The 10 Biggest Team Leader Mistakes in the Video Series Team Leader
Team-Leader.com is of course centered on a video series called Team Leader. If you haven’t watched it, you’re in for a treat. Be warned there are Spoilers in this article.
For those of you looking for information about being an effective Team Leader, we thought it would be helpful to highlight the major Team Leadership failures encountered by the characters in our series.
1.) Poor Delegation – It basically all starts with poor delegation of duties. If Kate MacIntosh (Cake), had solicited the help of her team members including Brooke and Alice but also Zena and Moonbeam who sat right across from her and must have known that the big project hadn’t even been started. (episode 1)
2.) Negligent Oversight of Team Members – Along with poor delegation of duties, Cake failed to oversee the execution of those duties. Letting everything slide. By Captain Annoy-o’s record, Brooke has only ever written a single internal memo. And he later admits to not doing anything in the office. But in the end it was Cake’s fault for not properly overseeing her Team Members. (episode 5 and episode 6)
3.) Failure to Inform Management of Project Shortcomings – Cake also failed to tell Roxanne that she had not even started the report and presentation which was due Monday morning. Roxanne remained absolutely clueless right up to the end which was reflective of her own managerial shortcomings. (episode 5 and episode 11)
4.) Fostering of a Negative Work Environment – Cake had only a small team, but let Captain Annoy-o sour the atmosphere for everyone. Being his own rain cloud the Captain spends his time logging everyone’s activities so that he can through it in their face at a moment’s notice. A strong team leader would not let one bad apple spoil the bunch. (episode1, episode 3 and episode 6)
5.) Procrastination – Leaving things to the last minute is never a good idea, and Cake’s failure to use the month’s proceeding to ensure that the project would be delivered on schedule. And made it impossible for her team members and manager to recover from her eventual absence. (episode 1 and episode 11)
6.) Assuming Unrealistic Responsibilities – Brooke accepted the promotion knowing that he had no experience or qualifications, and really no right to be a Team Leader. He then accepted responsibility for the presentation that he didn’t know first thing about. Giving your manager realistic expectations, is always a good idea. (episode 6 and episode 10)
7.) Taking a Promotion for the Wrong Reasons – Brooke also accepted the position out of spite for his coworker. Using the position solely to gain power over another co-worker is inappropriate in the workplace. (episode 6 and episode 9)
8.) Letting Team Members Dictate Team Leader Actions – Brooke really had no idea what to do when the presentation wasn’t ready, and let his team members come up with a bad plan because of social pressure and irresponsible behavior on the part of his coworkers. A Strong Team Leader would realize that even if your friends think it’s a good idea, doesn’t mean it is. (episode 7 and episode 11)
9.) Poorly Executing Bad Ideas – So their plan was no doubt flawed long before Brooke took that dirty shirt out of the hamper. Never air company laundry in front of clients, or our own laundry for that matter. If all you have is a bad plan, your better execute it well. (episode 11 and episode 12)
10.) Blaming Other People for Leadership Failings – In the end Brooke had no one else to blame but himself, and trying to put the blame on Alice in front of everyone only made it worse. A team leader has to accept responsibility for the failings of their team. (episode 12)
So those are some of the big Team Leader mistakes found in video series Team Leader. Learn from it.
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