📘 Part 3: Teamwork and leadership

This episode's vocabulary

To wield influence, power, etc. (verb) - to have a lot of influence or power over other people.

Universal (adj.) - existing everywhere or involving everyone.

To declare (verb) - to announce something clearly, firmly, publicly, or officially.

Ineffective (adj.) - not producing the effects or results that are wanted.

Recognition (noun) - an agreement that something is true or legal.

Consensus (noun) - a generally accepted opinion or decision among a group of people.

Disposition (noun) - the particular type of character that a person naturally has.

Sweeping statement/generalization (phrase) - something that you say or write that is too general and that has not been carefully thought about.

To pool resources (idiom) - to combine more than one person's supply of something (such as money).

To distribute (verb) - to give something out to several people, or to spread or supply something.

To tolerate (verb) - to accept behaviour and beliefs that are different from your own, although you might not agree with or approve of them.

Ultimate (adj.) - most extreme or important because either the original or final or the best or worst.

To pursue (verb) - to follow someone or something, usually to try to catch him, her, or it.

Mediation (noun) - the process of talking to two separate people or groups involved in a disagreement to try to help them to agree or find a solution to their problems.

Collective (adj.) - of or shared by every member of a group of people.

On board - as part of a group or team, especially for a special purpose.

Terms (phrase [plural]) - the conditions that control an agreement, arrangement, or activity.

Double-edged (adj.) - something that is double-edged acts in two ways, often with one negative and one positive effect.

Collaborative (adj.) - involving two or more people working together for a special purpose.

To pull your weight (idiom) - to work as hard as other people in a group.

Questions and Answers

M: What qualities should a leader have?

R: Well, that's a really culturally and context-specific thing, to be honest. What works for leaders in one place might not work in another. However, if you like a willingness to wield power and take action is largely universal. In addition to being able to inspire others that follow them. A leader is no good without any of those things. They can't get anything done otherwise, can they?

M: Do you think everyone can become team leaders?

R: I mean, anyone could be a team leader just by declaring that they are but whether they are an effective one or not is another matter entirely. We all know people who are managers but are pretty ineffective.

M: Why do some people dislike teamwork?

R: Well, in any group of people, there will be those who are more productive than others. And some more productive people might resent it if they get an equal share of recognition or pay when they did most of the work. Other people just really dislike coming to a consensus with others and like to go their own way since they feel it's more effective.

M: Do you think young people are good team players?

R: I mean, they could be if they have a natural disposition towards that, I suppose. Though, it's not something everyone has and they might have to learn it. It's important to remember in these cases, that people are individuals, so prefer to avoid sweeping statements of agreement about that sort of thing.

M: What are the benefits and drawbacks of working in a team?

R: Well, there are probably as many of one as there are of the other, you have the advantages of pooled resources and distributed responsibility, so you should theoretically be able to do more. And if you fail, then it's no one person's fault. As for the downsides, beyond the ones I mentioned, when we talked about why people dislike it, I'm really not sure. Maybe having to tolerate other people, if you're not a social person might be a downside, but I don't know for sure.

M: How can a team deal with conflicts among its members?

R: Well, breaking up the team might be the ultimate solution. No team - no conflict. Before letting it get to that extreme, though, it could be a good idea to pursue mediation or attempt some kind of, I don't know, collective agreement everyone can get on board with so the team functions on agreed terms.

M: How do cultural differences affect team dynamics?

R: Oh, I suppose they could be beneficial and that you might get different perspectives and approaches to problems that monoculture might not allow for. But that could be a double-edged sword if everyone or if not everyone agrees on the best practices or approaches.

M: How do team sports and group projects in school prepare young people for working in teams later in life?

R: Well, a lot of workplace efforts are supposedly collaborative. So it's a realistic simulation of this sort of activity, where everyone has to pull their weight to meet a goal.

M: Hey, Rory, thank you for your answers!

R: No worries!

Discussion

M: So what qualities should a leader have?

R: And really, there's not like a list that you can give, it's very tempting to give a list. But if you think about it properly, what makes a good leader in this country in my country would be very different to what makes a good leader in your country. And sometimes there are different kinds of leaders, even in different countries, so we could answer with this expression. That's a really culturally and context-specific thing, to be honest. And that could be an answer to just about any question, to be honest when we're thinking about the best or the worst examples of something.

M: Google disagrees with Rory. And, dear listener, here are 12 essential leadership qualities. Self-awareness, respect, compassion, vision, communication, collaboration, integrity, courage, and resilience. So resilience is very nice. Rory, what's resilience?

R: Well, it's how you cope with difficult situations.

M: Yeah, and when a person is resilient, an adjective. Like being able to be happy, and successful, again, and again, like even after some failures, some bad situations, the person is resilient. Like Rory is a resilient person. So whatever happens, he stays positive and happy and like keeps doing things. You see? Even in, in a crisis. Anyone could be a team leader. So the leader of a team. So we work in a team and, well, in any team, there is one leader. And a team leader declares that.

R: Yeah, so if you declare, then you just say I am the leader. Okay. Sure, Jan. So in reality, there might be a declared leader, that is like the official leader, and then there might be an unofficial leader or a de facto leader who is not the same person. And people might just look to this other person to see if they should or what they should do.

M: And anyone can become a leader. But some people are effective leaders, other people are ineffective leaders. And you can say that anyone can develop the qualities that leaders usually have. Some people dislike teamwork. So they dislike working in a team. In any group of people, there are people who are more productive than others. So to be productive, to kind of do things.

R: And if they are the ones that do things and everyone else is doing nothing, then you might resent it, or you might not like it or dislike it. So this idea of "dislike" and "resent".

M: Yeah, like can you imagine lazy people? And they usually resent productive people. So kind of like resent is to feel angry, because you have been forced to accept someone or something that you do not like. Actually, this is like a C2 verb. Proficiency level.

R: Really?

M: Yeah. Band nine.

R: Well, look at me with my band nine words.

M: Yeah, for example, like he resents having to explain his work to other people. So resent doing something. Yeah. Could you give us another example in the context of teamwork, and leadership, with "resent doing something"?

R: In a team, people might resent being forced to be in a team as well, when they know they work better alone, or when they think the team leadership is not very good.

M: Another reason could be that people don't get recognition. So they are productive, they do a lot of things, but they are not recognized. They have to do most of the work in a team, while other team members, teammates, like to do less work. Come to a consensus. A very good phrase, which means like to agree and team members need to agree. They need to come to a consensus. Also C2, proficiency. Hey! Consensus.

R: Is an "equal share of recognition" also C2?

M: Yes, it's like C5. So yeah, dear listener, when you want to talk about agreement, you can say that people in a team need to reach a consensus, need to reach an agreement.

R: Come to a consensus.

M: Come to a consensus. Or, like reach a consensus on certain matters, on something.

R: With others.

M: Yeah. So some people enjoy working on their own. Or work by themselves. So they enjoy working alone.

R: Or go their own way. Do things their own way. I like to do things my own way.

M: Yeah. I did it my way.

R: Waaay. I knew that was coming. I could feel it in the air. Do you like to do things your way?

M: Absolutely. Yes. So to go their way. I did it my way.

R: My waaay.

M: Look at us. Young people could be good team players.

R: They could be.

M: They have a natural disposition. What's a natural disposition?

R: That just means that they do things naturally, or they do things. Because it's part of their nature. It's not something they had to be taught how to do. And some people are like that, but not everybody likes to do this kind of thing, or is able to do it at first without being taught or guided.

M: So some people are born leaders. So they're kind of natural.

R: Yeah. Or at least they're natural leaders in specific circumstances.

M: You can say that I'd prefer, I would prefer to avoid sweeping statements.

R: Yes, because a sweeping statement is something that applies to most situations most of the time or all situations all of the time. But because I said "the whole idea of leadership is a very context and cultural-specific thing" at the start. It's difficult to say like, yeah, sure all young people can work together in a team. No, they can't. Like I'm thinking about myself when I was young, I didn't really like working in a team at all.

M: Yes, so you can say like some people have a natural disposition. So they are like very good team players. But others may prefer solitary activities and may prefer to go their own way. So I would prefer to avoid sweeping statements of agreement or disagreement. You see? Yeah. The advantages or benefits. Disadvantages, drawbacks of doing something. The advantages are, that we have pooled resources, like a swimming pool, but here pooled resources. What are they?

R: Pooled resources are just collected in one place.

M: And resources here mean like what? Ideas or like a room, computers. Like what?

R: Could be anything, you can pull computing power. You can pull money. You can pull experience. All of this counts as resources.

M: And if we're working in a team, we have pooled resources, and also distributed responsibility. So you don't have to do all the work. You do some work. Okay? So the responsibilities are distributed, usually evenly among the group. The group members. And then if you fail, then it's not your fault. But it's everyone else's fault. It's the team's fault.

R: It's a shared responsibility is what it is.

M: Yeah. Then when you start talking about the advantages, and drawbacks, you can say, as for the downsides, so as for the drawbacks, some people may dislike it, may dislike working in a team, but they just have to do it.

R: Yeah. Maybe they just have to tolerate other people. I don't know. I already mentioned a few in my previous answers.

M: Tolerate other people, when kind of you put up with other people. Maybe you don't like a person who works with you, but you have to put up with them. You have to tolerate them because you work in a team. We deal with conflicts among the members of the team. And Rory's solution is to break up the team. No team - no conflicts. Yay! Nice. So break up the team, just kind of like get rid of the team.

R: I feel like that's a very extreme solution to the problem, though. Because of how I said like, without letting it go or getting to that extreme. So if you get to an extreme, it just means that there's a lot that you could do before then.

M: And what is the ultimate solution?

R: Well, the ultimate solution is breaking up the team. That's the extreme.

M: But what is ultimate? Ultimate is the most effective, the only solution?

R: No, it's the last solution. Ultimate means the endpoint.

M: Yeah, like ultimately, finally. Yeah? So something might be the ultimate solution.

R: Yeah.

M: Pursue mediation. That's a nice one.

R: Yeah, mediation is just an aspect of conflict resolution. So whenever there's a problem between two or more people, you ask for mediation, and that's when other people come to try to help find a solution.

M: And when we pursue mediation, we kind of like talk. The verb is mediate. To talk to people or a group who disagree with each other to find a solution. Mediate between the two sides. Attempt some kind of collective agreement. Or attempt to reach a consensus, dear listener. Yeah? Remember?

R: Collective agreement, consensus. Look at me paraphrasing. Is collective agreement C2 level?

M: No, I don't think so. Agreement is like an easy word. Can we say like reach a collective consensus?

R: No, because a consensus already is collective, isn't it?

M: Yeah. You see? No. Yeah, so reach a consensus. And also everyone can get on board with their ideas. So to get on board is...

R: To agree.

M: Yeah, everyone can get on board. So the team functions on agreed terms. So terms, conditions. So a good team functions on their agreement, on agreed terms. We have a team's dynamics. Okay? So the dynamics of a team.

R: Yeah, but the dynamics is just how it works together or how many parts work together.

M: Cultural differences usually affect team dynamics. So cultural differences affect how a team functions. For example, people get different perspectives and approaches to problems. So if like Rory is from Scotland, and I'm from New Zealand, well, we might have different approaches to different problems.

R: But it could be a double-edged sword, which is an idiom for meaning something has an advantage, but also a disadvantage, which is the same strength. So here, we could have a different way to solve a problem. But we need to agree on which one is best. And that can be difficult if you think yours is the best. And I think mine is the best. So mediation may be required.

M: So people from different cultures might come up with different solutions. And we'll have to choose the best solution from these options. What else could be a double-edged sword?

R: God, anything. Having a good internet connection could be a double-edged sword because, okay, you get a good connection. But then you wind up spending hours and hours on the internet because the connection is so good.

M: Yeah, so something that has like positives and negatives. At school, children have group projects, and they play team sports, or they do team sports. This could help them later in their life when they work in a team. So this teaches them how to collaborate with their teammates. And it's a realistic simulation of collaboration that they can have at a workplace.

R: Or it could be. They're supposedly collaborative. I think that a lot of workplaces are actually secretly not collaborative. I think there's usually one or two people who do all the work, and the other people don't do as much.

M: Meet a collective goal. So our collective goal is like the goal of a team.

R: Yeah, something you work on together.

M: What do people do if they pull their weight?

R: Well, they get a band nine, because pull your weight is an idiomatic expression used effortlessly. But if you pull your weight, it means that you put in as much work as you should, or as you're expected to.

M: Yeah, pull your weight, dear listener. C2, proficiency, idiom, band nine. Working as hard as other people in a group is a very good expression, you can use it in speaking parts two, and three about leadership and teamwork. So for example, people complained that Maria wasn't pulling her weight. So people complained that Maria didn't work as hard as other people in the group. You see? Rory, could you give us two sentences with "pulling your weight" about teamwork and leadership, please?

R: Well, in order to work well in a team, you have to pull your own weight, so everybody can achieve the collective goal.

M: And another one.

R: A good team leader has to pull their weight, so the team can function effectively.

M: Sweet. Thank you very much for listening! And we'll get back to you in our next episode! Bye!

R: Bye!

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