How to Recognize The Leader in a Group

If you want to know what makes a strong group leader or how to lead a team to success, you are bound to find a few key insights by reading on. 

What Is a Good Team Leader?

The term “leader” means different things to different people. However, most approaches to effective leadership use similar strategies and skills: 

Vision and Goal Orientation

People need a destination in mind to get where they want to go. You should develop detailed leadership objectives to understand your short-term and long-term future clearly. The product and project management software organization Asana recommends setting SMART team goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely.

Communication Skills

All leaders must successfully impart critical information to each team member. This means communicating with absolute clarity in both spoken and written form. For example, leaders must clearly explain expectations and goals, convey news, share updates, summarize accomplishments,  and offer feedback. As a leader, practicing active and productive listening is also essential. After all, listening is half of the communication equation. 

Decision-Making and Problem-Solving Skills

You can’t get a project off the ground without practical decision-making skills. Once off the ground, no project will go exactly as planned. Therefore, good team leaders must also be able to solve problems on the fly. Decision-making and problem-solving skills are essential for prioritizing work and addressing issues that might impact a project. 

Empathy and Emotional Intelligence

According to Forbes Magazine contributor Shade Zahrai, leaders need to perceive, understand, and manage their own emotions as well as the emotions of others. As a leader, you must engage empathetically with team members and hone your emotional intelligence (EI). Most career and employment authorities agree that EI is as important, if not more important, than IQ or industry expertise when achieving professional success. 

Confidence and Resilience 

When you face adversity with bravery and go the extra mile to get the job done, you are highly likely to succeed, even if you face seemingly insurmountable odds. Furthermore, confident and resilient leaders often see their members mimic these industrious qualities. The contagious nature of confidence and resilience make them some of the most desirable leadership skills you can acquire. 

Exploring the Role of a Group Leader

How exactly does a leader function within a group? The answer to this question will inevitably vary because people pursue different goals in various ways. 

Responsibilities of a Group Leader

Because group leaders' roles vary, so do their day-to-day responsibilities. However, most effective leaders share a few duties beyond general project organization and management. These responsibilities include advising team members and spearheading favorable policy and process changes. Of course, great leaders also tend to have extensive expertise in the specific industries and fields in which they work. Therefore, many of their responsibilities will be technical in nature.

Different Leadership Styles

Different teams across industries can benefit from different leadership styles. In some cases, effective leadership demands an autocratic method that allows for rapid decision-making by a few key experts. In other cases, effective leadership requires a laissez-faire (“hands-off”) approach that gives team members the autonomy to work independently. Most great leaders fall between these two extreme approaches and incorporate other leadership styles, including pacesetting (motivating team members to succeed) and coaching (fostering the best qualities in team members). Recognizing that each leadership style has unique benefits and drawbacks is essential.

Balancing Authority and Collaboration

Even the most laissez-faire leaders must occasionally exert authority, and even the most autocratic leaders must welcome collaboration to complete large-scale projects and accomplish great things. Therefore, all leaders must learn to strike a delicate balance between micromanaging and letting go.

How to Lead a Team Effectively

Here are just a few guidelines for effective team leadership across a broad spectrum of industry sectors and geographic regions:

Setting Clear Expectations

When communicating clearly, few things are more important than setting objectives and expectations that all team members can fully understand. This is because all projects must be built around clear goals, and all team members must know their roles to reach them.

Building a Supportive Environment

While fostering or changing workplace culture can be challenging, a positive and supportive attitude can prove infectious. Beyond “leading by example” by supporting their team members in every way possible, a good leader will implement and enforce policies that promote an encouraging, understanding, and empathetic environment. As a leader, you might also want to consider taking the time to comprehensively mentor promising team members, perhaps preparing them to become leaders themselves.

Delegating and Empowering Team Members

No matter how much of a “workaholic” or a “control freak” you happen to be, you must learn how to delegate tasks and give team members the autonomy that they need to complete them. One person alone cannot complete the workload required to finish large projects and drive major operations. Perhaps a reflection of the ambition and work ethic that defines them, the ability to delegate eludes many of today’s team leaders. The online career resource The Muse places “Still Trying to Do Things Yourself” at the top of its list of the “7 Mistakes Most First-Time Managers Make at Least Once.”

Providing Constructive Feedback

Except for setting clear expectations, few communication skills are more valuable than giving constructive feedback. Projects cannot get off the ground without expectations and will never improve without feedback. However, the delivery of negative feedback can be sensitive and tricky. For example, criticism is rarely effective if it triggers a strong emotional response. Rather than concentrating on the negative, wise leaders give feedback on improvement opportunities. Experts have also determined that feedback is most effective when it is specific, authentic, collaborative, and timely. Any criticism deemed belittling or embarrassing should be given in private.

Leading by Example 

While “leading by example” is valuable, accomplishing this is somewhat tricky. A key component of leading by example is integrity. Leaders who display integrity by following ethical principles are more likely to earn and keep the trust and respect of their team members. This trait inspires team members to follow their leader’s example.

Explore a Master’s Degree in Leadership 

So, what is a team leader, and how do they operate? Hopefully, you have a much more straightforward answer to these questions now than before reading this article! 

To learn more about leadership, business, and organizational management, consider pursuing a postgraduate degree at Champlain College Online. The Master’s in Leadership program is conducted entirely online and gives students 24/7 access to coursework so they can work at their own pace and schedule. 

Contact us for more information about the master’s degree in leadership or other Champlain College online programs.