Make 3 -4 slides (power point) on the Team Leadership of the movie ‘Cool Running’
Team leadership skills are
essential when managing a team. Team leadership is a concept designed by Kogler
Hill, a communication professor in a communication management division (Harris,
2018). It addresses a group of people brought together to achieve the desired
outcome. To achieve the desired work output in an organization, team leaders
need to motivate their members and encourage them to work together for a better
result. Therefore, a functional team depends on the leader’s skills (Harris,
2018). If the leader has quality communication and leadership skills, members
will have confidence in whatever they engage in, so they can conduct themselves
as required.
The team leadership model
developed by Kogler has three parts: the first deals with leadership decisions,
while the second deals with internal and external leadership actions (Harris,
2018). The fourth part deals with team effectiveness. We find many leadership
skills exhibited using this model to evaluate the leadership skills portrayed
in the film ‘The Cool Runnings’ by Tommy Swerdlow and Michael Goldberg. First,
it is through effective team leadership that the team met its goal of playing
in the winter Olympics.
In the film, Bannock is an
excellent example of a leader because he was the one that initiated the
creation of the bobsled team. When he could not run in the Olympics, he
switched to another field, where he became a bobsled team member to fulfill his
goal of attending the Olympics. It is easy and normal for people to fail, but
it takes strength for an individual to start again and make decisions. After
establishing a bobsled team and going to seek the services of Irv, he refused
to take a no for an answer. Despite Irv denying coaching the team, he persisted
in his quest to have him coach the team since he had participated in the
bobsled competition. It implies that he had the experience to guide the team or
provide the coaching needed. Bannock displayed his leadership skills when he
was assigned the role of a driver. According to Irv in the movie, the part of a
driver is the most challenging position to hold since it requires the role
holder to work harder than others. Not only do they have their own lives to
rule, but their team members do. He helped train his teammates. When things
become challenging, and team members begin lashing and scolding each other, he
rushes to each of them and reminds them of their primary objective. As a
result, he was able to keep the team together. According to Kogler’s team
leadership model, leaders at the top need to ensure that the decisions they
make are for the benefit of each member (Harris, 2018). They need to ensure
their members handle their responsibilities effectively.
Due to the leadership skills
Bannock displayed and exercised, he guided his team until they joined the
Olympics. Additionally, despite members’ failures and challenges, he motivated
them to work till the end. Despite not winning, the members rejoiced since they
had achieved their dream of participating in the Olympics.
The leader has displayed various
characteristics of a team leader, while the team has demonstrated the
attributes of an effective team. First, they are result-driven and have
struggled to achieve better results (Figgers, 2020). They entered the training
with one objective to participate in the Olympics. Through struggle and
persistence, they were able to achieve their goal. Secondly, they displayed
collaborative characteristics.
There are various components they
need to incorporate into their daily operations to establish an effective team
where all members collaborate to achieve the desired goal. First, the team
leader must create trust; trust is vital when building a team (Tannenbaum &
Salas, 2020). Successful communication takes place when there is openness and
honesty among members. Secondly, the team needs to establish effective
communication. Proactive and genuine leaders help their teams achieve success
through effective communication (Tannenbaum & Salas, 2020).