MSLD 511 Module 1 - Two-Way Street

When teams or projects are newly formed there are more subject to evolving. As a team member on a newly formed project team (a couple of years back) I think that I influenced the leader of the group. One topic that was brought up by fellow classmates in this week’s discussion was the evolution and adaptability of leadership, a leader that is open to adapting to fit the needs of the team is much more effective then one that has a set strategy that is not flexible.

My personal example of an exchange of influence with a leader was on a project team that had a very specific objective, but no real set way of tackling and meeting that objective. Our project leader was very experienced in the industry but was new to the specific field within the industry, whereas I was fairly new to the industry but relatively knowledgeable to the specific field. Because of this interesting and new environment, the leader was uncharacteristically open to allow the team members to organize the structure of the project and the specific initiatives that should be strived for. These initiatives were in the form of marketing campaigns. In previous projects this leader was very structured and provided a clear plan of action and specific campaigns that he believed would be most effective. Coming onto the team, I had a new creative campaign idea to bring to the table. After speaking to the leader on one on one basis about my campaign idea he was much more open to having conversations of what the plan of action for the team should be. I then had earned the opportunity to propose the campaign idea to the whole team, we all agreed that we would move forward with the idea.

I saw this situation as a clear moment when I influenced the leadership style of my team leader. He decided to adjust and give the team member more freedom in suggesting our own campaign ideas and having an open dialogue about those ideas. Just as mentioned in this week’s discussion leadership is as much about personal growth as is it is about team growth, and it really is a two-way street.