A leader must acknowledge that members of a group become part of the collective leadership, playing in and out of a leading role as individuals with suggestions, complaints, and directing pivotal change within the group dialogue. This may change the role of the named leader into a follower or participant. Leaders are often determined by their family, financial power or acumen, with attendance at select schools that teach the mechanics of leadership. These people become the stewards of process often at the expense of reflection, intervention and paradigm change. Opposing forces are the individuals affected by the laws and cultural manipulations that become the change agents through and because of their lack of initiation into a proscribed atmosphere of “running the shop”.
Historically, students and initiates are the force for shaking status quo management’s strong beliefs. While there exists an incipient level of arrogance in that student group also, the dialogue is usually well informed and fresh. Their arguments and proposals can force reflection into a management.
It is because of the mutating role of a leader within a process group that one must rethink the traditional positivistic methods of leadership. One must start to think of leadership as an umbrella concept containing elements of any good societal or cultural process and system.
The role of the facilitator, leader, leadership and leading
Leadership involves a philosophical perspective that has our own purpose and meaning as fundamental structures. We use our ideas of leadership in combination with our own specific beliefs and ideals to become a leader. This personal involvement has an impact on those around us. When a change-perspective occurs on a collective scale, a huge step for community, company and nation is taken.
As these are unique characteristics among humans the definitions of leadership are difficult to study and set to paper, as clarity and bias effect the entire enterprise. Some believe that charisma is important as one of the leader qualities. This charisma, of thought, word, and appearance may induce others to follow as the group begins to form and mobilize. The individuals have combined to become one group, on its own a sub group of a company or community. While positive charismatic features are an individual perception, some common beliefs about a good leader are; they have or are able to explain a vision based on a social construction, can maintain a fluid and flexible thought process, are open to change within the process regarding goals, and that they are moral and able to enforce a series of rules, even unspoken, that keep all the members safe.
Leaders may have to understand other’s expectations of them as important elements of their roles. We are drawn to rules and hierarchies as they allow change to take place in an orderly and safe process; but we do so more readily when thoughtful and guiding individuals attend to our needs and us.
Within a coaching or psychotherapeutic group, one client may assume the leader role by instigating or directing the group in a particular new direction. This is the fulfillment of dialogue; the expression of ideas back and forth, that synergize to create new knowledge. My clients take certain terms, expressing their opinions on such issues as relationships, careers, and lack of self-efficacy, and these invariably lead to new questions and further dialogue. Each one of these interruptions creates paradigm shifts along the streams of focus for this group. Each group member in either group offers their beliefs and in this way the leadership of the group is reconstituted within the same session and among the succeeding sessions, usually to the betterment of the whole proceeding.
Google Images, 2011
Points of conflict can be points of great learning. Usually one regards these disagreements as problems in the pursuit of the fastest solution with smallest risk. Often these solutions are short-term fixes.
Being open to other beliefs is the start of transformation.
Transformative learning is the transformation of existing and currently held personal information and knowledge that can be examined by stating current beliefs, often with a sharing group. Once we acknowledge this information we start the process by evaluating, refining and considering points of view, based on this new awareness. An open mind and the desire to have new experiences allow us to develop new habits of reflection, practice and relevance.
New habits and foundational thoughts are created by a move from egocentric perspective to ethnocentric perspectives, allowing one to inhabit another view and making these new views part of one’s new belief system. My group clients are speaking of their own lives, perhaps defending their views and actions. Within the group, other individuals are appraising these statements and weighing and comparing them to their own behaviors. Some ideas will be rejected, but the successful group will have each one bravely offering their beliefs and motives up for scrutiny and comparison. In the successful group, clients will begin to acknowledge others similarities and differences. Some of the individuals will be left changed and considering a new concept or solution between groups weekly meetings. Within session and after, members of the group will continue to evolve, articulate and reconstruct matters of behavior and belief, bringing them back to group for further discussion.
