedness
Unnecessary Constraints
Groupthink
Irrelevant Information
Paradigm Blindness
Remember to answer each part of the question with a minimum of one paragraph of substantive content which is 5-7 sentences with limited grammatical errors. Also, respond to at least one of your peers with a 3-4 sentence response.
WEEK 10 DISCUSSION QUESTION
As the needs and goals of your team evolve, you will need to be flexible and able to adapt to your team. You may have to fill vacant positions or realign to accomplish your goals. As you move forward, it’s important to fill the roles with the strengths you need and move people to where they perform best. Sometimes you will have to change your strategy, but not your people, so you can play to your strengths. Changing needs do not always require a change in members. It’s up to you to use each team member in the most effective way. This week, we learn how to lead a team to success using the talent one already has.
Think about a past or present position you’ve held. Were you using all of your strengths and skills in that position? Were you given the opportunity to take on a new role to better utilize your strengths and skills? How did this affect your performance?
