Life Skills & Leadership: Unit 4, Session 2: Team Leadership | Page 25 of 91“A less direct response might be, ‘I’m hearing a lot of different issues and ideas. Which do all of you
think is the most important issue for us to focus on right now?’”- Make sure participants understand the difference between these two responses. Then say:
“I’ll read another situation. If your group has a red card, I’d like you to think of a response that a more
direct leader might make. If your group has a green card, I’d like you to think of a response that a less
direct leader might make. Ready?”- Read another situation from Trainer Material 1 and give participants about 2 minutes, then ask at least
one red group and at least one green group to share their responses. - Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each of the remaining examples in Trainer Material 1. Be sure to alternate to
make sure that both red and green teams have a chance to give responses for more direct and less
direct leaders. Also, make sure all groups have a chance to share their responses with the whole group
at least once.
Note: If you notice that participants are having great difficulty making statements that are strictly more direct or less direct,
de-emphasize this aspect of the activity. Focus instead on having participants make a reasonable leadership response. This
may be enough for some groups.- Ask discussion questions from the following list to help participants summarize their learning:
Note: Among the discussion questions, those in BOLD are the most important.Which situations do you think were the most difficult or challenging?
Which situations do you think were most common or the most similar to what you’ve
experienced?
Which situations are ones that, in the past, you might have expected the designated leader to
handle?
What new ideas about being a leader has this activity brought up for you?
What might you do differently the next time you are a member in a group or team?
What might you do differently the next time you are the formal leader of a group?
How did your team make its decisions in this activity? Were there any times someone used a
leadership action to keep your team moving?B. Summary
Conclude the activity by saying:
“You can see from these examples that there is not just one way to solve the challenges that can come
up for a group or team. In fact, your team may have had difficulty coming to an agreement for your
answer! And because of differences in your personalities, different people could be equally effective
even if they used different leadership actions. As a member of a group, you can be alert to what is
going on and decide how direct you want to be if you determine that a leadership action should be
taken. The important thing is to know the actions you can take to lead a group and to use the ones that
are your strengths.”