I think the passage of "Effective leadership" on page 36 ( The essential guide to group communication) was interesting and useful. Usually when I am working in a group, I am usually the person that barely speaks or make important decisions. Even in a group of friends, I'm always a follower or a shadow. I would like to stand out and show to my classmates or co-worker that I am responsible, influential but also that I take action. O'Hair and Wiemanm say that to be an effective leadership, one must:
- Bring desirable outcomes: the outcomes must be positive and influential to the members.
- Enhance credibility with the group: to be a leader, one must be knowledgeable and experienced
- Inspire and motivate group members to participate: it is important that the leader supports his members and encourage them to participate in decision making and reward them.
I started reading your post and I completely related to your experience. I have always been the kid who never really like participating and especially going up in front of the class to give speeches. I always hated going up in front of the class and at sometimes I preferred not doing the presentation because that's how nervous I would get. I began to feel more comfortable last semester when I took public speaking and that class made me feel more comfortable to go up in speak in front of the class. I usually work better in groups but at times I get frustrated because not every person in the groups is willing to contribute. I admire how you come out say that you want to become more of a leader and I also want to become more of a leader instead of being a person who has nothing to say or no opinion. O'Hair and Wiemann make a good point that to be a leader you have to support ever person in your group and have to push/encourage them to participate.
ReplyDeleteHello there! (:
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your post, I know exactly how you feel. I'm usually in the same position as you within a group. I try to stand out but it's rather difficult to when most individuals want to do their own rather than working as a group. Recently, I have started to become an effective leader in groups... it's a slow process but I gradually build up to the criteria O'Hair and Wiemann mention for an effective leadership. And from there each person in my group feeds off of that and they too gain the effective leadership skills. (: I believe that effective leadership skills are essential for group successful communication. It makes the group function more steadily and be less disorganized. All the points that O'Hair and Wiemann make are on point in how effective leadership should be.
I also know how it feels to be the follower or the quiet one that never speaks up amongst the group to promote ideas that may be beneficial. Even though I sometimes slip into being the silent follower, I do my best to carry out effective leadership, if need be. I make sure that I listen to the ideas of people floating around me so that I am able to carry out decisions that are also of best interest to the members of the group I am leading.
ReplyDeleteA fantastic leader is an individual that can take the time to listen to others’ ideas and have the ability to handle issues responsibly and accordingly. If the leader sticks to the mentally of being an authority figure, instead of a contributor and motivator, it will decline the commitment and happiness of the team members to carry out duties the leader has asked them accomplish. As a leader, it is essential to have their group members be involved in discussions and decisions so that they feel important, and may even be motivated to step up to leadership responsibilities themselves.
I agree that it can be difficult to put your input in a group discussion or project sometimes especially when other people in the group have their mind set on doing it a certain way. I find it a challenge to speak up in a group of strangers because it can be nerve wreaking. However, the tips given by O'Hair and Wiemanm seem very useful and positive. It allows you to do what you feel without being aggressive for your opinions to be said. Perhaps, this may be the key to breaking that shell that most of us have for standing out and eventually we will get comfortable voicing our opinions and have effective leadership.
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