Important Question - Leadership

[Steve W]

Team leadership is very important. It should not be handled by one person however. Each individual has unique abilities and the jobs must be tailored to each case. What works this year with one individual may not work next year with someone else.

This year out team has 2 presidents. They each have their areas but will work together with each of the sub teams. Last year our president (who is one of this years) found it to be a big job so, as a team, the students decided to go with 2. It will be new to us so we will have to see how it works. Our mentors work along side of the students and help with all of the chores, administration etc. The students handle all of the funds with mentors (2- need 3 signatures) co-signing cheques. They know where they money comes from, were it goes and how much is left. They handle the fund raising and see how it improves our team. Under each of the presidents there are sub team leaders. They are responsible for their sub teams. They report to the presidents and mentors. They must also work with other sub team leaders and students to accomplish their tasks. The whole leadership issue on out team is spread around. By delegating jobs the workload on one individual decreases.

Leadership is inspiring others to greater heights, with more enthusiasm, increased passion and a longing desire to improve each day. Good luck on your venture and stay in touch. We are a community and we are always willing to share our experiences.

[J Flex 188]

Echoing what Steve and others have said, it is also of very vital importance to conduct some form of review at the conclusion of the season. I'd like to refrain from calling it a performance review, but no team can afford to be complacent if it decides that it wants to move forward progressively with each year. In specific regards to 188, the earlier iterations of the team were handled with the system of co presidents and a very even distribution of power due to the large number of students. In my days, there were only a core group of 15-20 people with a periphery of maybe 40 students, meaning that whoever appeared to commit the most and was able to get on with their jobs well enough became de facto leaders. This season some of the mentors and concerned students took it upon themselves to examine how we performed as a team and decided a return to the old system and a revamp of the organization chart would be appropriate and most likely improve the core functions of the team and our performance next season.

Do not be afraid to be progressive, take a critical look at how things have operated and make sure that you receive feedback from both students and mentors! Remember, just because something has been one way for 10 years, doesnt mean it cant be another way for another 10