soccer cycle

A day of soccer is so much more than a game; it consists of players, coaches, referees and fans. Each person has a vital role in the game; there is more than a star player that helps to push a team to succeed. Being a team leader can be on the field or in the stands, but it is important to note that "team leadership is not an abdication of responsibility. It is a shared responsibility." (167) On a team and in the business world, it is necessary for the leader to participate in the proposed task in order to encourage the entire team. Like a coach in soccer showing the players how to pass or encouraging them with each goal and or failure to try again. Jarred and Ali did n amazing job last Monday at taking the sport that they loved and carefully teaching, showing and encouraging the class. This was a great way to lead and to teach, and would work well with outside the world of soccer as well.

Although the term "marshmallow manager" sounds catchy it can be a dangerous thing to become. In the book "Leading Self-Directed Work Teams," a marshmallow leader is "a supervisor who acts sticky and sweet; yet they seldom take a stand under pressure and the change their opinion easily to whatever is popular and noncontroversial." This is what needs to be avoided in team leadership, a leader, like Ali and Jarred did, should make a decision as to how the game of soccer should be taught and played and then not change their mind about rules and logistics. When Angela and I had the opportunity to lead, I am afraid that we did not give a clear enough explanation of the rules, which did cause controversy; it is also good to know and lay out all of the rules before the game is played independently by the team.

An important visual in leading self-directed teams is called "The Cycle of SDWT Maturity," there are five terms that this cycle includes, investigation, preparation, implementation, transition, maturation. Each stage was executed when we played soccer last week. The first stage, investigation, is about understanding; our leaders explained the game, the rules and the history so that we could better comprehend the purpose of the sport. Same as if one was designing an ad campaign, it’s important to fully understand the product. Next is preparation, this is about acceptance, asking the question "do you trust me?" Being able to take everyone onto the field or the project fully committed. Implementation involves making it work, once the leader has the trust of the team, they can begin the project or hope to succeed on the field. It will not be easy to keep the team motivated, this is the transition stage, helping o provide the team with motivation and the appropriate skills to succeed. Last stage in the cycle is the Maturation challenges, "it is easy to rest after people make it through the transition stage...unfortunately in todays competitive and turbulent environment, to rest may mean to become stagnant and uncompetitive." So what is the solution? I guess that is what this class is about, figuring out how to lead fully but also reserve energy to keep an activity in full swing at all times.