Assignment:
Examining the Team
You identified your team for the final assignment, including your role, your leadership style, and the change you hope to bring to the team.
This week, you will refine some of those observations and begin to examine your team using the concepts from your readings and lectures. Consider the following categories and answer the questions:
EI
• How does the leader handle his or her emotions?
• How does the team deal with emotions?
• Describe the team's level of EI. Is this an area that the leader needs to help the team develop?
• How might leaders enhance team EI? Give specific examples.
Communication
• When thinking of leaders communication, would you describe the leaders' communication style as persuasive, manipulative, or coercive? Why?
• Think of at least two different team members in the team and describe their communication style.
• Is there a certain communication style that is most dominant on this team?
• How does the leaders' communication style affect team members?
Philosophy and Style
• What type of philosophy (theory X or theory Y) seems to be held by leaders and other members of the team?
• What type of leadership style have you adopted as a leader (authoritarian, democratic, and laissez-faire)?
• What action steps would help enhance the leadership style in the team?
You might need to interview some team members to gather answers. You should do some research to help you formulate the necessary action steps. If you are the leader of the team, you should ask members of the team to help you develop answers to the question.
Summarize your answers in a 3 to 4 page Microsoft Word Document.
Support your responses with examples.
Previous assignment from last week (Use as reference for this assignment)
My team which has 5 members is to bring awareness to our community about same sex families, to change their views and or beliefs on how it affects children in a same sex family.
Purpose
There are many individuals out there that believe that a child's well-being is at risk by being raised in a same sex family versus a more traditional family. Our group will reach out to different groups, churches and or community centers as well as schools to help educate those who believe our children are at risk due to having either two moms or two dads. My team members are my wife, Robin, an LGBTQ activist and friend, Mary as well as some active community gay role models, Sari, Jeannie and Debbie. I do have some interaction with most of the individuals but not normally in a leadership role. I plan on taking on a leadership role however for this particular group but will also have Sari, assist in this manner as well. Sari, is definitely more outgoing than I am and more involved in the gay and lesbian community so her guidance and knowledge will be greatly beneficial to me. I think this will be a great opportunity to fine tune the leadership skills I do have, which is very little and think it will not only benefit me personally but professionally.
Effective Leadership
An effective leader will be able to paint a vision of what not only inspires them but will also inspire others. They work hard to clear roadblocks and negative views to keep everyone focused on the main goal. My goal is to make the gay and lesbian community in the Springsmore open and accepted. When I moved here from a year in Denver, I was surprised how different our family community is here. It was almost like being back in El Paso Texas where most are not open about their families or lifestyle. In Denver, there are so many groups and organizations out there for our community whether it be to meet new people, family support groups for same sex couples or just play groups for the children who are all in the same types of families so they see that we are normal. That having two moms is not wrong and it does not make them different or unloved. I want the community here to see us, to know us and realize that our children are the same as their children. I want my group to get out there and make people see us for us.
To do this we must be optimistic, respectful of others beliefs and to have confidence that what we are doing will make a difference not only in our community but for our children in schools who deal with being bullied just because they do not have a mom and dad.
An effective leader will be able to guide their group in a positive direction and to keep them motivated so they never feel like what they are doing is not making a difference. I hope to practice my motivation skills as I sometimes can lack in this area when I am not seeing results right away. I feel very strongly about this and believe that once we stop hiding and are willing to get out there for others to see that our families are no different that it will make people realize that what they are doing to our children is wrong. There have been so many studies showing that adolescents with same sex parents are well rounded and tend to be more open to discuss difficult topics as they are more resilient, compassionate and tolerant of others.
Seven Habits
Although it may be difficult to incorporate all of these habits into my leadership skills I feel several are important to be successful.
One that stands out is being habit 2, begin with the end in mind. This is about your imagination and the ability to envision what we can't actually see such as the results that our group may have by getting our message out there. We have to make an effort to empower others so that they do not shape us into something we are not.
Secondly, habit 5, seek first to understand, then to be understood. For my group to be successful we must first try to understand why people feel the way they do about us. What in their life or upbringing has made them think we are not normal, that our lifestyle is against everything they were ever taught to believe. We must focus on changing their beliefs or views about who we are. To do this, we must be patient and understanding. Show them instead of just telling them.
Resonant Vs. Dissonant
Resonant have a higher emotional ability to connect with those they are trying to reach. They are more empathetic towards others who are struggling and like to create harmony.
Dissonant leaders are more authoritative and tend to stay clear of emotions and focus more on getting the job done. This can help them to be more objective but they tend to appear as stand offish and unapproachable.
I think in these situations it will be better to be more of a resonant leader as this is a very emotional topic that people are very sensitive about. It's been a long journey and it can be very difficult to change ones way of thinking when they have been taught and raised to believe one way or another. Empathy and patience and understanding will definitely work better to reach out to others.