Leadership Traits and Group Developing Essay Sample

Response 1 - Leadership Traits

I believe that first impressions go a long way. Most people judge a person from the way they present themselves the first time, and the person has to spend a lot of time before that image can be altered. According to the passage, I support Jacob's idea of a leader or a public speaker for that case. The audience is usually very keen on the presentation and opening statements of the person addressing them. It is the first five minutes of the speech that will determine whether the audience wants to listen to you or not. One can be having a plethora of beautiful ideas, opinions, and even plans but if the audience cannot read that from the first few minutes of the speech, then it becomes hard to convince them otherwise. Alluding this situation to a written piece, the title and topic sentences have to be catchy to interest the reader. A leader should have warmth, helpfulness, empathy, and humility written all over their faces to keep everyone interested and willing to participate.

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Secondly, a leader should level down to people's needs and social status to make them feel that he is part of them. A leader who commands attention, fear, and attitude is more likely to be disregarded by the subjects. It is in humility that people feel connected to their leader and enhances a sense of belonging. The tone also ought to be gentle because people do not like to be addressed by an intimidating speaker. However, the speaker should be assertive enough in their words and points to be taken with the seriousness they desire. The balance between warmth and assertiveness should be maintained throughout the speech for best results.

Response 2 - Group Developing

From the script, developing a group takes time and commitment among the group members. However, I feel that group development does not necessarily follow a one-size-fits-all criterion. The five stages in group formation do not have to occur for a group to be successful, and certainly not in the order that is described in the text. It is important to note that these five steps are just formalities that may or may not be followed by every group. Different groups will have different methods, and that does not mean they are not right. I believe the factors are important and go a long way in determining the strength, functionality, and durability of a group. Therefore, group members ought to have a good rapport with one another.

The second stage discussed in the script is about storming and its importance. This stage is important because it is impossible for members to work together is they do not relate smoothly. An elaborate team is one where members understand each other too well and can work with them even at their worst. This stage promotes the SWOT analysis of members and that way they can cover for each other weaknesses while maximizing on the strengths. In this stage, conflict resolution is looked on in details, and the group learns how to handle one another when things go south. Norming, on the other hand, is secondary to storming but also relatively critical. In my opinion, norming is advanced storming that incorporates feelings, ideas, and personal experiences. Without storming, group members would not even get to the part of understanding each other's character, let alone sharing feelings and ideas.

References

Forsyth, D., (2019)., Group dynamics. Seventh Edition. Cengage Learning. Boston, MA. p.140-144.

Jacobs, E., Schimmel, C., Masson, R., & Harvill, R. (2016). Group counseling: strategies and skills. 8th edition. Boston, MA.