Professional Documents
Culture Documents
EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP
• “A group of people working together towards a
IN EDUCATION
specific aim to accomplish a result. It involves
looking outwards to develop knowledge of and
alignment with other people enhancing
FR. ALAN SCERRI eventually a sense of unity and full coordination
among the members to think and act in synergic
ways”
ways” (Senge 1994)
M.Ed. (Educational Leadership)
• “A group of people who need each other to
University of Malta
accomplish a result”
result”.
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• Feedback and review; effective teams devote time to getting Team building
feedback from their clients and from each other. The review of
Stages in team maturity
task completion and team processes provides the basis fro (Tuckman 1965)
change through learning. Teams abandon tasks to explore what
Task Stage Process
is happening in process teams, identify and reinforce success and
and
tackle problems until they are solved. Clarification of outcomes Forming Anxiety, uncertainty,
• Openness; all issues are open to discussion, there are no ‘hidden sought, roles uncertain domination, ambiguity
agendas’
agendas’ and every member of the team feels able to offer
suggestions, ideas, comments, information, praise and criticism. Values and feasibility of task Storming Conflict between group’
group’s
questioned, principles and resistance to leader, individual
• Lateral communication; team members are able to communicate methods debated initiatives, opinions polarised
with each other without reference to the team leader or to other Planning starts, working Norming Working procedures
members of the team. standards laid down, roles established, communication
• Collaborative decision making; quality decisions emerge from the clear of feelings, mutual support,
sense of team identity
full utilisation of the knowledge and skills of the team members.
members.
Solutions to problems Performing High levels of trust and
• Emphasis on action; teams make things happen – their decisions emerge, more output in less interdependence, roles are
are expressed in terms of action. Effective teams do not write time, quality of outcomes flexible, individuals and team
minutes of their meetings – they issue agreed actions. improves, decisions are relaxed and confident.
translated into action
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• Having completed a task, individual members of the • Within teams every member counts and every single
effort whatever its magnitude is expected to be
team review their own behaviour, that of their celebrated. It is not the achievements that should be
colleagues and of the team as a whole, in terms of both acknowledged though these are important in
task achievement and team processes. These individual encouraging the group in pursuing its mission but all
perceptions are then shared and a consensus view of the effort and participation of every member within the
team to accomplish its endeavour.
the team’
team’s performance emerge: problems are
• Leadership has to become team based contending that
identified, reasons for failure established and the factors leaders of the future need to be trained in the arts of
involved in success celebrated and reinforced. forming teams, “to collaborate through teams rather
• This allows the team to clarify, to understand its than directing through edicts”
edicts” (Bezzina 2000)
behaviour and so to agree how to approach the next • Shared leadership moves away from the concept of a
vertically downwards to a more horizontal type of
task, what behaviour to stress and what to minimise so leadership involving all the members to take an active
as to improve its performance. role in the life of their institution.
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