What If Akela Missed?

Every organisation’s work is first of all a teamwork. Why then do we often see one group of people working much more effective than the other one, though both are equally big and qualified, and they have the same objectives? Female social organisation “Noor” held a training on teamwork for its activists on February 8, where they elaborated such situations, odd at first sight.

“Innovations Distinguish A Leader From A Catcher”

Late Steve Jobs formulated this brilliant criteria of a leader's competence. People often fight for leadership having neither actual ability for management nor critical reasoning. They come to power, and that’s it — they are unable to establish clear hierarchy, put every team member on a place they suit best and even determine clear goals and motion vector.

The training participants studied many important things, such as how and why a team is created, how to establish healthy and friendly atmosphere in the team, and, of course, how to try candidates for each of the leading roles.

One Can’t Cure A Wound Without Opening The Abscess

Matters of team members’ real and concealed attitude towards one another were also discussed. Is the team doesn't have a tradition of discussing current problems and solving them as soon as possible, everyone accumulates annoyance and a conflict is coming. The participants were surprised to find out that switching concealed conflict to showdown has its benefits as well as drawbacks. Namely, problems hushed up for years are aired.

The leader’s role in this situation is to show consideration and spend as much time as the team needs for solving these problems; at the same time, the leader controls the situation not to let a constructive debate turn into a wrangle. The most important thing, the trainers stressed, is to quit while one be ahead and remind yourself that your opponent is also a human being, who can be mistaking, heart, and so on. Even if it’s the leader. And the main support the team can provide their leader with in a situation like this is not to depose “the Akela who missed”. Replacing a leader becomes necessary only if the old one starts missing systematically.