Redefining a ‘Team Leader’
Let me first apologise for the kindling-dry topic and assure you that this will not be your run-of-the-mill list of Team Leader Roles and Responsibilities – hasn’t that been done to death? Most articles or even team leader job descriptions start by telling you what a team leader is. Then we move to why they are needed, what they do (according to that writer) and perhaps their responsibilities. Whilst that is all very useful, it’s just so dull and it’s been talked about so much that many readers will tune out – as in, what’s new? I hope to tell you something that may resonate with you and what would actually be useful. So here is my take on this water-cracker of a topic.
I think we ought to rethink the term ‘team leader’.
To me, it fosters a belief that some are better than others and that not everyone can be a leader. When we are in teams, we know there is one person who has certain Team Leader responsibilities that sit outside of ours. So we give them the label of ‘team leader’. But when broken down, those words are so much more than a combination of their individual selves. The word ‘team’ shrinks the power of the leader in that role to just that team. However, the word ‘leader’ has the potential to expand to be a leader in so many other ways.
Team vs Leader
A ‘team leader’ mentality is much narrower in my view – it limits the potential and the power of the person to that team where they can (in some situations) operate in a microcosm. Many of us have encountered this behaviour and some of us may have also demonstrated it ourselves. We become team leaders and the intoxicating power rush of responsibility for a team of people can bring out some interesting behaviours.
Confronted with the power, we can bounce between wanting to be friends with the people we feel power over, and the need to parent them. After all, some of the expected Team Leader responsibilities are guidance, instruction, direction and leadership. Much like a parent would have.
A leader mentality is more aligned with passion, confidence, and goal-oriented and is more unique than a team leader. Thinking like a leader is limitless – it’s not for a team – it’s for a wider purpose where you’re leading way beyond a team. If the team ‘Leader’ was used instead of ‘team leader’ – would the role become more expansive to eliminate the ‘friend’ and ‘parent’ behaviours? Are there many leaders to your knowledge who want to be your parent or your friend? I don’t know many if any at all.
“An effective work group or team needs one or more people who exhibit strong leadership and all employees to have a team-oriented attitude.”
Neil Kokemuller explains this in his article What Is the Difference Between Leadership and Teamwork. This doesn’t say or indicate that the person or persons who lead should be a ‘team leader’. In fact, by the mere mention of the ‘person or persons’ it seems like there is a case for ‘leaders’ as opposed to ‘team leader’.
Leader or Team Leader?
Kokemuller goes on to say, “Whereas leadership is about motivation, teamwork emphasises collaboration. It is an awareness that for the team to perform optimally, every member must portray an attitude of cooperation…” So when it comes down to it – are we looking to have a leader who motivates people or a team leader who drives collaboration? I would make the argument that motivation can lead to collaboration but collaboration may impact motivation. Highly motivated people would want to collaborate to achieve. Whereas you can collaborate but end up doing the work for those who aren’t motivated.
I have inhabited both of these roles in one capacity or another for all of my life. Most leaders have been leaders for much longer than they have been in team leader positions. What I mean by this is, leadership qualities make you stand out and you’re nearly always identified as someone who would be an excellent team leader. This has never fully sat well with me as I accepted my role as a leader with far more ease than as a team leader.
My Journey as a Team Leader
My story is one of being grossly unprepared for being a team leader for the same team I was part of. Somehow thinking that I was going to be able to seamlessly step up and ‘team lead’ my colleagues. Now interestingly, I was seen as a leader by them, just not their team leader! I could have netted far more success if I stay a leader to them and not stepped up to be their team leader.
For me, part of my Team Leader Roles and Responsibilities was to step into the shoes of my ex-team leader and try to continue business as usual. What a farce! I did not have the experience and the knowledge of team leading that they did. Whilst I was not strong enough to say no to the position, I wanted to lead, just not team lead. The leader in me knew that in order to fulfil the Team Leader’s responsibilities I needed to learn how to be one.
I asked for brutal 360-degree feedback from my team on my performance. Then, I shared the feedback with my manager with the intent to highlight that I was struggling to team lead. This is where I think my leadership skills came into play. I recognised that I wanted to be better for the team and for myself, so I was willing to take the feedback. I remember reading the scorching words and feeling elated that my colleagues/team also saw how rubbish I was at team leading. But I hoped that they would see that I wanted to be better.
A Team Leader Course
My manager did respond as I hoped and sent me on a course. Some of the good things that came out of that course highlighted the Team Leader Roles and Responsibilities.
Understanding my own leadership style and how I communicate with other styles. This was a lightbulb moment of self-awareness for me as I had no idea there was a name for my style. I am a direct and assertive person, and as such, I just did not think of how others would perceive me – especially as a Team Leader. Asking my team for feedback confirmed that my delivery, whilst clear, was not particularly inclusive of needing or wanting the team’s views.
In Retrospect…
I’m horrified now, looking back. I would never choose to be that way now but I didn’t know better at the time and when I stepped into a leadership role. It did not come with any training (perhaps it was assumed that as someone with strong leadership skills, I had ‘team leader’ skills automatically?). Self-awareness is a massive trait for a team leader (or anyone).
In the environment I worked, things changed very often and those changes were often met with a certain amount of understandable resistance from the team. I struggled with the resistance by the team to just do as was asked of them. What I missed was that I needed to show my adaptability to situations and to differing opinions. It was not just that I was responsible for adapting to the changes being asked of me by the business.
But I needed to be adaptable to the feelings of my team and be able to demonstrate agility. It was a steep learning curve for me to understand that as a team leader. I’m responsible for a team of people who ALL had their own personalities and opinions. Therefore, I needed to adapt to them.
Key Skills and Lessons Learnt
There are other skills I became aware of from the course. Things that I noticed in other team leaders and assumed I needed to do as well. Other skills my team fed back to me that I needed to improve on (in some cases they told me what I was good at, which was very encouraging). I was told that I was empathic and a good listener. These qualities helped me to hear my team and to understand that they needed more from me – they needed more, different and better. I became the team leader they wanted and needed because, in a way, they designed me.
Learn About Your Own Team
I learned that it was my responsibility to learn about my team, not only to inspire and influence but to motivate and to be assertive when I needed to be. As a team, we needed to be goal- and performance-oriented – so I needed to be those things too. It was not just the team that had to deliver, but I had to as well. The shift in my mentality from thinking that it was the team who had to do those things and I was just there to lead led me to a humbling realisation. I was thinking like a leader and not a team leader when I took the role.
Team Leader Roles and Responsibilities are so much more than a leader. It’s also limiting if we allow ourselves to think of it as scoped just within the confines of a ‘team’. One of the key Team Leader responsibilities is to oversee the quantitative and qualitative achievements of the team and report upward. Perhaps a leader would organically inspire and motivate the team towards these results but with greater purpose. Maybe it won’t be just to monitor the results and report them to managers. But to understand how to engage, enable and encourage.
Key Skills for a Team Leader
The Glassdoor team writes in their article on What Is a Team Leader? Duties and Skills that team leaders need the below skills to be effective:
- Communication.
- Motivation.
- Relationship Building.
- Decision Making.
- Responsibility.
- Goal Orientation.
- Fairness.
Team leader job descriptions (from Betterteam) often highlight the below as needed for the role:
- Managing the day-to-day activities of the team.
- Motivating the team to achieve organisational goals.
- Developing and implementing a timeline to achieve targets.
- Delegating tasks to team members.
- Conducting training of team members to maximise their potential.
- Empowering team members with skills to improve their confidence, product knowledge, and communication skills.
- Conducting quarterly performance reviews.
- Contributing to the growth of the company through a successful team.
- Creating a pleasant working environment that inspires the team.
How to be a Team Leader
These are all learnable skills indicating that you can learn how to be a team leader. The Glassdoor article emphasises that the role of the team leader is to:
Direct and guide individuals with the intent of achieving a particular goal’ and that they ‘must also be able to effectively motivate team members to accomplish goals and complete tasks in a timely and efficient manner’.
To me, these are all goal-driven skills. But a team leader has to also demonstrate strong people skills to be able to motivate and connect with their team to achieve and to want to achieve. I remember during my time as a team leader I was sometimes placed into positions of counsellor, of task master, of friend and many more. Because of the close proximity of the team to me, it was inevitable that the relationship sometimes blurred lines of just being a goal-oriented leader.
It was impossible. The Betterteam Team Leader job description highlights practical tasks that are the core responsibilities of a Team Leader. These are things that fall naturally into the expectations of the role, and often what Managers will expect of a Team Leader.
For people wanting to be team leaders, there is a wealth of information online around Team Leader Roles and Team Leader Responsibilities for you. You can read about the Qualities of a Good Team Leader by NigCareers, and by Deakin University. Both highlight that it’s not about you – that it’s about the team. If you had a few days and wanted to explore 56 Responsibilities of a Team Leader by James Spacey you can. Personally,I was drawn to the broader LinkedIn article by Priscilla Archangel on the 10 Core Responsibilities of Leaders – Understanding Your Role.
Practical Team Leader Roles and Responsibilities
Below are some practical team leader roles and responsibilities. I think these are fundamental to anyone who is a team leader or aspiring to be one in the future.
- Leadership skills – understand your own leadership style and how it may impact those in your team.
- Communication – you’re leading a team of different personalities and often you’re the closest one to them at work. You have to be able to adapt your communication style to the person and the situation.
- Transparency – you’re also a member of the team. So don’t assume you sit outside of the team when in fact you will benefit more by understanding the deliverable and how you can all achieve them. A team leader who shows how it’s done is much more effective than one who leads from an ivory tower.
- Self-Awareness – you are also growing in the role so being aware of your own place, needs and goals will help you to understand your team.
- Empathy – be forgiving and remember you are leading people not results. People will give you the results if you can relate human to human.
Understand Your Responsibilities
In each company, the role will vary to accommodate the goals that you and your team will need to achieve. There are some fundamentals of team leading that will see you through in any company though. For example, understanding your place in the dynamic of the team and how best you can support and motivate that team. You’re not going to be in it just for you. You have to make the team your priority and be able to influence and motivate them. In turn, they will support you and the business.
It’s important that you understand your Team Leader responsibilities to the team and to the business. But also to yourself in ensuring that you’re leading the team to the best of your own abilities. Do not fear being humble and asking the team what and how you can be better. This is perhaps the most valuable thing you can do. You will work for them to help them help the company. It is a very rewarding role and one that you can succeed at if you understand your place in it all.
Action: For even more useful content on team building, check out our ultimate guide on Team Building Skills.
