Ruler to Leader: Being Beyond a Figurehead in a Group Discussion Setting

In every group, a figurehead emerges whether consciously or unconsciously. Level up your leadership skills by understanding what makes up an effective leader.

KEY WORDS: Group Dynamics, Group Development, Emotional Perspective, Behavioral Perspective, and System Theory Perspective

Introduction

In life, human beings are constantly subjected to a variety of groups and leaders whether due to commonalities, familial ties, or even at random. Discovering different perspectives of people as well as having the capability to connect and empathize is one of the essences of being alive. And, when groups of individuals interact with each other, a person who directs the group emerges. Such an individual arises and be the figurehead for they chose to choose first what the group should do. However, for a group to be able to function at its best potential, it is a necessity to have a transformational leader who possesses vision, skills, and the ability to coach rather than a person who only knows commands (Leuteritz, et al., 2017). Leadership, in relation to a group discussion setting, is one of the critical characteristics that a group dynamics (GD) practitioner should observe.

The rationality of leaders becomes a vital factor in a successful group discussion due to their role to provide clarity in goals, motivate and give guidance to the members, and be able to efficiently maximize the time to achieve objectives (Beato, 2020). As stated in Tuckman’s stages of group development, specifically in the storming stage,

the leader is the one responsible for the organizational flow and handling of conflicting ideologies from the members of the group (Tuckman, 2001 as cited by Bonebright, 2021).

Without the qualities of being a good leader, the figurehead might cause chaos and disorganization in the group. Also, the inability to coach and guide can hinder the members’ potential to function well in a given task, thus, creating conflicts that may lead to falling out.

Understand leadership through various perspectives

Motivational or Emotional Perspective

Being knowledgeable on the motivational or emotional perspective, especially Maslow’s hierarchy of needs will help the leader how to motivate and help the members to reach their full potential in achieving a duty. In my experience, as a former president of an organization, I apply this perspective by offering a sense of belongingness to the members of the group. We created a discord, an online avenue where members can interact, play online games, study together, and get to know each other to build relationships that are essential to keep the group intact. This does not only satisfy the sense of belongingness but can also achieve Jennifer George’s group's positive affective tone wherein members of the organization will eventually help, protect, and give out goodwill to one another. Furthermore, being a leader satisfies esteem needs for it elicits a sense of achievement and some prestige relative to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs.

Behavioral Perspective

A leader, using a behavioral approach, must give importance to specific drives that reinforce the members to repeat a positive action in attaining good organizational flow. This concept was pioneered by B.F. Skinner as positive reinforcement under his operant conditioning theory that is said to be strengthened through establishing a reward system making the reward the reinforcing stimulus (Skinner, 1953 as cited by McLeod, 2018). Moreover, varying rewards should also be taken into account for members of the group are continuously measuring the costs and rewards of action they are doing as stated in the social exchange theory of Thibaut and Kelley (Wu, et al., 2017). To shed light on the concepts mentioned, I would share my experience once again as an editing committee head in an organization. What I did to make editing committee members accomplish tasks is to always provide feedback as well as give credit to the editors. Feedback, in a sense of how many did their design, reached individuals on our page and always set forth where credits are due by indicating their name to the post.

System Theory Perspective

Ultimately, to function efficiently systems must be applied and observed within a group to get the best possible outcome for an objective. As a leader, one must know how to create a system that can make the team operate as it intended to be. This is attested by Gordon (2021) who viewed the systems approach in a group as the foundation of organizational development. He further elaborated that

the overall success of a group is dependent on the interaction of subsystems implicating that the response of the members to the system as well as to their fellow members is what keeps the ball rolling (Gordon, 2021).

Relating it to my involvement in various organizations, I can say that it is the systems that can make or break an organization for the reason that subtle practices can actually reflect and dictate how members of the group will respond to a call to action. As an example, I was involved in an organization that consistently observe informalities in meetings where the figurehead was laid back and is almost always 'goes with the flow', such practices eventually led to absenteeism of the members and also resulted in the falling-out of the group with no objectives accomplished. Many members actually quit, including me. Learning from this experience, I made sure that the organization I headed which is the Lasallian Peer Facilitators, established a system of how each executive member should operate, distribute clear roles to members, and provide an algorithm of what can they do if unseen circumstances will arise. Through this implementation, members of the group know what they should do as well as how to react to unplanned situations. With this, I am confident enough that the executive board that took over after our term could follow the systems that we pioneered and even improve it for the better.

On becoming a leader in a group development

Established leaders within an organization or group dynamics practitioners must handle group development with factors more than just understanding each stage (forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning). Factors such as integrity, professionalism, and observation of the code of ethics are needed to be an effective GD practitioner. Thus, even before meeting the group members, preparation must be done to reduce errors and familiarize oneself with the approaches that will be used.

During the forming stage, where members are presumed to test waters and engage in discussion to set goals, the leader must be able to convey clarity of the problem at hand, and the tasks to be addressed, and be able to break down barriers in communication. This is also the stage wherein the integrity of the leader or GD practitioner should be grounded. Moving on to the storming stage, the group is expected to voice out suggestions and disseminate the tasks. In this stage, the leader must be able to create an atmosphere where openness to opinions or ideas is welcomed and appreciated. And, a focus on paying attention to what each member of the group is sharing should be done. Being able to do so, will build trust and respect for how the members of the group interact. Also, in the storming stage, the code of ethics such as upholding confidentiality should be heeded along with honesty and professionalism.

Consequently, after everything is laid out and the handling of conflicting ideas is already resolved, the group heads on to the norming stage where taking ownership of the group’s goals and being motivated to accomplish them, takes place. In the course of this stage, the leader should motivate members of the group by using strategies based on theories like reinforcement, the satisfaction of needs, and giving out constructive feedback. This stage is immediately followed by the performing stage where the group norms are established. Throughout this stage, the leader must serve as the catalyst of the discussion guided by the knowledge of the group process. Additionally, they should also be the conductor of action by making sure the aforementioned goals are being solved through monitoring an effective organizational flow. And, leaders should be a coach that can help members recognize, on their own, their weaknesses and strengths to achieve the desired outcome.

Finally, adjourning stage is to be undergone, this is where it’s time to break the group. As opening up is essential, it is also important to provide closure to the members of the group. In this last stage, the leader should recall things that were discussed, actions that were done to solve a problem or task at hand, and objectives that were met. Moreover, the leader should make sure that rewards were already given, if there were any, to continue members of the group to strive in accomplishing future goals.

Insights

Leadership goes beyond ruling members of the group and giving out commands. It should be embodied by an individual with consideration to the situation, emphasis on serving, and a goal to be transformational to the lives of others. Being an effective GD practitioner requires great skills and understanding. In a clinical setting, group discussion aims to be the tool to help people help themselves and be able to recognize their own power as the channel of change. In light of the theories mentioned, it is important to note that it is the general responsibility of a leader or GD practitioner to constantly expose oneself to novel approaches and strategies that can foster more knowledge on how groups can achieve their highest potential.

REFERENCES

Beato, E. (2020). Why Is Leadership Important? Retrieved from: https://entrepreneurship.babson.edu/why-is-leadership-important/

Bonebright, D. (2021). "40 Years of Storming: a Historical Review of Tuckman's Small Group Development". Human Resources Development International. 13 (1): 111-120.

Gordon, J. (2021). Systems Theory of Management - Explained. Retrieved from: https://thebusinessprofessor.com/en_US/management-leadership-organizational-behavior/systems-theory-of-management

Leuteritz, J. P., Navarro, J., & Berger, R. (2017). How knowledge worker teams deal effectively with task uncertainty: the impact of transformational leadership and group development. Frontiers in psychology, 8, 1339.

McLeod, S. (2018). What Is Operant Conditioning and How Does It Work? https://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html

Wu, W. L., & Lee, Y. C. (2017). Empowering group leaders encourages knowledge sharing: integrating the social exchange theory and positive organizational behavior perspective. Journal of Knowledge Management.