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Carl E. Jr. Katz And Frank M. J. Lafasto

Decent Essays

Introduction Leadership in its earliest definitions referred to notions such as “centralization of power,” “influence of one individual on its followers” and even “leader and follower.” However, in the twenty-first century, it is not uncommon to see organizations utilizing teams to lead and embracing leadership of those teams through processes. Many organizations have adopted the team leadership approach in order to meet the constantly changes and complex demands of their clientele. Now more than ever, the acronym T.E.A.M (Together Everyone Achieves More) has relevance as there has been a shift from a hierarchy to a heterarchy approach, where there is a lateral decision-making rather than vertical decision-making. To lead a team, one …show more content…

What they found was what makes the US Kitty Hawk’s 5,000 member crew work together was not much different than the characteristics of the 1966 Notre Dame National championship team (Larson & LaFasto, 1989). As a result of this study, they were able to identify eight characteristics of effective teams that can be found in their book titled, Teamwork: What Must Go Right/What Can Go Wrong.
Theory Definition and Characteristics The team leadership theory is built on the foundation of the eight characteristics of effective teams. Larson and LaFasto developed an assessment tool called the Team Excellence Survey that contained 40 questions that were aimed to determine a team’s performance based on the criteria associated with the eight characteristics of team effectiveness (Northouse, 2016). The eight characteristics are as follows: (a) Clear, elevating goal, (b) Results-driven structure, (c) Competent team members, (d) Unified commitment, (e) Collaborative climate, (f) Standards of excellence, (g) External support and recognition, and (h) Principled leadership. Subsequent research by Larson and LaFasto led them to develop a 42-item questionnaire that focused on leadership criterion called The Collaborative Team Leader Instrument (Northouse 2016). As a result Larson and LaFasto’s work in this field, current researchers have been able to pinpoint what we now know as the Enabling Conditions of Group

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