Helpful Leadership Tips
These tips are for present or future leaders of a robotics (or any) team. As a member of a team, we have noticed that a balance of team members and leaders helps to make a more effective team. To help out the captains and co-captains we have compiled this list top 10 Useful Tips for Leaders. In general, these tips will help immensely when put into practice. Feel free to print these tips off to keep for future reference, and we hope that you become a successful and respected leader for your team.
What is a leader
Abe Lincoln is recognized as one of the history's greatest leaders. He exhibited the key traits we have compiled for successful leaders of your team. Put simply a leader’s main responsibility is to effectively align vision with execution. Great leaders focus on deploying the necessary resources at the right time to achieve to desired results. By exhibiting strong leadership skills a leader can effectively manage talent, performance, change, innovation, influence, rapport, and messaging to consistently drive a team forward regardless of circumstances.
Key Word for Leaders: RESPECT
Successful teams are based on mutual respect. Most of the tips below can easily be resolved with respect for the members and mentors of a team. If people feel wanted to stay, they will, but if you drive them away with a scolding attitude and a self-righteous personality, you will most likely not have a successful team. Teams are built on a balance between leaders and members. When that balance isn't properly dispersed, there are usually issues. Make sure that everyone on the team feels that they belong.
We hope that the following tips help you become a great leader for your team.
We hope that the following tips help you become a great leader for your team.
Tip #1: Be Approachable
Often times, members of a team feel insecure when approached by a manager because of the inability to feel comfortable around them. You need to make sure that each and every member of your team feels needed and useful toward the cause. Without insecure members, teams are able to excel in the goals they have set for themselves.
Tip #2: Be Willing to Take Criticism
As humans we know for a fact that we make mistakes. The pressure is amplified when put in a leadership position because of fear of leading members in the wrong direction. And out of fear, often times leaders become insecure and become unsure in decision making. With proper feedback, leaders are able to more successfully manage their team. When members are comfortable enough to help point out leadership flaws, the team leaders need to be respectful and do their best to meet their team's needs. Mentors are here on their own behalf for the sole purpose of creating a successful team, so their leadership advice should be taken maturely as well.
Tip #3: Lead By Example
Leaders are there to provide guidance to their team. So when in charge, a leader must carry themselves with self-respect and dignity. Members are more likely to follow a leader they can trust than a leader that controls others. A most successful relationship between leaders and members is a relationship where there is a mutual respect between them. In the end, it comes down to treating others the way you want to be treated.
Tip #4: Say Thank You
When sponsors or mentors dedicate their time to your cause, you want to make sure that they feel thanked for their services. Often times, successful robotics teams will send out thank you letters to sponsors and mentors. This makes them feel welcomed and more likely to return in future years.
Tip #5: Say Sorry
If as a leader you make a mistake, you need to make sure that you apologize for your actions. Whether that be because of misinterpretation or you were just having a bad day, people appreciate a humble leader.
Tip #7: Ask, Don't Demand
When we were children, we remember our parents telling us to do our chores. Even if we didn't want to it was demanded of us, and often times created resentment while doing the chore. This relationship can be paralleled to a leader and member relationship. People like it when they feel respected. If you respect their time enough to ask them for their help, they will most likely respond with mutual respect.
Tip #8: Deal with Problems Individually
If you feel that a mentor or member is behaving out of line, you have a responsibility to tell them for the sake of the team. When this happens, you need to take them aside to talk to them. If you scold them in front of others you will most likely lose the respect of your team. You might even lose a mentor. And when you do talk to them, you need to make sure you address it respectfully. Everyone on the team is a human being and should be treated as such.
Tip #9: Have a Plan
When you start build season you have 6 weeks to accomplish your goal. In that short amount of time, there's no time to waste resources. Create a plan to help increase your proficiency. For a robotics team, it is ideal for the first week to be dedicated to creating ideas for the robot. By the second week, mentors and members start working together to make prototypes. The team should begin building the robot by the third week. Building can take 2-3 weeks, but it is suggested that the team begins to physically test their robot in the challenges by the sixth week.
Tip #10: Designate Jobs
As an individual person, you can't manage everything that a team can accomplish. Your job is to make sure that each section of the team runs efficiently and unified. You can't micromanage, it just doesn't work. Put together sub-teams and give them leaders. These leaders need to be accountable and trustworthy to get the job done. If you don't trust your team, you aren't going to be an effective leader.