Self-Doubt & Small Teams
I will put students in groups of 4 and put one student as a team leader. Ever other lab I will rotate the team leader within the same group. Each week I will mix up the students into different groups and start all over. This will encourage the students to get to know one another and be able to adjust to different types of personalities. When doing this I have seen the students gain confidence they need to do when working in the automotive filed and in life.
John, great methodology and by using this process each student gets a chance to be a leader and each student needs to learn how to be a good team mate. How do you manage those students that are not ready to be leaders? For some students their focus is not to be the focus of any attention and they are more comfortable being a part of a team but not the leader. Thanks for anything you can share.
James Jackson
How do you manage those students that are not ready to be leaders?
Some students have some fear of a leadership roll to help out in this will put the student in charge of cheking in tools from the groups. then ask them what the diffrence is. i point out that the student was in charge (leadership) most of the fear goes away.
Do you start by asking for students who would like to be leaders initially so that they student who are shy don't feel put on the spot?
John, not everyone is meant to be a leader and this is fine. The real issue becomes allowing those that want leadership skills to take on those roles and those that want to be followers to take on those roles. Make sure your students understand what roles they can participate and the value to them for taking on such roles. If students ELECT to follow then ensure they are good followers provide value to their leaders. These traits will carry on with them into the working world and make them more valuable employees. We as instructors want all of our students to be leaders but in the end, if they ELECT to focus on a more servant role then focus on servant leadership as a mixture of both worlds.
James Jackson
Susan , in a word, YES. Have conversations early with your students. Let them know leadership roles are available for those that want to learn to be better leaders and other roles are available for those that prefer to be behind the scenes. If everyone would like to be a leader make sure those opportunities exist but I would not force anyone to take on a leadership role if they are animate about not having that level of stress placed upon them. Taking students outside their comfort zone is a good thing but no at the risk of being traumatized in the process.
James Jackson
