This competency enables a learner to:
What happens when a group of people meet for the first time? An informal process of "getting to know you" always takes place. Standard rituals of introduction take place: "Where do you live? What school do/did you attend? What do you do? Where were you born? Where did you grow up?" People do a lot of quick assessment: "How much can I trust this fellow?" "Does he do things by the book?" "Is this someone I'd like to spend more time with?"
This competency enhances the accidental, serendipitous encounter. It provides an informal but recognized stage when these exchanges can be made and acknowledged. The process increases the intensity of the exchanges, promoting honesty and trust. It accelerates the rate at which the group begins to coalesce and develop commitment to a common purpose. Greater productivity and increased quality are the results.
As a leader, it is a good idea to introduce activities that help the individuals in the group to become acquainted with one another's skills, knowledge, and abilities. Showing off a school transcript or resume is not what we mean. The idea is to challenge the individuals and the group in such a way that they are required to draw on each other for assistance.
For example, when a patrol was challenged to throw a line over a tree in order to fetch a bucket containing "radioactive" material, the boys were astounded when one of the girls in the group proved herself better at knot-tying than any of them.
In another instance, the group was forming up well and responding to some harsh wind and wet conditions on a staff training hike. The adult leader took one of the members aside and asked him how his ankle was. "My ankle?" replied the youth, puzzled. "Yes. Didn't I see you twist it a while back?" "No." "Oh, I'm sure you did. Let's see how the rest of the group handles this," responded the leader. The group's use of resources, mostly their own fortitude and ability to pull together, were subsequently tested. A more serious "injury" could have required them to create a stretcher, additionally testing their resources, but that scenario was not appropriate in this instance.
Knowing and Using Group Resources is usually introduced as the group is forming, as it is a means to the end of creating group morale and spirit. The patrol, after being given a name, is typically asked more than once if they have a yell, song, and flag. When asked about materials for a flag, the Patrol Counselor responds, "Gee, where do you think you could find the resources for a patrol flag within the troop?" If the camper is stumped, the leader might add a hint: "Ever heard of a Quartermaster?" Types of Resources
Resources are, for our purposes, inexhaustible. We as leaders work primarily through others; we assume that everyone's limits can be expanded, and that no one ever reaches their fullest potential. Resources are also, by our general definition, all inclusive. They include the tangible and intangible--the sun, trees, people, time, a knife--everything is a resource.
On a practical level, there are two types of resources that a leader needs to pay attention to, human and physical resources.
The human spirit's capacity for achievement and innovation is enormous. Yet few if any schools teach what it takes to be successful.
The greatest limit on the ability to think in new ways, to draw on resources within ourselves, is often our own thinking. So it becomes true that getting out of our own way is the greatest challenge we face in our entire lives. We grow up, and when it comes to our thinking, our understanding of success principles, we are often a collection of bad habits well-learned. We limit our access to our internal resources, the ideas, talents, competencies, skills, knowledge and attitudes that can contribute to success.
This is not only true for individuals, but is a characteristic behavior of institutions and organizations as well. Fortunately, this lack is an increasing concern of many leaders and some work is being done to correct this problem.
In authoritarian environments, individual resources are often ignored. The quality of American automobiles suffered for years because, in part, individuals felt they had little impact on the effort to produce a quality project. When they spotted a defect, the assembly line workers were effectively disabled from contributing even their intelligence, for they had no means to stop the production line and correct the problem. Giving workers the ability to stop the assembly line when a defect was spotted immediately raised the quality of the finished product, while not significantly slowing production.
If a group is to be optimally successful, the resources of all members must be fully utilized. Suppose a factory team gathers to solve a quality control problem--a formed sheet of metal rattles in its place on an assembled product. Does the piece have to be redesigned from scratch? New holes machined? Extra mounting screws added? (What is the most cost-effective solution?)
The best solution may require everyone, including the designer, the machinist, the assembler and the manager, to become involved. Anyone left out--their knowledge, their resources--could make a huge difference in the quality of the decision and people's commitment to it. Different people have a variety of resources to contribute.
At the end of the 20th century, American business is recognizing that the most effective way to make decisions is to make the information necessary available to those who are in a position to make immediate use of it. Instead of providing a management analyst with time and motion studies on how long it takes a factory worker to make a certain part, or the "best" configuration for an assembly line, along with the current production results, more successful companies are now providing the production worker with that information. The assembly-line workers are then empowered to use their own resources to solve production-line problems, in some cases resulting in vast increases in efficiency.
Physical resources are made up of the tangible assets found in our environment. While they may at first impression be useful only for a specific purpose, creative leaders can improvise and find multiple ways to use what is available to them.
Because a tangible resource isn't immediately available, do we automatically stop what we are doing? Or do we "make do," improvising? The lesson here is that often-times the only limit on our resources is our mind. All of us have moments when we can become James Bond, as he whips off his drugstore shoe laces to save himself from certain death.
The flexibility to utilize a resource that no one else perceives is a hallmark of a leader. Creativity, ingenuousness, and the ability to respond to dynamic, fluid situations are essential characteristics of the top-notch leader. Drawing on Group Resources
Does the manager have to know everyone else's job? Must he have the engineer's design capabilities, the machinist's knowledge of material tolerances, the assembler's eye for ease of construction? No. The leader does a better job when he finds who does have a skill, knowledge, or ability, and calls on him in the proper situation.
Is the de-facto leader solely responsible for knowing everyone else's resources? Again, no. The wise and secure leader is able to delegate, to call on someone with greater expertise, and to turn over control of the situation to the individual with the power to resolve it.
Calling on others has multiple benefits to the group and group members. When individuals are asked to contribute, they feel more involved and committed. If properly motivated and recognized for their contribution, they will feel an increased loyalty to the group and their leader. Drawing on the resources of the group helps build two- and three-deep leadership, building up redundancies within the organization so it can function more effectively, especially in times of stress.
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