How to lead a team

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

Haha, should I take that as a compliment or something?

You're already helping how many teams?

So you do have mentors on the engineering side. However: I would get at least one more. In this case, a systems engineer or industrial engineer, or someone with that type of training, to help bring order out of the chaos and teach you to do the same.

You also have a faculty member, who is asking you to take a lot of the load. Ouch... (I've been there, done that, and it wasn't too fun doing it.)

The best you can do is do the best you can, and hope you don't make a huge mistake.

[Shelbo]

ok...wow...i agree with most of what has been said so far. Now i'm gonna put in my 2 cents...

I think that something that has not been mentioned yet that should be is confidence. Have confidence in your ability to do this. (because you can)Have confidence in your team to help you learn. (because they will)
AND
Not everything has to be perfect and no one can tell you EXACTLY how to be the perfect leader. Finding out what works for your team as a whole, and leading them in that fashion will do wonders...best of luck...

[Cooley744]

I was sort of in that posistion last year along w/ two other sophomores. We did pretty well. It is best to act like you know what your doing (have confidence) but be able to admit when you are lacking knowledge or when you make a mistake. Learn from your mentors and consider this year as a "test round". Don't get discouraged. If you have any questions about leading a team, feel free to private message me!

[JesseK]

Heh. I'm a electronics guy who was the build lead last year and is the build lead this year. The team always pushes for a strategy that is way more complicated than it has to be, but I have been able to manage nonetheless. How do I do it?

I never forget that I have to push myself no matter what, that FIRST is about more than just the students. If there is something that must be learned, I will learn it (like CAD). If there are industry standards to be met when interfacing with people who work with us, I will meet them (such as CAD drawings). Leaders need big shoulders to carry the weight when it's needed. When no one knows what to do on a subject, I try to come up with a first pass at it. I know that everyone will sit and pick it apart and say 'X should be Y', yet the reality is none of them were willing to put up a draft to start prototyping with. Then I, the other build mentor, and our best mechanical students prototype and finalize the design. Literally, we never fail for lack of effort on the team so long as each team member tries.

During the season, I just take it a day at a time (with some planning ahead of course). My biggest tip: know your teammate's interests, and play to their interests and strengths rather than your own. Yea, that's right...your ideas may be ignored for a while, but the best ideas usually pull through anyways. That's the only way we've kept our head above water these last 2 years.

If you really feel strongly about something and need to inspire them to view a design (concept, idea, or otherwise) your way, a picture or video is the best piece of incontrovertible evidence that you can present to them. The next best thing is math that proves your point and is explainable but looks like it goes over their heads (haha, usually they look at the answer once and are speechless)...though a good engineer won't trust your math until they've done it themselves.

Good luck this season. Prove your mentors wrong (but in a tactful way)...the reality is they will respect you twice as much when you do.

[Molten]

How to lead a team? WITH AN IRON FIST!

Just kidding, seriously though:

Unwavering confidence.

If you have reason for confidence, you should be confident. If you have no reason for confidence and are a leader, you should show confidence. If you come acrossed as knowing what you are doing, they will follow you and the team will be effective. If you seem uncertain, they won't follow and you will get no where. So in the end, whether you feel confident or not, you are better off looking confident. Good luck with everything.