Chapter 9 November 10

Leading Groups


Just think about it…

■ What do you think of when you hear the word leadership?

■ What does a good leader do?

■ Can anyone be a leader?

■ Why is leadership so important in groups?

■ Why is leadership development part of every industry?

■ Leadership is a special and persuasive form of communication


What is Leadership?

“Leadership is behavior or communication that influences, guides, directs, or controls a group.”

Leadership is a communicative action. All leadership is communication. It is symbolic.

Leadership can make or break a group.


Several Leadership Perspectives

■ Trait— first perspective ppl have studied, but it has been debunked. “you are a natural born leader”.

  • The following have held true. See below for definitions.

■ Functional

■ Situational

■ Transformational


  1. Functional Perspective

Examines leadership as a series of behaviors that may be performed by any group member to maximize group effectiveness.

■ Focuses on what the leader is doing

■ The leader is anyone performing these behaviors, not necessarily the person with the title

■ These behaviors are categorized as either Task or Process leadership

■ This approach is all about helping groups function more effectively


    A) Functional: Task-Leadership Behaviors

Task-oriented behaviors are specifically aimed toward accomplishing the group goal.

■ Initiating “Alright lets get the ball rolling” “Alright lets get started”

■ Coordinating— creating the plan for action

■ Summarizing— “Alright now that we have finished this is the recap…”

■ Elaborating— make sure no good idea is forgotten, or encourage the quiet ones to speak up.

Can you think of other task-oriented behaviors?

What are behaviors good leaders you’ve worked with done to keep you on task?

    B) Functional:Process-Leadership Behaviors

Process-oriented behaviors help maintain a satisfactory interpersonal climate within the group.

■ Releasing tension— Lets take a break, I see were getting off track

■ Gatekeeping— Make sure all information is shared and not withheld

■ Encouraging— Encourage others to speak up

■ Mediating— maintaining a good climate even if there are disagreements

Can you think of other process-oriented behaviors?

What are behaviors good leaders you’ve worked with done to build a satisfactory group climate?


  1. Situational Perspective

A perspective that views leadership as the interaction of group needs and goals, leadership style, and the situation.

■ Accommodate and adapt to the context and situation

■ Leadership style can and should change— the same leadership style doesn’t work for everyone and everything

■ Anticipates how leadership style and situation influences group conflict and productivity

■ Considers the leadership style that is best for the task, process, and climate


Situational:

Leadership Styles

■ Authoritarian— surgeon

■ Democratic— president

■ Laissez-faire— relaxed

What are different situations in which each of these styles would be the best style to lead with?


Situational: Hersey’s Leadership Model

Hersey’s model uses various combinations of task and relationship-oriented behaviors to describe four different leadership styles the relate to different situations. Allows leaders to change styles according to subordinates' readiness levels.

■ Telling- leaders who strongly emphasize task and pay little attention to relational issues

■ Selling- leaders whose style reflects a high task and high relationship approach; they want group members to internalize and accept orders

■ Participating- leaders who focus less on task and more on relationship

■ Delegating- leaders whose style reflects a low task and low relationship

approach; allows group do direct themselves


Situational: Shared Leadership

When two or more individuals within a team share leadership responsibilities.

■ Research has found that when a group or team has shared leadership, their groups experience less conflict, greater consensus, and higher trust and cohesion.

■ You may experience “self-managing” teams when you get a job

■ Think of it as a leadership network

■ Shared leadership is positively related to team performance


Transformational Leadership

Leaders who strive to change, elevate, and unify the goals of followers as well as inspire them to pursue challenging and shared objective. Transformational leaders have four defining characteristics:

1. Idealized Leadership— inspiring vision of how the world could be

2. Inspirational Motivation— your communication ability can stir up action and creativity

3. Intellectual Stimulation— challenge the status quo

4. Individual Consideration— supportive and nurture individuals


Transformational: Critical Skills for these Leaders

■ Build shared vision by establishing mutuality of concern

■ Surface and challenge mental models/assumptions

■ Engage in systems thinking

Transformational leadership is about empowerment. What do you think the benefits of a transformational culture are for the group?


The Emergent Leader

Leaders are often designated or appointed, but sometimes they emerge from the group process.

What qualities or behaviors most often results in becoming the leader?


Gender & Leadership

What role do you think gender norms and expectations play in leadership?

Why do you think there is a gender bias in leadership?

Why do you think we are seeing an increase in women in leadership positions?