The Law of the Chain (Session 2): “The Strength of the Team is Impacted by its Weakest Link” –The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork
This law highlights the importance of collective growth. Focusing solely on one individual will lead to others falling behind, slowing down the entire team. The potential of the strongest member would be halted and never reached if the weakest link is not at a similar level of skill or leadership as that individual. Having been both a leader and the weakest link, this quote signifies how much involving everyone directly relates to each person’s growth together. Situations where I wasn’t being involved in becoming a leader led to me asking more questions, becoming an impractical asset, and being resented against. Resentment is often built from annoyance and asking wearisome questions may cause annoyance. If the strongest member were to help me as the weakest link, although slowing the team down at first, the strength of our entire team would have grown. Being mindful of this law can lead to taking advantage of similar situations to help build leaders. As an experienced leader capable of planning leadership events, the same could not be said about the grade nines, who will for the first-time help plan community events. All grade nines would be considered as the weakest link as they have no initial leadership responsibility. It would be part of my job to help grow each member into an independent leader so that the event ends up organized and well-executed. Otherwise, not everybody’s contribution may be considered, and completing tasks may end up being perpetual.
How People Learn (Session 3): Researchers say we remember 10% of what we hear, 50% of what we see, 70% of what we say, 90% of what we hear, see, say, and do.
This concept explains that people learn best through utilizing multiple senses, rather than one. The more involved we are, the better we stay engaged and remember. The most effective way to remember is to engage in speaking, then looking, then listening. Using all these methods achieves the most memorable way of learning and including interactivity results in us remembering 90% of what we learn. Applying this knowledge to myself, depending on what sense is involved, what I remember clearly reflects into my learning. Being aware, I can involve myself in scenarios where I have an option to choose how I learn, and I can then choose the most effective option available. I can utilize this knowledge to create a strategy to involve my team in effective learning:
- Explain instructions
- Allow team to observe written instructions
- Check their learning through questions
- Demonstrate and involve in interactions
Building up to the most effective method may work better as it is less overwhelming and will result in clear leadership behavior and knowledge. Many people have preferred methods of learning, so doing what will result in 90% remembrance will incorporate the diversity of learning methods. Leaders, including myself, may skip steps. This results in team members not developing a full understanding of what is required. Setting up a memorable lesson builds others into knowledgeable leaders, rather than leaders who are unsure how to lead. Including hearing, seeing, saying, and doing in learning will avoid inadequacy in building leaders.
“It’s amazing what can get accomplished if it doesn’t matter who gets the credit.” –Mark Twain
(Session 4):
Selfishness is a trait that often comes with being a leader. Selfishness is part of the drive of a person that makes them a leader. This quote by Mark Twain explains that selfishness is one of the biggest barriers to being productive. As new leaders are made, selfishness becomes more apparent, and people begin to want credit for all work. Leaders spend more time trying to be seen as the best leader, than being the best leader they can. Ignoring credit, a leader will be able to get more work done. Leaders become better if they focus on helping build others, and an efficient leader should not care that the credit may end up to others. If others can feel like they accomplished a task, it may give them the confidence to embellish leadership traits. Using this, I can adapt this positive mindset to set an example for other developing leaders. I can teach others to share and show that teamwork gets the best work done. When planning leadership events, there are lots of responsibilities to be taken care of by groups. However, people will often go work on tasks independently, rather than as a team to get full credit for work. Sometimes it can be effective to split up, but for large tasks, it may be inefficient and input from different people may be overlooked. Contributions will allow for developing leaders to have new experiences and learn a variety of skills.
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Source: Maxwell, J. C. (2014). Developing the Leaders Around You. HarperCollins Leadership.
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