This week we played Ladies & Gentlemen during class, where I played as a lady. My goal was to buy clothing in order to score the most points, however I had to rely on my team member playing as a gentlemen to pay for all the clothes. Since our game only had 3 teams instead of 4 we managed to get through every round and have higher scores. In the end I ended up losing by only 2 points, which easily could have been a tie with just one $100 more to buy one last item. Its also interesting to note that I didn’t pay much attention to how the gentlemen side was played and switching teams would likely feel like I was playing an entirely different game.

The most difficult aspect of the game was the limited communication with your teammate. Without knowing how much money my partner had it was difficult to know which clothing I should be picking out to buy each day. I also had to be careful about what clothing I would hand to him. I couldn’t specifically say which cards were the most important to buy so I had to make assumptions about which he would pick anytime I wanted to hand over more than one card. This made me hesitant to try more complicated strategies, such as picking clothing I knew the other ladies wanted, because I wouldn’t be able to communicate to not actually buy those clothes.

Having to rely on my partner during the game reflects the importance of teamwork in leadership. One person can’t do everything so you have to trust others to help. My teammate’s role was similar to what a treasurer in a club might do, manage how the club spends it’s money. The clothing I was picking out to buy would be like scheduling events for the club in this comparison. Even as a leader all of these responsibilities would be too much for just one person. If these roles are split between different people on a team however their chance of success is much higher.