Chapter 11

Group Leadership and Conflict Management

Leaders

A leader is a person who influences the behavior of others

Some leaders use force, some use their personalities

Types of Power

Reward – reward followers with gifts, promotions, etc

Coercive – this is the power to punish for non-compliance

Legitimate – seen as the rightful ruler or boss; top in hierarchy

Expert – knowledgeReferent – power from personality

How to Become a Leader and Take Over World!

Personality traits – which do you think make an effective leader?

Situational factors – for example, people may be ready for a change and you may be in the right place at right time

Strategic flexibility – is able to use many different types of communication in all situations

Approaches to Leadership – Authoritarian

This type of leader hold the greatest amount of control over a group

Takes charge and decides what should be done and who should do it

May have expertise so becomes a leader by default but is looked up to because of that expertise

Best when something must be dome quickly

Approaches to Leadership – Democratic

A leader who lets all points of view be heard

Offers ideas and lets the group react to them

Works best when members are of the same or similar status or experience and when there is sufficient time to get the work done

Approaches to Leadership – Laissez-Faire

This type of leader does very little actual leading

This person calls groups together but then may sit back and watch the members or let the members help each other – a support group is an example

Leadership

Functional – each member of a group takes a lead role as a result of knowledge

Shared – all members assume a decision-making role and is responsible for the outcome

Situational – the person most appropriate to handle problem/task becomes leader

Conflict

Conflict – the expressed struggle who believe they have incompatible goals or there are limited resources

Conflict

Conflict can arise because of member differences or how things are done:

Culture, race and ethnicityGender and sexualityKnowledgeProcedurePowerWork distribution

Substantive Conflict

This occurs when members have differing ideas about an issue; usually occurs over controversial issues

Much of conflict is destructive, but this can be constructive as it shows many different sides, opinions, options, and solution to a problem

Managing Conflict - Avoidance

Arguments occur over issues that do not affect the outcome or solution

The leader will just ignore the conflict and move on – by not adding any more “fuel to the fire” the conflict will usually just go away

Managing Conflict - Accommodation

Those on one side of an issue simply give in to the other side without actually resolving any issues they may have had

The leader may just let the other side give in if the issue is of little importance to the group as a whole

Managing Conflict - Competition

Members on one side care more about winning than what may actually be the better solution

The leader should try to defect the problems and negative attitudes right away, either talking to the entire group or individually

Managing Conflict - Collaboration

Members work together to meet each other’s needs

Members try to understand opposing viewpoints in order to come to the best solution

Managing Conflict - Compromise

Each side gives up something they want in order to come to a workable solution

This works only if both sides think the final solution is fair