Leadership Behaviors

Our leadership blog this week required us to think about these two questions:
• Describe a time when you or someone you know became a leader by communicating like a leader, and then identify the specific behaviors that led to this result. What can you learn from this situation that can be applied to other leadership situation?
• Are theories of leadership culturally bound?
My husband is a member of a group in Anderson called FYMA, which stands for Fine Young Men of Anderson. The group began as sort of a joke when the boys were in high school. They identified each other as friends and gave themselves a name, as many high school cliques do. However, he has been out of high school for 11 years, and the group still exists. A few members have left the group and a few have joined, but the majority of the original “members” are still close friends and still maintain membership. The group has monthly meetings that have been named “First Fridays”, where one member hosts the rest of the group (men and spouses/significant others) for a primarily social function during which, at some point, there is an official meeting called to order and business is discussed. Members (and spouses) bring canned goods to each meeting which are then donated to the local soup kitchen. The organization is also the official adoptee of two roads in Anderson, complete with FYMA printed below the “Adopt-a-highway” sign. Several other ideas for community involvement have been discussed, and there are always ideas being thrown around. They also sponsored a recycling initiative at this year’s soiree. To top it all off, the group has held an annual Christmas party for (I think) the last eight years. Although there is no officially appointed leader, there are two particular members who generally seem to be “the guy in charge”. They are often the ones that questions are directed to, the most heard voice at meetings, and the one’s usually referred to for decision making. Both gentlemen are responsible, intelligent, personable, outgoing, well-liked, and confident. They are also opinionated, hard workers, dedicated and loyal to the group, their families and friends.
What I have learned from this leadership situation is that no matter what the group may be, someone will be appointed the “leader”, either officially or unofficially. The members of FYMA will all tell you that there is no current “official” leadership position, but I bet if you questioned them further, they would identify the same two men as leaders.
We are also asked to assess the question: “Are leadership theories culturally bound?” It would be very ethnocentric of us to think that all leadership theories applied to everyone in the world. There are many, many cultures and communication styles differ throughout these cultures. Some cultures can’t even be understood yet by theorists, much less theorized about regarding their behavior and communication patterns. Also, many cultures value personal relationships, material goods, gender roles, and other aspects of life differently from those of the theorists’ culture, which makes it hard for those theories to be applicable.

Mind Mapping

One of my classes (Communication and Conflict Management) allows me to submit assignments in the form of mind maps. I’m not sure if I’ve been living under a rock or something, but these are too fun to complete and really make you think about the material. Two are below, click on them to enlarge the image:

A little exercise….

All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely players:

They have their exits and their entrances,

And one man in his time plays many parts.”

-          William Shakespeare, As You Like It

As part of an assigment, I’ve been prompted to consider my roles. I was able to come up with 10 different roles that I play in less than a minute. How many hats do you wear? How do these affect your communication style, the way you act, the way you present yourself to the world?

Try this: “I am…” and list 10 roles that you fill. It was a great exercise for me to ponder how these roles influence my self-concept and how this self-concept came to be. I have also thought about how these have changed throughout my life.

I am… a woman, a wife, a teacher, a student, a daughter, a grand-daughter, a sister, a friend, an employee, creative, independent, a photographer, a Clemson fan, a South Carolinian, an American…

So I’ll ask again: How many hats do you wear?

Leadership and Followership Communication Styles

Leadership: A Communication Perspective, Chapter 2

As I read this week’s chapter, I found myself revisiting past employment, teachers, and organizations that I have been a part of. The Chapter, “Leadership and Followership Communication Styles”, gave way to some “Aha!” moments as I pondered various leaders I have encountered, as well as the roles I have played in various organizations.

Our assignment for this week is to answer the following questions:

1. Do effective leaders seem to adopt one leadership communication more than the others?
2. In what types of situations do you believe each of the leadership communication styles identified in the chapter would be most effective?
3. Based on your past experience, how have leader communication styles affected your performance as a follower?

Our book suggests that the most effective leaders seem to adopt a democratic communication style. Democratic leaders “engage in supportive communication that facilitates interaction between leaders and followers”, a communication style that “encourages follower involvement and participation in the determination of goals and procedures” (p. 42).

The book also discusses authoritarian and laissez-faire styles of leadership communication as well as task and interpersonal leadership communication. Personally, I believe that each style of leadership is necessary in various situations. There are times when a democratic style of leadership is just not practical or successful. However, overall, I do agree that ideally it would be the most effective.

As I previously stated, other leadership communication styles may be applied successfully to various situations. For example, an authoritarian style of leadership would most definitely be used with young children for many situations. Depending on circumstances, there is just not an option or time for democratic discussion and explanation with young children. They also do not understand the whys and hows when it comes to some rules. A laissez-faire style of leadership communication is most often used for an independent study. I actually was a “follower” in this type of situation this past summer and learned more than I have in many regular, traditional classes. It was a very successful and effective style of leadership and leader-follower dynamic for me. A task-oriented leader would be effective when a task needs to be done quickly and successfully, for example in an emergency situation. Like the democratic communication style of leadership, an interpersonal style of communication would be effectively used in many types of situations from running a small or large business to a home or family situation- perhaps for completing housework.

Leadership communication styles have definitely affected my performance as a follower, whether in class, business or personal situations. I really enjoyed this area of the chapter which described the various types of followers. At this point in my life, I have been a part of multiple organizations and groups in which individuals (myself or others) fulfilled the role of “leader”. Reading through the descriptions of different types of followers took me back through various leaders and my role as a follower. I have definitely been in several of the five categories: alienated followers, conformists, pragmatists, passive followers, and exemplary followers.  I now strive always to be an exemplary follower, who “rate highly as both critical thinkers and active participants, contributing innovative ideas and going beyond what is required” (p. 59). In the past, especially as a teenager, there were times when I was an alienated follower, a conformist, and a pragmatist. I don’t think I have ever been a passive follower.  The communication style of the leader was definitely a key variable in my performance as a follower. With more age and maturation; however, I have learned to always strive to be an exemplary follower, regardless of the performance and communication style of the leader. While this may be quite a challenge at times, I feel it is the best option for my personal success.

What is Leadership?

I am currently enrolled in COMM 350- Small group and team communication. As part of the class, we are reading Leadership: A Communication Perspective by Michael Z. Hackman and Craig E. Johnson. One of our assignments is to complete a weekly blog based on prompts given by our professor as related to this text.

This week, the prompts/questions are:

1)      Develop your own definition of leadership. How does it compare to the ones given in the chapter?

2)      Describe someone who is an effective leader and then someone who is an effective manager. How do these two people differ?

My first thoughts of a leader included… someone tall, someone who commands attention, someone who recognizes right and wrong. I thought of things like integrity, flexibility, dependibility. Leadership is taking charge of a situation, inspiring others to join your cause with little effort, providing guidance where it’s needed.

I sat down to complete this assignment during a college football game, and there happened to be two men in my living room… my husband and his friend. As I was thinking about the assignment, I decided to get the opposing gender’s perspective on leadership. My husband’s first response to the question regarding leaders was that a “litre” (note the sarcasm) is 1000 mL. As former marines, they began talking about the military. The US Marines uses descriptors like unselfishness, initiative, decisiveness, tact, enthusiasm, knowledge, endurance, bearing, and loyalty to describe leadership. 

Our book defines leadership as “human (symbolic) communication, which modifies the attitudes and behaviors of others in order to meet shared group goals and needs” (p. 11). This is a very technical definition of leadership, a term which I don’t think can be defined in just a few words. Leadership encompasses many attributes of a person or organization, they way they present themselves, their actions, values and relationships.

In thinking about someone who was an effective leader, I remember my youth leader from church in middle and high school. He gave us guidance, was a good role model and encouraged us to be the best version of ourselves. In remembering an effective manager, I think of a former employer who delegated responsibility efficiently and effectively, handled conflicts appropriately, and made decisions well. However, I didn’t really think of my manager as a leader. He was not someone I aspired to be or who really inspired me. And the youth leader was not an amazing manager when it came to fundraisers and other situations where there was a large task to accomplish.