Critical Reflection of Roles of Group Members-Samples for Students

Question: Analysis of and critical reflection of roles of group members. Critical analysis of professional practice issues, and participant involvement and feedback. Answer: Introduction Leadership forms an important part of our life. Leaders exist in every field. They are the people who excel at something and make a significant mark in the industry. Leaders guide, motivate and work together with their team and help them in their growth and development (Goleman, 2017). There are various great leaders across the globe who have change the shape of the world through their excellent leadership skills. Through this course I have learnt a lot about leadership and I strongly believe that there has been a massive improvement in my leadership ability. There were various activities which were conducted throughout the course which helped us analyze our leadership abilities as well as helped us improve upon the same. Through this report, I have attempted to reflect upon my journey throughout the course via the Gibbs reflective cycle. The rationale behind choosing this framework was to make it easier for the readers to understand my experience as well as cover all the important aspects of my learning. The group Through the course we have participated in various activities and organized two workshops where we were consultants. We worked in the group of four people. Our experience of working together has also taught me a lot about team work and leadership skills. As a group we were very comfortable with each other as we knew each other from a long time. Therefore, at the very beginning of the workshop we had established an open communication for all participants. We encouraged each other to speak freely about any concerns that a person may face. Transparent communication is essential in the success of any team dynamic (Levi, 2015). I have always been an introvert and therefore this kind of an encouragement also helped me get comfortable around my group members. We worked together and spent a lot of time in each others company. This helped me know these people better and develop a better rapport with them all. There were various activities and role plays that involved one of us to perform a leadership role. Our group dynamic was very flexible and everyone was given an equal work opportunity within the group. We performed an exercise coach, coaching and observer. The exercise and workshop done by us was very productive and helped us understand various leadership dynamics. In one of the activities, we discussed what leadership traits apply to us and I related most with Stodgill (1974). This was because I have always been an achiever, high on self-confidence and I take on responsibilities seriously. I am also very cooperative and understanding towards my team and often believe that I am able to have a significant a mount of influence on my people. All these traits were identified through CBC technique. It was a major help as it helped me a get a deeper insight about my own self. We are very different people with varied personalities. The three people that I worked with had personality types ESFP, ENFP, ESFJ and I am myself an ISFJ (Furnham, 2017). It was an immense learning experience to work with these people. There was a lot of mutual respect and admiration and we worked hard with the shared goal of learning. Conflicts As a group of people, we also faced a few conflicts. This was mostly owing to the different personality types and ego clashes. However, if there was a conflict or any kind of tension experienced by two people of the group, the other two tried to resolve the matter. We all understood that everyone is working towards a shared goal and we tried to respect each others opinions. Such conflicts within the group temporarily impact the groups overall performance and specifically disrupts the flow of communication (Yang Li, 2017). A conflict impacts the working environment of the group and spreads negativity. The good part was that since the very beginning, we had opened the gates to transparent communication and that largely helped us in resolving conflicts as and when they occurred. Workshops One of the activities that we conducted included how to put together a workshop. Therefore, We organized a workshop as consultants in the group of four. In the first workshop, we participated in a group development exercise and delivered a 10 minute training on leadership. This was my first experience at conducting a workshop and hence I learnt how to start the workshop and break the ice with a set of new participants. I also took additional roles. I was keeping time and informing people about time throughout their activity. I was also recording the session. There were a few exercises that we were unable to conduct due to limited resources. But overall the entire experience was that of immense learning. When I was a participant in the workshop, it was difficult for me to understand the relevancy of various theories. However, when I conducted the workshop as a consultant I got a clearer picture. We learnt about the LMX framework that taught us the importance of an effective leader member relationship. Firstly, we were asked to decide upon a leader of our choice. There were various cards and since I had read immensely about Steve Jobs, I suggested that we select Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs is a transformational leader who built a firm from the scratch. He always led by example and attracted a wide range of followers and team members through his charisma, honest and passion (Abraham, 2014). We also discussed about transformational leadership. One interesting thing to note was that everyone was talking about what they expected from the other person rather than perceiving themselves as a transformational leader. Upon further research, we established that this is one of the limitations of the theory and there is an ongoing academic debate for the same. We also discussed the case study The unmanageable star (Harvard Business Review, 2013). Different people had to offer different opinions about the case. The case had to right or wrong answers but it was interesting to see the opinions of people with different personalities. The case was also a learning experience for us because it helped me understand that despite delivering numbers and performance in a business, people management skill is also highly crucial (Notgrass, 2014). The second workshop that we conducted was on situational leadership. There were three main players in the scenario, managing director, a newly appointed manager who needs to prove himself and new managers who are losing their management status. The HR manager is an observer in the scenario. This role play helped me understand different thinking processes of different people. I understood the situational leadership theory and the behavior of the manager was also very inspiring. Self The course and the workshop have been a source of immense learning for me. There are various aspects of my personality that I need to work upon in order to be a successful leader in life. At the same point of time, there are various aspects of my personality that would help me in enhancing my leadership abilities. We also discussed how coaching helps in developing oneself and how can we help develop others through coaching. My ability to empathize and connect with people is one of my biggest strengths. I try to remain calm in the situations of conflicts and I try to find the best and the most effective solution to a problem. As a leader, I try to take my team together and help in the personal growth and development of all my team members. I put efforts in ensuring that they all have equal performance opportunity. On the other hand, my communication skills are that aspect of my personality that I need to work upon. Communication skills will help the leaders in motivating, guiding and building a deeper connection with their teammates (Men, 2014). I tried my level best to actively participate in all the group activities and ensure that the group works towards a shared goal. Despite being an introvert, I worked towards establishing a positive connect with my team members. My overall experience throughout the course has been a positive one. I have learnt a lot in this journey and I will make sure that I work towards improving my leadership abilities. Besides communication skills, I also need to make sure that I remain patient and calm as this will enable me to take the most rationale step in any given situation. Future For the future, I have a small action plan in mind which would help me develop myself as a leader. I need to work upon breaking my barriers and begin communicating with new people on a daily basis. This will help me become comfortable in my communication with people and will also help me in connecting with my team mates in a better manner. I would also work towards building Mann (1995)s traits of a leader and work upon my extroversion, dominance, adjustment and conservatism. I learnt that my empathy, people management skills, creativity and the ability to lead by example are my biggest strengths in the leadership role that I would attain. I have also understood the importance of creating a positive environment in the workplace. Little can be achieved in a team if the team dynamics between really talented people is very negative. Leadership is a very important part of ones life and I am truly grateful to this course for having introduced me to the concept in such a positive and productive manner. I am sure that the learnings that I have gained in these workshops will enhance my leadership abilities and help me in becoming a great leader to an even better team in the future. References Abraham, M. (2014).Five Leadership skills that made Steve Jobs transform Apple. GRIN Verlag. Furnham, A. (2017). Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). InEncyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences(pp. 1-4). Springer International Publishing. Goleman, D. (2017).Leadership That Gets Results (Harvard Business Review Classics). Harvard Business Press. Harvard Business review, (2013), The Unmanageable star performer, https://hbr.org/2013/02/case-study-the-unmanageable-st, retrieved on 27 February, 2018. Levi, D. (2015).Group dynamics for teams. Sage Publications. Men, L. R. (2014). Why leadership matters to internal communication: Linking transformational leadership, symmetrical communication, and employee outcomes.Journal of Public Relations Research,26(3), 256-279. Notgrass, D. (2014). The relationship between followers perceived quality of relationship and preferred leadership style.Leadership Organization Development Journal,35(7), 605-621. Yang, I., Li, M. (2017). Can absent leadership be positive in team conflicts? An examination of leaders avoidance behavior in China.International Journal of Conflict Management,28(2), 146-165.