Leadership a Strained Research Team

Question :

1.  Based on the skills approach, how would you assess Dr. Wood’s leader-ship and his relationship to the members of the Elder Care Project team? Will the project be successful?

2.  Does Dr. Wood have the skills necessary to be an effective leader of this research team?

3.  The skills model describes three important competencies for leaders: problem-solving skills, social judgment skills, and knowledge. If you were to coach Dr. Wood using this model, what competencies would you address with him? What changes would you suggest that he make in his leadership?

Answer :

Answer1

Considering the given case study, it can be said that the leadership style of Dr Wood is ineffective. He does not have sufficient skills to lead a group of individuals to complete the project effectively. He seems to be frustrated despite the fact that the team members are very serious regarding the project. He is not focusing on building relationship with the team members which is quite demotivating. He always shows his anger. It moralizes the team members. However, the team members are committed to the project and giving their best to complete the project. So, considering their commitment, hard work, and enthusiasm it can be said that the project will be completed successfully.

Answer2

The given case study shows that Dr Wood does not have required skills to be an effective leader of the research team. A leader does not only focus on the output or outcomes of the project. He or she also focuses on interpersonal relationship. An effective leader believes in building a competent working environment in which each member of the team competes with other team members. Dr Wood does not appreciate the effort and commitment of the team members which demotivate them. So, it can be concluded that he does not have required skills to be an effective leader.

Answer3

Dr Wood needs a significant improvement in his leadership style. Highlighting problems without a solution is not an effective step and it does not yield anything. So, Dr Wood should learn the problem-solving skills so that he can come with solution rather than complaining all the time. He should also learn social judgement skills. His team members are performing more than expected however, he does not recognize that. So, he needs to learn these two skills. I would suggest him to focus on building strong relationship with the team members so that they can be morally supported at the time of need. It is very important to recognize the efforts of the team members in order to keep them doing the great job.

References

Armstrong, M. (2016). Armstrong's handbook of management and leadership for HR: Developing effective people skills for better leadership and management. Kogan Page Publishers.

Priest, S., &Gass, M. (2017). Effective Leadership in Adventure Programming, 3E. Human Kinetics.