The Role of a Leader and The Role of a Team Member
A leader has two jobs on team:
- Define success for the team
- Help others be successful
A leader should first spend their time clearly articulating what the definition of done is for each task for the team. Your team show know both what to do, when the job is done at a good enough level to achieve the outcomes you seek, and when it should be done. That is the process of defining success. Secondly, when your team members are blocked or get stuck, it is your job as a leader to remove the obstacles in front of them.
In short, a leader’s job is the point the team in the right direction and then ease their path to the final destination.
A team member also has two jobs:
- Be successful in completing your tasks
- Communicate what limits or slows down your success
As a team member, the most important thing you can do is complete your tasks successfully. This is critical to a high-performance team. Secondly, each team member should communicate what is slowing them down from completing their task efficiently or what is blocking them from being successful.
This is how you, as a team member, can get the maximum output from your leader.
The two, leaders and team members, must work in sync. Each has to do their jobs in order for the other to be successful.