Entrepreneurship

Key Unit Competency:To be able to lead a team in accomplishing a goal

Introduction

The ability to lead teams and organizations of all shapes and sizes is an essential skill to improve team and organizational performance. Team leaders and organizational leaders need to have a solid understanding of group dynamics and must have the skills to lead well and engage team members towards achieving business goals.

Generally, achieving business goals does not solely depend on the strategies that the business designs. Strategy is one part of a whole range of reasons but not the only reason for success. Numerous factors amount to the success of an organization and leadership without a doubt is one of the main reasons for this success.

This unit is designed to equip you with knowledge and skills as well attitudes that will enable you demonstrate the characteristics and behaviors of an effective leader; recognize the different leadership styles; and apply them as you lead, assist, motivate and organize others; guide sound problem solving and decision making processes and lead a team in accomplishing its goals.

Introductory activity (Self-assessment)

There is no right or wrong way to answer this assessment. It is for your own use during this unit. You will read an element of competence listed in the left column. Think about yourself: do you think you can do this? How well? Read the statements across the top. Put a check in column that best represents your situation. At the end of this unit, you will take this assessment again.

12.1. Meaning of: - Team - Teamwork - Leadership

12.4 Source of power in Leadership

Activity 12.4.

Referring to your community, identify leaders you know and describe how you think they acquired their power into leadership.

The five Types of Power in Leadership

Power means many different things to different people. For some, power is seen as corrupt. For others, the more power they have, the more successful they feel. For even others, power is of no interest at all. John French and Bertram Raven identified the five bases of power in the early 1960’s through a study they had conducted on power in leadership roles. The study showed how different types of power affected one’s leadership ability and success in a leadership role.

The five bases of power are divided in two categories:

A. Formal Power

a. Coercive: Coercive power is conveyed through fear of losing one’s job, being demoted, receiving a poor performance review, having prime projects taken away, etc. This power is gotten through threatening others. For example, the Sales Manager who threatens sales folks to meet their goals or get replaced.

b.Reward: Reward power is conveyed through rewarding individuals for compliance with one’s wishes. This may be done through giving bonuses, raises, a promotion, extra time off from work, etc. For example, the supervisor who provides employees comp time when they meet an objective she sets for a project.

c. Legitimate: Legitimate power comes from having a position of power in an organization, such as being the boss or a key member of a leadership team. This power comes when employees in the organization recognize the authority of the individual. For example, the CEO who determines the overall direction of the company and the resource needs of the company.

B. Personal Power

a. Expert: Expert power comes from one’s experiences, skills or knowledge. As we gain experience in particular areas, and become thought leaders in those areas, we begin to gather expert power that can be utilized to get others to help us meet our goals. For example, the Project Manager who is an expert at solving particularly challenging problems to ensure a project stays on track.

b.Referent: Referent power comes from being trusted and respected. We can gain referent power when others trust what we do and respect us for how we handle situations. For example, the Human Resource Associate who is known for ensuring employees are treated fairly and coming to the rescue of those who are not.

Application Activity 12.4

Read the scenarios below and identify which source does the leader derive his/her power and give reasons to support your answer.

1. Mahoro is a junior manager in one of the privately owned hotels in Kigali city. She is a very good worker but her boss is always threatening her with demotions, pay cuts, layoffs, and terminations if she does not give in to his sexual demands.

2. Niyokwizerwa is a manager in one of the biggest customer care companies in the city. Her employees admire her leadership abilities such as allowing them to make decisions in certain work situations, the way she talks to the customers and therefore, has affected the employees’ performance, as she has become a point of reference for their behavior.

3. Gakuru is a well-loved head teacher at a certain school in Western province. His staff love him because he always gives them monetary awards, wage or salary increases, bonuses, plaques, certificates, and gifts, praise, positive feedback, recognition, more responsibility including a rise in status, and even a well-timed ‘thank-you.’

4. Benimana is a secretary in one of the law firms in Kigali. One day her boss’ Uwamariya had to file a case with the court by the end of the day or their client loses the right to file the lawsuit, which happens to be worth millions of Rwandan francs. The boss’ word processing program crashed, and thinks she may have lost the legal complaint. The court clerk’s office closes in less than one hour, not nearly enough time to redraft. The boss approaches you to see if you can do anything.

5. Iyakaremye is a junior officer in the national army of Rwanda. He says in the army; an order is an order. All junior officers have to perform commands from high-ranking officers without questioning.

12.5 Leadership and team requirements

Activity 12.5

1. In your community, there are a number of teams and all sorts of leadership.

a. Identify any one team you think has a good leadership and give reasons to support your response.

b. Identify any one team you think has a bad leadership and give reasons to support your response.

c. What do you think are the requirements for teams to be successful?

Characteristics of a successful team.

We are all familiar with the myth; the entrepreneurial giants of the world people such as Elon Musk and Bill Gates had to fight their way to the top, single-handedly and against all odds. However, such success stories mislead. Behind each successful individual is a team. Indeed, good teams are at the heart of every thriving business.

At one time or another in your life, you have been reminded that teamwork makes the dream work or that there is no “I” in team. On the other hand, maybe you have been encouraged to be a team player and sacrifice for the team.

There are very few if not any who are not expected to work in or at least be part of a team. In the workplace, teamwork can mean the difference between success and failure. Organizations that place emphasis on team building and ensure they hire employees who fit their collaborative culture create an environment where everyone’s contributions are recognized and valued, which in turn drives productivity and success. Below are characteristics of successful teams;

Application Activity 12.5

Read the following activity and answer questions that follow.

You are the president of your school business club. The District Youth leader has advised you that for your club to win the upcoming competitions, the club should have an overall impact on the school and community. Club membership should comprise students from S1 to S6, but S4 & 5 members are not willing to accept students from other classes. They claim that the new members will simply enjoy current club achievements, and they will not bring much since most of the work has been done, and projects are already running; the club is not united as well.As the president:

a. What should you do to ensure the club is united?

b. What characteristics are required for the club to be successful?

12.6 Strategies for working together/developing a team

Team working is vital in any given business, which have to achieve challenging targets with limited resources. Before a team can perform effectively, team members have to learn to trust one another and find ways to work cooperatively to achieve their common goals. Managers can help this process along by implementing strategies that develop team cohesion

The ability to work as part of a team is one of the most important skills in today’s job market. Employers are looking for workers who can contribute their own ideas, but also want people who can work with others to create and develop projects and plans.

Activity 12.6

Think of a situation at work, school or home where there is a new/unfamiliar task for everyone to accomplish. People are required to get themselves organized to accomplish it. This particular task will need leaders to emerge to assume responsibilities, manage people and the communication process for the success of the given activity.

Assume you are selected as the leader,

a. Describe some strategies you will use to have the people accomplish the task.

b. How would you feel as a leader when you were communicating and people were not listening or trying to off er suggestions and instructions at the same time?

c. What would be your strategy for better communication as a leader?

d. As a leader, what would you expect from the members to be able to accomplish the task? e. As a leader, how can you encourage group cooperation?

Strategies for developing team work

Leaders can employ different strategies while bringing people to work together and developing teamwork:

•Work with the team to develop a common goal.

•Nurture sense of belonging; focus on what team members have in common.

•Help team members work together to efficiently solve problems

•Encourage members to set aside personal goals and desires for the benefit of the team.

•Treat team members fairly and equally.

•Structure the work of the team in a simple & logical fashion; distribute work fairly.

•Manage team efficiently so that work proceeds in a timely manner.

•Create an environment that supports and rewards openness, creativity, trust, mutual respect and a commitment to provide high quality services.

•Value Everyone’s Contribution.

•Encourage discussion.

•Ensure all team members understand that their ideas & opinions are equally important & relevant.

•Encourage people with different abilities & personalities to work together.

•Value Everyone’s Contribution: Team members have different skills and experience and so each team member must be given an opportunity and feel that their contributions are valued.

•Empower Team Members: Delegating authority and empowering the team to make decisions is more likely to pull together members together and work collaboratively to achieve business goals.

•Resolve Conflict within the Team: Constructive conflict among team members is a sign of a healthy team. However, unhelpful arguments and conflict should be tackled for the team to stay focused.

•Celebrate Team Successes: When the team achieves a milestone or target, you should encourage team members to celebrate their success together act as an incentive to reach the next milestone or target.

Leaders can also encourage teams to work independently by ensuring that team members:

•Are aware of strengths & weaknesses?

•Are able to set their own goals?•Are able to act according to goals.

•Take responsibility for their action.•Are able to avoid opinions and behavior that block change

As a leader, this means that you need to support members in helping them to understand their own individual strengths and find support in their colleagues.

Team members do the following to strengthen team spirit:

•Consult each other

•Help each other

•Complement each other

•Encourage and motivate each other

Application Activity 12.6

Scenario

Read the scenario below and answer questions that follow:

Robbery of construction site materials

As a manager at construction site, you realized that some of the site materials are progressively missing unknowingly. Then you decided to call all workers for a meeting on how to resolve the problem. Among your team are the following:

Muganwa: A domineering person who wants to take over the discussions and lead the group. He thinks he has all the answers and do not want to waste time having everybody share their ideas.

Kwitonda: A disagreeable person who has a negative attitude and resistant towards all ideas.

Umuhoza: A harmonious person who always try to make people feel relaxed and constantly trying to smooth things out between people who are disagree-ing.

Mbaraga: An encouraging person who wants to make sure that everybody is heard, regardless of his or her background or ideas. Pulls group members into the conversation.

Barafinda: A person who gets very excited and loves to brainstorm and share extravagant ideas that are not always realistic.

Niyokwizerwa: A taskmaster who is always very organized and likes to stay focused on the task. She keeps bringing the group back to the practical actions that need to be taken to accomplish the task

Questions:

a. Which leadership style would you apply in solving the problem?

b. Explain any strategies you would employ to ensure team work.

c. What advice would you give to your team members to foster team spirit?

12.7 Leading Problem Solving and Decision Making

Activity 12.7

1. Analyze the illustration above about problem solving. Do you think the members will solve their problem and get a solution? Give reasons to support your response.

2. Think of a problem that your friend or relative has had at work, with family or friends.

a. What was the problem and what caused it?

b. What did you do about it?

c. Did you go through any steps while solving the problem? If yes, which steps? If no, why do you think it is not necessary to go through steps?

What is problem solving?

(Henry Kaiser (American industrialist, 2018)

Having good, strong problem solving skills can make a huge difference to your career.

Problems are at the center of what many people do at work every day. Whether you’re solving a problem for a client (internal or external), supporting those who are solving problems, or discovering new problems to solve, the problems you face can be large or small, simple or complex, and easy or difficult. A fundamental part of entrepreneurs’ role is finding ways to solve them. Therefore, being a confident problem solver is important to your success. Much of that confidence comes from having a good process to use when approaching a problem. With one, you can solve problems quickly and effectively. Without one, your solutions may be ineffective, or you will be stuck and do nothing, with sometimes painful consequences.

Problem solving steps

There are six basic steps in solving a problem:

1. Define the problem: keep emotions aside and state the problem

2. Get more information about the problem at work - firm supervisor, colleagues, written materials.

3. Generate many ideas on how to solve the problem: there is often more than one solution!

4. Choose a solution: should be acceptable to all involved.

5. Implement the solution.

6. Evaluate the solution: Has the problem been solved?

REAL Solution

A solution that is acceptable culturally is not necessarily win/win. It is win/win when both parties feel happy with the solution and that solution is ‘real’.

As far as possible all problem solving should result in a win/win solution. When a problem does not end in a win/win solution, then there is no durable solution as there is often resentment, a desire for revenge and a hatred for the person who ‘won’ if you ‘lost’.

Therefore, a solution should be:

R    Realistic: applicable not only in theory but also in practice

E    Effective: the solution is an answer to the problem

A    Acceptable: the solution is accepted by all of those involved

L     Logical: the solution is not based on emotion but is fair

Source (Inter-Agency Peace Education Program Skills for Constructive Living Facilitator’s Manual for Community Workshops. Published in 2005 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization)

Problem Solving Tips

•Often there is more than one solution to a problem. Be open to different possibilities!

•Your experiences, culture and background will influence the solutions you think of.

•Avoid making assumptions.

•Never give up!

•Be prepared to listen openly to different points of view.

•Focus on the solution you want, not on things that cannot be changed.

•Remember to use your good listening, speaking and cooperation skills when problem solving with others.

Application Activity 12.7

Read the scenarios provided and apply the problem-solving steps to find a solution for each scenario given below:

Scenarios for Problem Solving Steps

Scenario 1: Uwera is head of a child headed household. She has been raising her younger sisters. She has small part time jobs. She sells tomatoes, bananas and cleans houses. Uwera is worried because she does not earn enough money to pay for rent and for school fees for her younger sisters.

Help Uwera solve her problem.

Scenario 2: You work at a construction site. You notice that tools are disappear-ing from the worksite on a regular basis. What do you do?

Scenario 3: Two boys and three girls, all orphans of AIDS, live together. They are free from HIV. People do not want to go close to them or help them, as they fear they will contact HIV because their parents died of AIDS.

As a leader of the community, how will you handle the problem?

Scenario 4: Ntaganzwa and Niyigena both work in accounting department. Ntaganzwa was hired a few months ago and Niyigena has been with the company for eight years.Ntaganzwa, while being a proficient worker, tends to wait until the last minute to get his work done. Niyigena works more steadily and keeps on top of her work daily. Niyigena complains that she feels she has to worry now about his work and her own. In addition, because they rely on each other’s tasks, she is uncomfortable with waiting until an hour or so before a deadline when they are forced to collaborate.

Because of the conflict, Ntaganzwa is missing more work and you suspect it is because he wants to avoid Niyigena and her wrath/anger.

What advice do you give to Niyigena?

Skills Lab Activity 12.8

Read and analyse the scenarios below and answer the questions that follow:

Scenario 1: Cut on the dotted lines, mix the slips of paper so they are not in order, and give each group a copy of all the cut up slips of paper. Their task is to match the name of the leadership style with the example.

Scenario 2: Mushimiyimana is the leader of an organization that provides computer services. She has realized that there is a problem with the way they advertise their business. Sitting at her desk, she lists some approaches they can take to improve their communications. She then tells the other employees what they need to do without asking for anyone else’s ideas.

Scenario 3: Abatoni is the manager of a catering service called Best Bakery. They have been asked to prepare cakes for an upcoming wedding of the daughter of a political leader. She decides that coconut cakes will be the best and calls the staff together to discuss the order. She informs them of the order and then launches into a speech about all the advantages of making coconut cake. Others express an interest in making vanilla cakes but in the end Abatoni convinces them coconut is best.

Scenario 4: Karamuzi is the owner of a successful auto mechanic workshop. A customer has brought a vehicle in that has multiple problems. He asks his team

Scenario 5: Kwesi runs a tailoring business in town. He has 5 employees. With an upcoming holiday, they have many orders to fulfill. Kwesi gathers all the employees to get their opinions on how to best manage the process so they can meet the deadlines. In the end, they decide together to divide tasks amongst themselves. Kwesi and two others were tasked with cutting and shaping the cloth while the other tailors would do the sewing. In the end they managed to keep all of their customers satisfied.

Akimana is one of the leading members of the community youth association in a rural area. Following the illness of several community members, she decided it was necessary for community members to have better access to potable water. During weekly youth association meetings, she shared her vision and got others interested in resolving the problem. Together they researched different possibilities such as working with local government offices to mobilize resources to install a borehole (pipe drilled down to access clean water). During their association meetings, Akimana always recognized the effort each individual was making.

Eventually the youth were able to mobilize the resources necessary to access clean water. The youth and the community members were all inspired by her commitment and hard work to make it happen.

1. Describe the leadership styles applied in the scenario giving reasons to support your answers.

2. Justify whether this was the most appropriate style to applied.

End of Unit12 Assessment

1. Circle an answer for each statement.

i. Leaders should always make decisions on their own without getting input from others who are not leaders.

a. True

b). False

ii. Effective leaders:

a. Are creative

b. Have self confidence

c. Are flexible

d. Have a positive attitude

e. All of the above

iii. A leader should choose one style of leadership and always stick to it – authoritarian, persuading, consulting, or joining.

a. True

b. False

vi. When giving instructions to a group of people, you should:

a. Repeat the question

b. Ask if the question is clear

c. Ask someone to say the question back to you in their own words

d. All of the above

e. None of the above

2. Your class visits the community to identify any problem affecting the community members and come up with a solution to the identified problem.

Questions:

a. You need to choose a leader to help the team reach its goal, what kind of leader would you propose for your team?

b. What style of leadership would you advise the leader to apply as he/she leads your team to reach its goal?

c. What do you think the new leader should do in order to lead a successful team?

d. What advice would you give the leader in order to strengthen teamwork or working together towards reaching your goal?

3. Read and analyze the following scenarios and decide which leadership style is depicted

a. Juliet is the leader of an organization that provides computer services. She has realized that there is a problem with the way they advertise their business. Sitting at her desk, she lists some approaches they can take to improve their communications. She then tells the other employees what they need to do without asking for anyone else’s ideas.

b. Sheja is the manager of a catering service called Best Bakery. They have been asked to prepare cakes for an upcoming wedding of the daughter of a political leader. She decides that coconut cakes will be the best and calls the staff together to discuss the order. She informs them of the order and then launches into a speech about all the advantages of making coconut cake. Others express an interest in making vanilla cakes but in the end, Abena convinces them that coconut is best.

c. Jean de Dieu is the owner of a successful auto mechanic workshop. A customer has brought a vehicle in that has multiple problems. He asks his team to assess the problems and get back to him with possible solutions. A few hours later they have a meeting to discuss what they have found and what they propose. They have a discussion, Jean de Dieu gives some advice and the team begins to repair.

v. To be successful, teams need:

a. Different goals

b. Vague roles and tasks

c. Trusting relationships among team members

d. All of the above

e. None of the above

vi. To develop team spirit, develop a common goal and make sure all team members feel they have something to contribute.

a. True

b) False

vii. Problem solving steps include:

a. Defining the problem and getting more information

b. Generating ideas on how to solve the problem

c. Choosing, implementing and evaluating a solution

d. All of the above

e. None of the above

viii. You are leading a team to accomplish a task that is more difficult than you expected. You should:

a. Give up in order to stop wasting valuable time

b. Listen to only those team members who agree with your opinions

c. Maintain a positive attitude and encourage others to participate

d. Focus on one solution

xi. Real leaders include only those who are famous.

a. True

b) False

x. Promoting group cooperation means encouraging people to be open to the ideas of others.

a. True

b) False

d. Peter runs a tailoring business in town. He has 5 employees. With an upcoming holiday, they have many orders to fulfill. Peter gathers all the employees to get their opinions on how to best manage the process so they can meet the deadlines. In the end, they decide together to divide tasks amongst themselves. Kwesi and two others were tasked with cutting and shaping the cloth while the other tailors would do the sewing. In the end they managed to keep all of their customers satisfied.

e. Keza is one of the leading members of the community youth association in a rural area. Following the illness of several community members, she decided it was necessary for community members to have better access to potable water. During weekly youth association meetings, she shared her vision and got others interested in resolving the problem. Together they researched different possibilities such as working with local government offices to mobilize resources to install a borehole (pipe drilled down to access clean water). During their association meetings, Keza always recognized the effort individuals was making. Eventually the youth were able to mobilize the resources necessary to access clean water. The youth and the community members were all inspired by her commitment and hard work to make it happen.

4. Read the following passage and answer questions that follow.

Ntwali started a business selling general merchandise in his community. He is renting the place where his business operates. Ntwali paid his property owner three months’ rent in advance but never asked for receipt. After two months, his property owner says he wants the rent for the two months. Ntwali is perplexed and tries to remind the property owner that he paid his rent for three months. The property owner denies and asks Ntwali for proof of the payment which he does not have. Ntwali is stuck, does not know what to do while the property owner threatens to evict him if he does not pay his rent.

Questions:

Referring to the problem solving steps, help Ntwali resolve the above problem.