Jessica,
Good questions all. You asked if my teams have hierarchical leaders. No.
There is a leader in the sense that there is someone who helps the team
prioritize its work, set its agenda, stay focused, assign tasks, etc.
This person is not a facilitator, they are a true leader. However, most
of the members of the team do not report to that person in a hierarchic
sense, but instead report to functional departments. The functional
department (with them) sets their goals and overall priorities. The
functional department evaluates their performance.
Yes, there is also a contextual leader. If the problem is an inventory
one, then the inventory person provides leadership. It it is production
or quality, then another person provides leadership. This is in addition,
of course, to the leader who helps set agendas, priorities, etc.
I agree, I have never seen a team that had no leaders at all. I have seen
groups of people with no ostensible purpose who called themselves a team,
but did not act like one. Leadership is a necessary ingredient.
--Rol Fessenden
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>