June 1998
Building the Dream Team
Leadership Lessons from the Phi Theta Kappa Leadership Development Studies
As a chapter team preparing to orient new officers, it is important to remember that new leaders may need to be guided in their pursuit of chapter goals. You must be prepared to offer suggestions on how they can get started and what must be done to achieve success.
In the article, "Twelve Ways to Better Team Building," in Unit Six of the Phi Theta Kappa Leadership Development Studies text, Ellen J. Belzer points out that cooperation can lead to powerful results.
As a leader of your team, "you've got to win over your players, pep them up for the work ahead, cheer them on, assess their weaknesses and exploit their strengths," says Belzer. "But most important, you must inspire a sense of oneness among them by minimizing their rivalries and making each of them feel valued." Belzer offers twelve steps for building the ultimate team.
1. Start with pre-meeting politicking.
Before you start making plans for the upcoming year, find out why each new officer decided to accept the challenge of a leadership role. According to Belzer, "people's personal agendas always affect the outcome of a project." By visiting informally with each new officer, you can find out what each person feels strongly about and how to win him or her over to a team perspective.
