Definitely Not A Breeze: Extending An Operant Model Of Effe

To identify what leaders ought to do to orchestrate optimal team performance, an expanded operant model of effective supervision was tested in a setting combining realism, control, and clear-cut outcomes. The components of the empirically based model, monitoring and consequences, were extended to tasks requiring the integration of team efforts. A round-robin sailing regatta was arranged, with series standings as the primary measure of supervisory effectiveness. Using the Operant Supervisory Team Taxonomy and Index, trained observers recorded 19 skippers' actions. As predicted, racing success was found to be correlated significantly with monitors and consequences during the actual races. The relationship between the operant model's 2 critical behaviors and an unfiltered measure of effectiveness has implications for the group and leadership literatures as well as for management practices.