Topic: Being An Effective Leader
What Would You Do?
You are the leader of a 6 person team. The team all works out of an office in NJ. The team is made up of the following people:
John – 43 year old (African-American)
Julie – 51 year old (Chinese)
Jinsoo – 27 year old (Korean)
Shahid – 32 year male (Iranian)
Harpreet – 30 year old female (Indian)
Tom – 33 year old (Irish)
Shahid and Tom joined the team 6 months ago. The rest of the team has been together for 9 months. The team has been working on a critical project that is due to be delivered in 30 days. You, as the leader, have a lot riding on this project including a promotion and bonus.
Shahid and Tom have unique skills and experience that require them to work together on a key part of your project however, they do not get along and have been bickering and complaining about each other for the last month or so. Today, Shahid complained to you that Tom, a Christian, has been deliberately undermining him and does not respect him because is a Muslim.
The rest of team is becoming distracted by the situation and your project is getting off schedule.
What do you do?
You decide how to approach the paper. In no more than four double-spaced pages, describe how you would manage this situation if you were the leader. What would you consider? What steps would you take? What would be your expected outcome(s)? What if your approach does not work?