What is a Team Leader?
The term team leader is defined as someone who provides instruction, direction and guidance to a group of individuals (a team), to achieve a defined, common goal. They are expected to motivate and should have a good understanding of their team members’ strengths and weaknesses in order to delegate tasks effectively and maintain enthusiasm in achieving their common goals.
There are several characteristics that a team leader should have in order to carry out their job effectively. This includes but is not limited to:
- Decision making abilities: most situations in business require a level-headed person who can make decisions on behalf of their team.
- Lead from the front: some leaders take a backseat and, rather than being with their team carrying out the work, will make no solid contributions and have no involvement. This type of leadership is known as “laissez-faire leadership”. Effective team leading requires direct involvement, so any problems can be identified and resolved quickly. Being close to the action, the team leader will also gain the respect of the rest of the team.
- Balance between personal life and professional life: pressures at the workplace often overlap with the pressures of home life and vice versa. An effective team leader will be able to understand the difference between the two and be more sympathetic to a team member’s personal life as well as their professional life.
- Serve as an example: as long as a leader acts as an example to others, they will be respected. Acting as a good example to others can be anything from the way they work, to the way they make decisions.
(Adapted from: Forbes, 2015)
There is often confusion in distinguishing a team leader from a manager. A manager’s role is to plan, organise and co-ordinate and the team leader’s role is to direct, motivate and provide guidance so that the team can deliver the plan. Team leaders are known to adopt a ‘hands-on’ approach to the tasks defined and have active involvement.
Table 1 shows differences between a team leader and a manager’s role:
| Team Leader | Manager |
|---|---|
| Motivates and directs a team to achieve the goals set in place by higher management | Contributes to defining goals that are subjective to the business’s short or long term development |
| Project’s technical direction and vision | Project’s on-going alignment with agreed-upon requirements |
| Responsible for individual contributor’s tasks and their implementation | Personnel management |
| Decision responsibility for design and technical implementation issues | Decision responsibility for deployment of people and resources |
Table 1: Differences between a team leader and a management role