1. Evernham’s Leadership Tactics
Evernham’s leadership tactics are consistent with the literature on high performance teams. This is because he emphasizes on teamwork, adequate preparation and is open to new ideas. Evernham also displays the qualities of a leader in-charge of a high performing team such as being open to new ways of doing things. Evernham achieves high performance by keeping his team highly motivated and also emphasizing on group responsibility. Evernham displays this need for group responsibility by sharing his earnings from personal events related to his career as a pit leader with his team members. This shows that he acknowledges that his personal achievements are based on the efforts of his group members.
2. Norms of leading Gordon’s Group
If I was hired as Gordon’s pit crew chief I would expect to be in-charge of a highly motivated group. I would also expect to be part of a team where each member is considered as equal regardless of their rank or role. I would expect to lead a team of professionals who appreciate the need for sacrifice to achieve victory on the track.
3. Taking over a high performance team from an effective leader.
When a person takes over a high performing team from a leader such as Evernham, they should ensure that they continue implementing their predecessor’s way of leadership. This is essential since an overhaul in the system of leadership may upset the team members (Harlan,2004). It is also notable that adapting new leadership strategies may be perceived by some of the team members as implying that the previous leader was not effective; which some may not like. After some time, the new leader can, however, introduce changes to the governance style as he or she considers best. This strategy of succeeding a leader such as Evernham is effective in that it allows the successor adequate time to learn and assess their predecessor’s style of leadership; while at the same time not disorienting the team members by introducing a new leadership style (Kruse, 2012). Consequently, when the new leader starts implementing changes they will be based on the leader’s first-hand experience and not from a theoretical perspective. This is based on the assumption that the new leader has never led the group before.
4. High performing Pit Crews
Pit crews are an integral part of the NASCAR; these crews help ensure that their driver’s car is well maintained and serviced in order to achieve victory. There are, however, some distinctions between high performing pit crews and low performing ones also known as the ‘also rans’.
High performing pit crews rely on each member knowing their role in achieving success. It is essential that every team member from the tire-changer to the engineer to the jackman knows that their efforts contribute towards winning the race. High performing teams emphasize that their members should understand that one member’s failure to do their duties may fail other team members.
The pit crews that perform efficiently commit a significant part of their week days to training. Some of the high performing crews practice for pit stops three times a week (Schuch, 2010). Consequently, on the race day, each member understands their role and hence delays are reduced.
When a race driver wins, some people feel that their pit crews are well appreciated; despite the fact that the crews contributed to the victory. High performing pit crews have learnt how to appreciate each team member whenever their driver wins. Some of the ways of appreciation include gifts, bonuses and company sponsored dinners.
References
Schuch, S. (2010). NASCAR Pit Crews run like a well-oiled machine during races. MLive.com. Retrieved from http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2010/08/nascar_pit_crews_run_like_a_we .html
Kruse,K. (2012). Employee engagement 2.0: How to motivate your team for high performance. New Jersey: Wiley
Hanlan,M. (2004). High performance teams. London: Praeger.
