Analyzing the Team
phantoms_angel2001
dance_moms_ei_and_communication.docxDance Moms: Costume Designing
The team that has formed is dance moms to design costumes for both teams, the Entertainers (they are the “triple threat” team because they sing, dance, and act) and the Legends (they are the competition team). Some of the dances they are doing this season do not have costumes that would match the story or character, which has us making the costumes. Since there are so many of us, we decided to split up into smaller groups because it was easier to work on the costumes. We didn’t really have multiple roles; there were mostly leaders and followers who helped with ideas. Those of us who were leaders incorporated many characteristics of a good leader, even though we did not know we had. There are seven habits that can help with how we work together to achieve the best options and outcomes. Also, the style of leadership we use can be effective or ineffective in what we are trying to accomplish together. My Team
We are a group of moms who have to come up with costumes that need to be made because there are not any pre-made costumes that will be suitable for the dances that either of the dance teams are doing this season. There are many of us and so we have split into sub-groups to be able to know what we want for particular parts of the dances. The team that I am a part of is Gazelle/Wildebeest/Hyena; we haven’t really named our group. The members of this group are Amber Evett, Kimberly Pitts, Mackenzie McKinney, Sharon Frix, Rachel Harbin, and myself. Most of us are stay-at-home moms, but there are some who work and we usually talk by phone, e-mails, text messages, and at the dance studio. We had set up times for us to meet and work on certain costumes to be able to help each other. This way no one feels like they are overwhelmed by these costumes.
Team Interaction/Role
For the gazelle antlers, I was a leader. We were concerned about how to place the antlers on the girls’ heads without them sliding or falling off during the dance. I had thought about it long and hard and came up with a way by attaching the antlers to a headband then by putting a beanie cap (much like what is seen with the girl scouts’ uniforms) over the antlers and headband. We then attach a clear chin strap and also secure them with bobby pins. For the wildebeest, the leader was Amber Evett because was able to figure out the best way to make masks that portrayed what the girls were without being too bulky. Then for the hyena, the leader was Sharon Frix because she had access to the materials we needed to make the ears and other parts of the costume. The team members who were not leaders helped with ideas and making costumes. This setup worked for us because we know each other very well due to the fact that we see each other at a minimum of four days a week. The ones who were not leaders kept telling us they are not crafty and did not know how to make these costumes, even though the rest of us knew better and encouraged them to help us with ideas. My Role
My part in this team depended on which costume we were working on or talking about. I was the leader over the gazelle costume and follower for the wildebeest and hyena costumes. We decided that we did not want to overwhelm anyone by having one person oversee all the costumes we were working on because some have work, other children, or school to handle as well. Many of us had incorporated different characteristics of a good leader, regardless if we knew it at the time or not. Such as it was stated by UOregon.edu (2009), being proactive because we always have to think about what the parts of the costumes will do and how to prevent them from falling off or other problems that could arise. The leaders, whether it was Amber, Mackenzie, or me, were flexible, open minded, and communicated with the rest of the group because we knew that we may be leaders, but needed the thoughts and opinions of them because we are a team and working towards the same goal. It was important to the leaders to work together and encourage each other because even though we were together a lot of times, there were times that we would not work on the costumes together and wanted the rest of the team know they have support and believed in.
The change that I would try to influence would be to start on costumes earlier and have designated groups for each dance that would meet about once a week to know how each sub-group is doing with their costume or prop. There were some problems that arose with the prop dads because the props were not delegated to a few on each prop. This change would prevent those problems because certain dads would do specific props or tasks of those props and this is what the moms tried to prevent with how we made the costumes. Then each member of costume teams would get specific tasks because some have access to materials that others may not. Then the sub-groups would meet to discuss or help each other because there could be problems that were not expected and need advice from others to correct the problem. 7 Habits
The seven habits of an effective leader or person is: (1) to be proactive, (2) begin with the end in mind, (3) put first things first, (4) think win-win, (5) seek first to understand, then to be understood, (6) synergize, (7) sharpen the saw. To be proactive, the leader is taking responsibility instead of blaming others (Covey, 1990). This along with the other habits is important because the leader is a glory hound who only takes responsibility when things operate properly and blame others when things do not. Begin with the end in mind, this habit is about visualize what you want first and then create it physically, just as a building is created (Covey, 1990). This could be used as a way of thinking about what we want the costumes to look like and how they are to be used. This habit is a way to look ahead and prevent problems from occurring, especially since it is to be used by people other than ourselves. Put first things first, this habit is to have a plan to know what the roles are and the priorities (Covey, 1990). Basically, it is about managing time and life because if things are not laid out of what needs to be done then a vital step could be overlooked and then problems can happen. For example, building a house, it needs a solid foundation before the walls, roof, and fixtures can be put into place. If the ground is not leveled before pouring the foundation, the foundation will not be level and that will lead to the walls not being level. By the end of the house being built, the house would not be level and may not be noticed until something is put in place such as counters and the dishes may not stay in place. Think win-win, this is about thinking how certain aspects can be good for all involved instead of just you. This can be achieved through approaching conflicts with integrity, maturity, and abundance mentality (Covey, 1990). We want to be the winner, but when working with others, we have to think about what is best for everyone and realize that we stay true to ourselves, express our thoughts, feelings, or opinions without getting upset if someone does not agree, and realize that there are enough things for everyone to do and that we do not have to do it all. Which leads to the next habit of first seek to understand, then to be understood; this is about the way we communicate (Covey, 1990). If we do not understand what is going on, then we will not be able to effectively get others to understand what we are trying to convey. We might be saying the same thing, but in different ways and it could lead to misunderstandings or other problems that could have been avoided by questions being asked. Synergize is basically about the saying two heads are better than one (Covey, 1990). It is always good to get and give ideas because what one person may have thought about might add to the project or situation that we may not have thought about. Then the last habit, sharpen the saw, is about enhancing and taking care of what we have (Covey, 1990). We see what we have and know what needs to be done to take care of it but we tend to get busy with other things and forget to do what is needed. This is a way of adding to what we already have and making it better by not letting it become neglected.
Dissonant and Resonant Leadership
As it is discussed in the lectures of South University Online (2014), “resonant leadership is when leaders drive organizational members’ emotions in the positive direction. These leaders tend to be visionaries and are said to have a high level of emotional intelligence. Dissonant leadership is when leaders drive members’ emotions in a negative direction. These leaders tend to be more commanding.” After examining what the two styles mean, I tend to believe that the resonant leadership would work best for my group because we are all working toward the same goal. Instead of having orders “barked” at us, we would work better by encouraging each other and getting ideas from each other. Conclusion
We are a big group of dance moms who have to work together to make costumes for dances and to be able to achieve the best costumes, we divided into sub-groups. We did not have specific roles other than leader and follower over certain costumes to make it less stressful on any one person. We tend to not think about our characteristics that we use because it is almost second nature in how we work together. For example, the characteristics of what makes a good leader or the different habits that make an effective person. Also, the leadership style affects the way a situation or project is handled. We have worked together to the point that we know without thinking about it that the best way to achieve our goal is to be supportive and encourage each other to come up with ideas.
Reference
Covey, S. R. (1990). The 7 habits of highly effective people: Powerful lessons in personal change. New York, NY: Fireside.
South University Online. (2014). MGT3102: leadership: Week 1: leadership defined.
Retrieved from http://myeclassonline.com
UOregon.edu. (2009). Leadership characteristics. Retrieved from
http://leadership.uoregon.edu/resources/exercises_tips/skills/leadership_characteristics
Dance Moms’ EI and Communication
Emotional Intelligence is experienced every day. We may not realize how much it affects our current or potential relationships because many do not understand the different competencies of emotional intelligence. Another aspect of our daily lives is communication. We communicate with each other in ways that may be fine with some and offensive to others such as body language, tone, facial expressions, and how we listen. Communication between leaders and team members is vital in keeping the team knowledgeable about what needs to be done, when it is to be done by, and why. Just as it is important for a leader to communicate with the team members, it is equally important for team members to communicate with the leader and each other. In addition, the leadership style that is used can affect the way the team responds and willingness to complete the tasks at hand. Emotional Intelligence Analysis The leaders handle their emotions pretty well. For what the team is working on, the leaders are able to handle their emotions. They are aware of their emotions at the time and they use positive emotions to encourage the team to keep trying, such as a smile or words that can inspire them (Amendolair, 2003). I have noticed, including myself, that there are times when the leaders get a little stressed and are either quiet or keep to themselves. The leaders are not a resonant leader as it is defined or described by Amendolair (2003), a good resonant leader is able to understand their strengths by knowing the gaps of what they think they are and what they actually are.
The team seems to handle their emotions about the same as the leaders. However, they do get overwhelmed by all the costumes that are to be made. The team’s emotional intelligence is about average. They know about their emotions, but not fully aware of how it may be perceived by others. The leaders can help them to develop this by quietly talking to them about how some may be seeing some emotions as negative because people mimic the emotions they see or hear. For example, one of the team members was in a bad mood from an argument she had earlier before meeting with the team and it affected the mood of at least one of the of other team members.
The leaders could enhance the team’s emotional intelligence by examining what the team’s strength is and lead by example of those strengths. They can also see the areas that are the weakest and set a standard to show how those weaknesses can be improved. For example, team member “A” did not know the situation that team member “B” was dealing with and misunderstood the emotions and signals that team member “B” was putting out. Team member “A” thought these were aimed at her. At first, things were tense because of misunderstanding of team member “B”’s feelings, but then it eventually came out and the team member felt bad for misunderstanding. This is where one leader could look at what caused the misunderstanding of team member “B”’s emotions and how to gain a better understanding, such as simply asking if something is wrong and if they can help in anyway. Leader Communication Style Some of the leaders have a clear and direct communication style (the message is straight to the point and there is not as many misunderstandings) and others have a clear and indirect communication style (the message is clear, but not directed towards the person) (NDSU.edu, nd). The ones who have a clear and direct communication style seem to have a better understanding between them and the team members than the ones who have a clear and indirect. Also, it seems like the leaders who have a clear and direct communication style use persuasive to get a task done. The reason it seems like this is because they tend to let others know their opinion and their experience of doing something similar. They explain the pros and cons of doing things the way they think a task can be done and then asking if anyone has any other suggestions. One particular leader who has a clear and indirect communication style uses manipulation. This leader says this is how they have done something similar and this is how it should be done because it worked great that time and was not as time consuming, and it is more cost effective. This leader also does not really give the others a chance to let their opinions be known.
The communication style that is the most dominant within the team would probably be persuasive because it is a way to get something done without forcing any particular idea to happen, but to explain both sides of what can happen. This style works best because no one feels like they are forced into something they do not want to do. The leaders who use persuasion get a better response from team members because they feel like they have an option or can offer their opinions. The leader who uses manipulation does not get as well of a response because the team members do not like being forced to do something other than what they already are with dance. Some have even stopped coming to meetings when that leader is there because they do not want to be talked to like children and feel like they are being told by their parents what needs to be done.
Team Communication Style
The team seems to use more of a persuasive communication style because it is what they respond better too. They interact and participate more when they are given the pros and cons of ways to accomplish a goal with a certain costume. They are not looking to take away from the leaders, but to add to what the leaders are trying to do. As it has been discussed many times during meetings, we are making these costumes for the girls and not for our egos or personal satisfaction. The team members discuss their concerns with the leaders or make suggestions about different ways to make one costume. Most of the times, their concerns or suggestions are taken into consideration because these costumes add to the stage presence of the dancers and none of the team members or leaders want the costumes to cause problems while they are being worn. They know their opinions matter and they are more than welcome to come to any of the leaders.
Philosophy, Style, and Action Steps
As it is stated by Northouse (2014), theory X is when people do not like to work, they need to be told what to do, and they want security, but not the responsibility; however, theory Y is when people like to work, they are self-motivated, and they take responsibility for what they do. After examining the two theories, the one that is noticed within the team members and leaders (for the most part) is theory Y. The reason this is the one that is noticed more is everyone wants to do what is necessary to get the costumes ready in addition to what they need to do outside the team to prepare the dance team for performances or competitions.
The leadership style that I have adopted from the time that I was a crew trainer and even now is a democratic because I believe that after a person is shown how to do something that they are more than capable of handling the task (Northouse, 2014). Although there are times when I am needed to be more authoritarian because of certain tasks need more direction or specific type of person rather than being democratic or friends.
There are not many actions to improve or enhance the leadership style in the team, but more would get done and the atmosphere would be better if one leader, who tries to use manipulation to get things done, would offer more suggestions and guidance than orders. Some people see criticism as a bad thing, but if it was given to someone in a more positive way, it could help everyone to know that what they did was not all bad but there is or could be a better solution. Conclusion Emotional intelligence is a big part of our lives. It is how we use it or respond to it that affects the outcome of the situations we are dealing with at the time. Communication is another major part of our lives because we communicate with words and non-verbally. It is like emotional intelligence, we may not realize what we say or do, but it affects the way our message is understood. We may say something with words, but our non-verbal communications can say something else, which can cause misunderstandings. Leadership styles also add to how well a team works together. If a leader is strictly using authoritarian where another style can be used in addition to that, the team will eventually grow tired of that and not be as willing to do what is needed. A leader needs to know when to be authoritarian, democratic, or lassiez-faire and when to use another style because there are times when more than one style can be used. Being a good leader is more than being the head of a group, but knowing how to interact with the group, what the needs are, and what style of leadership is needed.
Amendolair, D. (2003). Emotional intelligence. Nurse Leader, 1(6), 25-27.
doi:10.1016/j.mnl.2003.09.009
NDSU.edu. (nd). Communication styles. Retrieved from www.ndsu.edu
Northouse, P. (2014). Introduction to Leadership: Concepts and Practice [VitalSouce bookshelf
version]. Retrieved from http://digitalbookshelf.southuniversity.edu/books/9781483324166/epubcfi/6/26
