Teamwork, management and Harry Potter
I’m always trying to relate new concepts to existing concepts I understand. However, creativity can be seen as combining 2 ideas together.
The Harry Potter novels show Harry as a leader in many ways. Starting in his friendship group, and then going on to lead the Quidditch team and Dumbledore’s Army. He clearly naturally takes the leadership role throughout the books, be it good or bad. So, what can we learn from him?
Loyalty
From the very first book, he surrounds himself with ‘good’ team members. Of course, this is subjective, but the two friends he makes in his first year at school are his friends for life. Sometimes, you cannot truly appreciate someone until they show their worth or you give them a chance. In the first book when Hermione is locked in the bathroom with a troll and then defends Harry and Ron to the teachers, as they came to save her; she instantly shows her loyalty to her classmates and therefore they become friends. When working in any team, it is essential to have support one another, and this is something Harry and his friends demonstrate from very early on. I have seen teams in the past where managers take full credit for their team’s success and blame the team for failures. The best manager I have ever had, is constantly giving credit to the team in external meetings, and this speaks volumes.
Diversity
In later books, the character of Luna Lovegood comes into her own with quirky ideas and unique perception of the world. Luna encourages Harry to relax, be more creative and is an extremely positive influence on the group of friends. There are many studies to show that having individuals who see the world and problems working as part of your team, make your team more productive. And a clear example of this in the Harry Potter series is when the group of friends need to get to London in the Order of the Phoenix, and it is Luna that has the ‘out of the box’ suggestion of riding the Thestrals.
Working together
From the first book, Hermione sees the value she can bring to the group, and the strength they will have in numbers, which is proven when they are hunting for the stone and they each must ride a broomstick to herd the keys to unlock a door, with Hermione’s Herbology skills and Ron’s aptitude for chess.
“Oh, come off it, you don’t think we’d let you go alone?”
“Of course not,” said Hermione briskly. “How do you think you’d get to the Stone without us?”
It is important that each of the group know what each other bring to the team, and how valuable they all are to one another. It could be suggested, that within this team there is a single point of failure — Hermione — but this is just a huge metaphor, so let’s move on…
Asking for help
Finally, knowing when to ask for help is an important skill to have in any place of work. The best managers I have had, encourage you to ask for help when it is needed. Harry and his friends, when they are out of their depth, go to ask for help from Dumbledore, and later the Order of the Phoenix.
Let’s go to Hogwarts…
So, even though we are all still waiting for our Hogwarts letters, it’s probably too late for us to go to Hogwarts and learn these life lessons, they are still lessons to be learnt. Examples of great teamwork, and poor teamwork — just look at Crabbe and Goyle! — are everywhere. Be it our families, our friends, our favourite books or films; we can learn from these and draw parallels with our professional lives.
Sources:
https://leaderonomics.com/leadership/10-reasons-why-harry-potter-is-a-great-leader
https://www.agilealliance.org/agile101/12-principles-behind-the-agile-manifesto/