Plan for Positive Influence

Plan for Positive Influence

Teams are being used more and more by corporations to complete important projects (Yukl, 2010). In the workplace, a team can be defined as a group of people brought together for a common goal (Yukl, 2010). The success or failure of a project can be impacted by the relationship among team members. A team has been formed to work on a project that is expected to take a year to complete. The author has been selected to lead the team and help ensure the projects success. The author’s leadership style will be discussed and compared to accepted best practices. A plan for positive influence will be created that will increase the team’s motivation, satisfaction, and performance. The impact that differences in individual’s attitudes, emotions, personalities, and values have on the performance of the team will be addressed. Finally, the author will discuss ways to apply these differences to positively influence the team .

Leadership Style

Many assessments are available to determine leadership style. The author completed leadership and team skills assessments provided on the University of Phoenix website. The best leaders were defined as individuals who balanced concern for tasks as well as people (Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007). These leaders also displayed charisma as well as a high trust in others. The author scored well on available assessments showing high trust and charisma. Concern for the task was a little higher than the concern for people but still ranked in the higher limits of the measurement tool . The combination of trust and charisma could help a team function well by balancing leadership skills with the ability to share responsibility with other members of the team. The author has used these skills during 20 years of coaching baseball. During that time (,) members from many different backgrounds came together with a common goal. A balance of task and personal focus was the only way to keep the team together and...