FAHA: Leader or Troublemaker?

[Bharat Nain]

There is a line between being a leader and being the "know it all" controlling type who feels they need to be involved in everything. This particular FIRST-a-holic is in need of determining how to approach a tricky situation with such a team mate. What thoughts, advice, experiences and wisdom can you offer?

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On my team we all get along very well. Whenever new recruits join, we welcome them with open-arms. Training and teaching as needed. This past season one of our recruits was previously part of an FLL team, which in most instances could be an advantage; however, it seems as though this case causes some dissension amongst the team. This is not necessarily a direct result of FLL, but the student acts as though this puts him/her at an advantage over other members.

The student is always looking to be involved, which is excellent for someone only having been in the FRC program for two years; but does not always contribute to the bettering of the team. He/She continually pushes away peer correction from fellow students, arguing he/she "already knows." However, in the case of mentor correction, he/she puts-off an image of eagerness to learn more.

The mentors see this student as one who is a positive team player, but several fellow students see him/her as a hindrance to the learning process of everyone else.

Much of this has been taken care of. Now going into the second year for this student, there is a level of understanding found amongst students that no one person is better that another, but experience and expertise in an area should be respected.

The sole problem many students see in this student, is that he/she feels the need to be in charge and often over-powers others around him/her. Last year, as a first year student, he/she even ventured into running for the position of Team Captain; only after two meetings. He/She continually assumes the role of leader at competitions and stops at nothing to be sure that he/she is the front-runner for the team. Is this a problem? I have mixed feelings. Some people are naturally gifted to be leaders; but in order to be a good leader, you must earn a level of respect from your peers. I don't feel that you can earn this amount of respect over the course of one year, or two for that matter.

My thoughts: In the case of a robotics team, the Team Captain, the one who leads the team should have a certain amount of knowledge and experience as well. He/She should be able to answer questions, teach peers, etc. in order to gain respect as well as push the team in a positive direction. A leader shouldn't ask of others what he/she is unwilling to do. And if you don't know how to do it, you shouldn't be willing to do it, because that would be counterproductive. This is not to say that in order to be team captain or any other leadership position, that you first must know every little detail of everything, but you should have a working knowledge of how things work. This does not come after a year of being on a team.

So, are there any "know-it-all", over-controlling students on your team? How do you deal with it? How does it hinder the growth (in numbers and in knowledge) of your team? Is this a problem just on my team, am I just being finicky? What are your thoughts on the issue?

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