My leadership roles have varied depending on the group and also within group, depending on the task or topic on hand. For example, at work my leadership role has been pretty consistent within the context of given responsibilities, but the role could vary based on specific objectives of a group meeting. In my typical role, I would lead a group towards accomplishing our project and objectives but there are also group meetings where we share the current state of things, current projects, and brainstorming on ideas for improvement. In this meeting, I think I play a more equal role rather than a leadership role and each group member shares ideas and suggestions on equal footings.
Similarly in a family group setting, since I am one of the youngest among my brothers, my influence is limited. In my friendship circle, I think I just play an equal role and all friends share the same space without regards to any prominent leadership position.
I think being an effective leader demands different skill sets in different groups. In a work group, knowledge, communication skills, creativeness, dependability, etc might be more relevant whereas in friendship or family circle skills such as liking, social skills, interests, hobbies, etc might be more important and pertinent. I believe one should not be restricted to anyone particular role or leadership style in every circumstance. Rather, one should dynamically adjust oneself based on one’s association with different part of the society, different needs and different responsibilities.
Agree on the situational leadership-- using different approaches with different people in various situations is important, and I've enjoyed the exercises to help us distinguish how to identify those situations.
ReplyDeleteSee what I mean about the family? Not always democratic! LOL
What's kinda interesting to me, Maya, is that he states influence is limited by his age in the family. I must ask, were the parents college educated? Or of equivalent educational level as yourself Raza?
ReplyDeleteShawn touched on this before during a random conversation. His dad completely depends on his decision making skills, and doesn't try to exhert much influence. Shawn pretty much is running everything on his own, which may be because his father believes his son is either capable from experience, or because of his education level. I know that accounts for respect in a lot of other cultures, not sure if it would for Raza.