Leadership in Action: Seven Common Beliefs About Teams: Are They True?

Leaders are more critical of their teams than are members.

False.

Team leaders typically have a rosier view of the team than other members do. On average they rate their teams about one-half standard deviation higher than do the other members. The one exception is the area of time and staffing, where leaders and members have similar perceptions on average. (Leaders may be more sensitive to understaffing or time constraints than to other team problems.)

The higher ratings by team leaders reflect a general phenomenon known as the hierarchy effect: the higher your status, the more optimistic your outlook. We have found this is true of satisfaction with job and organization, even satisfaction with neighborhood and community. If you have relatively ...