The Issues Teams Face

This past unit of study in Elements of Team Leadership was one that focused on the issues that teams face. Managing conflict, power and social influences, leadership positions, problem solving, and creativity are all areas that could lead to potential issues in the work setting.
Of this section, the most interesting part of the reading that I was intrigued with was the problem solving topic. When you are working toward a common goal with a group of people, the process of accomplishing that goal can be interpreted as many different ways as there are members. Everyone has their own ideas and ways of trying to meet the expectations that the team sets for itself.
One team that I was on that exemplified the meaning of accomplishing it's  goal was the state winning livestock judging I was on in high school.

(A few of the girls that I judged with at another competition in Louisville for Skillathon.)

Our all girl judging team competed together for years in 4-H and FFA competitions up and down the East Coast and across the country. Over the years, the one piece of advice that our coach told us over and over again was "consistency, consistency, consistency." Whether we were looking at pigs, sheep, cattle, or the occasional goat, we tried to maintain the same goal - see the same thing your teammate sees, that way if one person does well, you all do well.
By keeping a constant eye on our goal, we went on to win the State FFA contest and placed in the top ten at National Convention in 2008.
I don't doubt that my team in this leadership class will excel with the goals we have set for ourselves! Hopefully we will make an impact with the elementary students as we discuss the importance of leadership, teamwork and brainstorming in the coming weeks.