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Example research essay topic: Leadership Qualities Leadership Skills - 2,952 words

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Fully Functioning Groups The definition of a fully functioning group is a group having at least three and no more than fifteen members. At least three members are necessary to keep the group from being two of the same, and a maximum of fifteen members is important to avoid inhibition of the group members ability to freely communicate with fellow group members. (Effective Group Discussion 2001) It is necessary for the fully functioning group to have a common purpose or goal in order to bring the group together and help the group to avoid conflict and tension. Fully functioning group communication is an important part of everyday life. We are all involved in some type of fully functioning group in some way.

In all aspects of the dynamics of a fully functioning group, this is a perfect example of how important communication is. According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary online, "Group dynamics is the interacting forces within a small human group. " (web, 2000) It includes the sociological study of these forces. The term was first introduced in the U. S. by the German-American psychologist Kurt Lewin.

One of his findings was that group behavior affects many aspects of life. Group dynamics is concerned with the structure and functioning of groups and with the types of roles played by members. Roles are flexible and may change with changing goals or activities. The study of group dynamics is important in order to understand and facilitate this movement so that it will be productive and beneficial to society. The group seems to have developed effective mechanisms to control the disruptive rising of conflicts and the ability to enhance more harmonic relationships, heightening the original good characteristics and sharing a common ideal of social harmony. (The dynamics and the interpersonal and interpersonal relations within an isolated group in extreme environments 2000) In the following paragraphs, information and examples is presented on how groups form, how they are motivated, and how they can be put into two distinct classifications. Groups are caused by various factors, but are broken up into two distinct categories, voluntary groups and involuntary groups.

Each group has many separate categories that can be explored. However, the difference between voluntary and involuntary groups will be exploited first. Voluntary groups are those in which an individual chooses to become a part of such as: hobbies, political action, social consciousness, racial rights or special interest groups. People become members of these groups to feel accepted in society.

Sometimes these groups cause hatred and conflict amongst other groups, yet members remain because they feel their cause is just. On the other hand, involuntary groups are compulsory in that the members have no choice in their formation. (Leadership Emergence in Autonomous Work Teams 1999) For instance, a person may have a job in which they have been assigned to a group to work out a difficult issue. In this group a supervisor chooses a select few to research a component and provide solutions to better improve the efficiency. The members did not choose to be a part of the group. They were simply appointed based on a number of factors the supervisor found important to solving the issue at hand.

Whatever the reason a group may form, they all have similar workings. Every group has leaders and followers. Directions, goals, and requirements are defined and at some point in time the behavior of the group is formed. The group sets goals to achieve an acceptable outcome within the scope of the group. It then organizes itself to obtain the outcome as easily as possible. Over a period of time the members may even become dependent upon one another to the point that they may feel lost without the group and feel inadequate.

These groups can be categorized into two distinct categories; formal and informal. Formal groups include quality circles, decision making meetings, orientations, training, department meetings, advisory councils and sales meetings, to name a few. (Leaderships and innovations among teams 1997) Informal groups include social activities outside the office, luncheons, coffee breaks, informal meetings, retreats and gripe sessions. Simply enough, they meet anytime two or more people are joined in discussion. These discussion encounters often provide a platform for individuals to voice their opinions on a subject or to pass on information they have received. Both formal and informal groups have a synergistic effect, strengthen an organization.

Every one of these groups are motivated to complete their cause. The motivation is generally driven by one or a few individuals that are outgoing and have the ability to lead a group with total confidence given by the other members. But, what exactly is leadership. According to our context, leadership can be defined as the interpersonal influence or human communication that modifies, directs, guides, and controls others in such a way as to obtain their willing obedience, confidence, respect and loyal cooperation in accomplishment of an objective. (Effective Group Discussion 2001) Leaders are not born, sure there are some gifts-traits-attributes, natural endowments that affect relative abilities, but they are not born, they are made. Any reasonably intelligent person with enough forcefulness to develop his / her ability to inspire others to follow him can earn leadership status. Remember that we have both formal and informal leaders.

Being a Captain /Sergeant doesnt make you a leader. J Patrick Dobel refers to classic leadership theory because it describes an approach to understanding leadership that by and large is out of style. Nonetheless it is clear that one can learn a great deal by studying the important personal ingredients in the leadership equation. (Political prudence and the ethics of leadership 1998) Studying the traits of great leaders became unpopular because it was and is associated with the great man theory of leadership. This approach was espoused in the 19 th.

and early 20 th. Centuries, and asserted the leadership qualities are largely inherited. This was called trait theory. Researchers such as Mann and Stodgill found no consistent correlate between particular traits and leadership. Later research, particularly more recent and more sophisticated work has found a consistent and strong relationship between certain traits and leadership. (Leadership Emergence in Autonomous Work Teams 1999) Possessing these core traits simply makes it more likely that a person will take the appropriate action leading to leadership success. What is the nature of leadership?

Leadership is an art form in that is an expression of the individual within the social and environmental context. Leadership also reflects the individuals personality. It can also be learned; you may have a talent for it, you may not, either way, anyone can still become an effective leader. Through science, we can study the elements of leadership and provide valuable understanding into its nature. This enables us to determine where to focus our leadership skills and abilities, as well as measure to some extent, our effectiveness. Many people believe that there is one type of leadership that is most effective, and if they can only develop that style, they would be effective as a leader. (Leadership Emergence in Autonomous Work Teams 1999) Some leaders have one style, and honestly believe that it is best to stick with what comes naturally.

As with any art form, one has a number of tools at ones disposal. Take for example the ability to listen and the listening effectiveness of the group members. A good leader is supposed to always be an active listener. Active listening shows that the leader cares, is interested and wants to be involved, enabling the leader to benefit from the experience. Listening skills are far superior in leaders, compared to all the other members of the group. (Examining the Relationship Between Listening Effectiveness and Leadership Emergence 1998) The primary objective of a leader would be to adapt the principles of 'listening' into their own life.

If the leader is not a good listener, then he / she should learn how to really listen. In addition to listening and carefully understanding what a team member is saying, a leader should also make sure that every team member gets the leader's undivided attention. Unfortunately, as a listener, leaders have their own problems to face with. Listeners frequently have too many sound and visual signals reaching them at the same time.

It is difficult for the listener to pay attention to multiple speakers all at once. Also, there could be a number of other problems the leader could be facing in their own life. The leader as a listener will never listen with understanding until other matters are forgotten for the moment and attention is given to the speaker. Another problem involved with listening is the leader not being able to understand the words being spoken.

Hearing what is being spoken is just a part of listening, but understanding some of the words could be tricky sometimes. To avoid problems involving listening, the listener should use good eye contact so that he / she can concentrate on the particular speaker. That helps the listener pay attention on the subject too. Leader should also learn the meaning of the words the speaker is using and if he is unable to understand, he needs to ask questions.

This also lets the speaker know that the listener is unable to understand and the listener is paying attention. These are signs of effective communication It is critical that good group leaders display the ability to effectively communicate with their associates and subordinates as well as train and encourages others to demonstrate those same communication skills. By doing so, they will promote an efficient working environment for solving tasks. The first challenge in effectively communicating with other people understands other different people. Because everyone is different from one another, the communication barriers start to appear.

People are already facing differences from many levels of society. And with every new group that enters into the society, there are still the cultural differences such as traditions, beliefs, and expectations that are thrown into the mix as well. All of this, as well as many other issues only further complicates the task of achieving effective group communications. Perhaps the most obvious difference in the current group environment is the difference of the sex. (Are We Still Stereotyping Leadership 1997) Women possess a tendency to be more subtle or convincing rather than shouting out demands.

Studies have shown that women are more likely to construct their requests in the form of suggestions or leading questions rather than be more direct. The conflict is evident if one considers the fact that males possess the complete opposite tendency. Men are more masculine and are often more direct and to the point. These two contrasting different can cause lots of misunderstandings of all sorts.

Women also do not hesitate to mix business with personal talk where men are more anxious to get to the details of the business at hand. For women this seems to be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the personal talk brings down some barriers and lets each one get to know the other so everyone is comfortable. This works in their favor in situations where they are meeting a group or individual for the first time. But on the other hand, after they become acquainted, they may have trouble separating their personal feelings and allowing them to enter into their business talk as well as their daily business activities. These types of preconceived notions are also present for every race and culture on the planet and they differ from culture to culture for each other.

It is very difficult but even more important for today leaders to put these preconceived notions to rest. One must remember that just because a person looks like Chinese, that it is possible that they have never even been to China. If this is true, they may be offended if someone was to treat them noticeably different or assume that they did not know how to do something. Even though a person has not told these thoughts, their actions can communicate these thoughts just as effectively. This is just one of the many types of subtle communication in which all people notice. It is imperative that people treat others based on merit rather than assumptions made on their looks or backgrounds.

A multicultural environment is an asset only if each individual is treated equally and fair as the others. As team members witness their leader treating everyone with equality and fairness, they will be more inclined to emulate these actions with one another. (Leadership and Innovation Among Teams 1997) This will in turn help the group to value diversity and develop creative problem solving skills. As conditions and situations change, leaders need to change their styles of leadership. The challenge of the leader is not to follow one leadership style all the time, but to use the leadership style needed by his followers. Leaders should maintain the power or influence of their offices by being kind and knowledgeable. The primary objective of being the leader would be to recognize the qualities necessary for a leader to be successful.

Leader should be able to recognize various leadership styles and understand when each would be appropriate. Sometimes a leader will have to follow their group member and in such situations the good leader will appreciate the leadership, while serving the role of a follower. Leaders often have trouble deciding what leadership style to be used at what given instance. Another problem with leaders is that some leaders tend to follow the same leadership principles all the time and this is not a good idea to tackle special situations.

The leader must not consider himself locked into a style of leadership with any individual or group. To avoid problems leaders should always act accordingly and change leadership skills depending on the situation and need. At the same time leader should be confident enough to be able to deal with the new skills. Every group needs a leader and the group's performance depends on the leader either directly or indirectly. The behavior as a manager has a direct impact on staff performance, productivity, satisfaction, and turnover. Proper Leadership skills are highly essential for a manager to make his / her group successful.

The leadership principles mentioned in this paper are just a simple guideline for leaders to follow; however, a good leader does not require any guidelines. A good leader inherits leadership qualities by inheritance of leadership abilities and characteristics from their own life. But in fully functioning group setting, a good leader doesnt know that he has the ability to use these characteristics. Not until the others members give that person a chance to emerge as a leader. (Leadership Emergence in Autonomous Work Teams 1999) Leader emergence occurs in autonomous, or leaderless, work groups when one members of that group exerts significant influence over the other members of the group although no formal authority has been vested in that person. (Leadership Emergence in Autonomous Work Teams 1999) Such people emerge from the autonomous group when members sense an urgency, time constraint, to produce out put. Since the group started off leaderless and is now forced to produce output, the emergent leader will take charge with out developing trust, or respect for others and others feelings. When the work group send a peer expectations for leadership, through a negotiated process the emerging leader will reinforce those expectations by exhibiting effective leadership behavior, but only if he / she is willing and capable of doing the job.

In conclusion, there are certain laws of leadership that determine ones success in leading. If you violate or ignore them, then you will severely limit your effectiveness as a leader. These laws are the foundation of leadership, yet you will not find them in any university curriculum. These principles are best learned from experience. Once you learn the principles, you must consistently practice and apply them to your situation. True leadership cannot be awarded, appointed, or assigned.

It comes only from influence, and that cant be mandated; it must be earned. Leadership is about influencing people to follow, while management focuses on maintaining systems and processes. The best way to test whether a person can lead rather than just manage is to ask him to create positive change. Managers can maintain direction, but they cant change it. Hard work is required to gain influence in any organization and to earn the right to become the leader. If you cant influence others, they wont follow you.

And if they wont follow, youre not a leader. Leadership is developed daily, not in a day. To be an effective leader you need followers, and that always requires the development of relationships the deeper the relationships, the stronger the potential for leadership. Bibliography: William J Bigoness, William J Burpitt, Leadership and Innovations Among Teams, J Patrick Dobel, Political Prudence and the Ethics of Leadership, Small Group Research 58, no. 1 (Jan/Feb 1998): 74 - 81 Judith A Kolb, Are We Still Stereotyping Leadership, Small Group Research 28, no. 3 (Aug 1997): 370 - 393 Simon Tagged, Rick Hackett, Sudhir Saha, Leadership in Autonomous Work Teams, Personnel Psychology 52, no. 3 - 4 (Autumn 1999): 899 - 926 Scott D Johnson, Curt Bechler, Examining the Relationship Between Listening Effectiveness and Leadership Emergence, Small Group Research 29, no. 4 (Aug 1998): 452 - 471 Antonio Peri, Marta Barbarity, Matilda Barattoni, Ada Abraham, The Dynamics and the Interpersonal Relations Small Group Research 31, no. 3 (June 2000): 251 - 274 web, visited 12 / 04 / 01 John K Brilhart, Gloria J. Galanes, Katherine Adams, Effective Group Discussion: Theory and Practice (New York, NY: The McGraw Hill Press 2001), 8 - 9, 191


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Research essay sample on Leadership Qualities Leadership Skills

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