Personal Reflection Based on a Teambuilding Day Essay

Personal Reflection Based on a Teambuilding Day - Essay Example Despite the problems that the team faced throughout the day, it should be noted that moral remained high throughout the unfolding events and while a more formal approach to leadership and management may have been appropriate, a significant amount was still achieved through the self leading work group structure adopted by the group. 2.0 Theory In Practice In the first instance the group lacked a formal leader and as such, decisions were taken on a democratic basis. Overall the results of such an approach would seem to highlight the same issues as those in the literature, namely that while the moral of the team was high and members engaged in their tasks, organisation suffered through a lack organisational skills or accountability which would have normally rested with a formal leader (Bratton and Gold 2007, Torrington et al 2008). In addition, the leadership day also highlighted another key element which is often discussed in the literature (Mullins 2009, Handy 1999), the fact that lea dership and management while often manifested in the same figure are two separate issues. While the lack of leadership within the group never saw team members suffering from a lack of initiative or inspiration, traditionally elements associated with leadership (Robbins and Judge 2007). What the group lacked was the organisational skills which are often associated with the subject of management. The opinion of the writer is that a greater number of organisational skills such as time management, task delegation, communications and job design would have overall resulted in a greater performance of the team (Adair 1989, 2009). However, as the literature suggests (Huczynski and Buchanan 2009) it is also believed in this case that the skills of both leadership and management would have had to come together in a single person in order for the two theoretical concepts to have had a significant impact upon the performance of the team. Having worked with the team, it is evident that despite t he lack of a leader, team members were well motivated and had high levels of inspiration throughout the day. This would seem to support the theoretical views of motivational theorists such as Maslow (1970) who attributed motivation to intrinsic sources of motivation, such as a sense of belonging, recognition and self actualisation. This is in stark contrast to those who supported earlier theoretical models such as Taylor (Handy 1999) who advocated that motivation came from extrinsic sources, such as the motivation derived from a financial reward. While there was no formal leader appointed, the overall traits of team members and temperament of the group may suggest that a transformational leadership style would have been the appropriate style of leadership in contrast to more transactional styles of leadership. It is the belief of the writer that a transactional style of leadership making use of extremely formal and authoritarian styles of management may have overall resulted in poor er results for t team as a whole. The possibility of such poorer results would be attributed by the writer to resentment and resistance which may have come to light, should such an approach towards leadership and management have been brought into effect during the course of the day (Northouse 2004). A transformation approach on the other hand may simply have added a greater level of direction for team members, giving the team a

History of American Government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

History of American Government - Essay Example   James Madison became a student of colonial history and political theory in his search for a solution to the political and economic dilemmas which beset the colonies at the time. Madison felt the Articles of Confederation were too weak to serve the needs of the United Colonies. He reasoned that the state autonomy clause, precluded the perpetuation of a strong central government, which Madison felt was necessary to adequately regulate commerce.This inadequacy left the central government with little ability and left the Confederation coffers inadequate to wage war. Meantime, inflation began to engulf the country; a pound of tea could cost as much as $100. Of course this inflation resulted in a contraction of business activity; some small farmers were arrested for bad debts and many farmers were forced to sell their farms to pay their taxes.Madison solicited the assistance of the elder statesman, general George Washington.. Washington initially found a number of reasons to lay suspec t to the idea proposed by Madison, and was reluctant to accept Madison’s offer for assistance. Washington dealt with the issue of credibility; â€Å" what if the new experiment did not work? What light would be cast upon his reputation? After a considerable amount of soul searching, Washington wrote to Madison. â€Å"Wisdom and good examples are necessary at this time to rescue the political machine from the impending storm†. (Madison)George Washington understood that Madison envisioned a strong central government to provide order and stability.... pay their taxes. Madison solicited the assistance of the elder statesman, general George Washington.. Washington initially found a number of reasons to lay suspect to the idea proposed by Madison, and was reluctant to accept Madison's offer for assistance. Washington dealt with the issue of credibility; " what if the new experiment did not work What light would be cast upon his reputation After a considerable amount of soul searching, Washington wrote to Madison. "Wisdom and good examples are necessary at this time to rescue the political machine from the impending storm". (Madison) George Washington understood that Madison envisioned a strong central government to provide order and stability. Madison responded to Washington with; "let it be tried then whether any middle ground can be taken which will once support a due supremacy of the national authority, and providing state power only when subordinately useful" This was a mighty issue, one which would generate much debate. It became so fervent until the labels of federalist (those who supported a strong central government and anti-federalist (opposed to watering down of state sovereignty), created substantial followings. James Madison and John Tyler served together in the Virginia General Assembly. They devised a plan for a states convention to be held in Annapolis, Maryland3 in September 1786. At this convention the two men proposed that macro commerce be controlled and regulated by the Continental Congress. James Madison and Alexander Hamilton issued a report of the Annapolis meeting. The meeting