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

Leaders in the United States are having difficulty making the transition to leading teams.

False.

Most leaders in the United States appear to be competent in leading teams. In developing the TLP, a measure of team leadership, we focused on facilitation rather than direction or control behaviors. Actions measured by the survey include giving members challenging opportunities to develop new skills, asking members what tools or other resources they need, and sharing information with the team. Such behaviors may seem unusual in some organizations, yet the majority of leaders we assessed appear to be doing these things well.

For example, on the one hand, we found that two out of three team members say their leader takes these actions: encourages members ...