Poor Leadership

The team failed because of one factor: poor leadership. Each step of the way, Juan’s ineffective leadership facilitated a cascade of unfavorable consequences, and ultimate failure.

First, Juan failed to define a clear objective for the assignment. The student organization was geared towards educational outreach and peer tutoring services for chemistry majors—and yet they were asked to host an anniversary celebration event, unrelated to the group’s mission statement. Fine, but this means the group leader (Juan) must be sure to define the event’s purpose in a way that is meaningful for the group specifically. Maybe the celebration could be considered in the light of promoting educational outreach; or Juan could explain that it is a part of the group’s mission to support, and be committed to, the longevity and success of the university. Thus this anniversary event is very much collaborative with the organization’s objectives. Yet, it seems that Juan was unable to garner sufficient enthusiasm and commitment from his team. Additionally, It was up to Juan to define individual objectives; if specific assignments are not given out, nothing will be accomplished. It sounds like Juan missed this vital step as well.

Further, it seems clear that Juan did not do all of his homework. The funds and resources the team had to work with were undetermined; therefore much time was wasted in considering ideas such as a concert that would not have been feasible. By the time Juan realized they were short sufficient resources for a concert, the team only had three weeks left to have a finished product. With meetings only once per week, that is not nearly adequate time.

That leads into Juan’s next failure: the failure to be proactive. If time—and number of members—is short, increase the number of meetings, find outside help, and figure out how to tweak the project so that it can be accomplished by the deadline. Of course, being proactive earlier on would have made things easier: instead of shooting down the concert idea completely and causing panic, maybe the team could brainstorm a way to make the concert fit the budget. (Different venue? Different band/performer? Fundraise?) Tackling the problem in this manner may have kept the team fully intact.

Finally, Juan was clearly ineffective at rallying his team when frustration and disappointment was plaguing it. The point when a team’s morale plummets is a leader’s most important moments, the time when a leader is needed most. Juan’s half-hearted attempt to ‘facilitate another brainstorming activity’ was never going to be received well by a team who just learned that their brainstorming thus far had not produced good results. It was up to Juan at that point to initiate the flow of ideas, of alternate solutions, of a path to success. Maybe remind the group why they are part of this project (back to my first point) and why commitment to carry through with it is so critical. Obviously, failure to establish these points when the team first started the project makes this rally all the more difficult.

All of these missteps add up to one thing: poor leadership. This shows that being a leader by title is not enough. One must accept not only the authority of leadership, but also the responsibility.