Question

* Reflect on a significant conflict that occurred or occurs in a group you belong to and analyze the role that leadership style plays in this conflict.

* Provide examples of leader behaviors that were ineffective or distressing to you as well as behaviors that were helpful.

* If you were the leader involved with this conflict, what type of leadership style would you use and why.

Answer 1

Reflect on a significant conflict that occurred or occurs in a group you belong to and analyze the role that leadership style plays in this conflict.

            Conflicts thathave occurred in groups that I have belonged to would be the lack of interest from the leader and the leader exercising too much authority. With the impoverished management leadership style, the assigned group leader was not concerned with the tasks at hand or with building interpersonal relationships with the group members. I have seen this occur far too often, especially in school, when a professor forms a group and randomly assigns a leader; the individual assigned goes along with the title of being a leader but does not take interest in guiding and assisting the group. On the other hand, in the same scenario, I have also seen the authority-compliance management leadership style; assigned leaders take too much control of the group and focuses solely on completing the task rather than splitting their focus on the task and building relationships. Both of these scenarios limited the effectiveness of the group in addition to creating an unstable learning environment.

Provide examples of leader behaviors that were ineffective or distressing to you as well as behaviors that were helpful.

            Leader behaviors that were ineffective would be the two mentioned above, in addition to the country club management style. The country club management style is ineffective because leaders that use this style are more likely to put emphasis on being a friend to their employees rather than being a leader. “They try to create a positive climate by being agreeable, eager to help, comforting, and uncontroversial”. During last semester, I had an assigned group leader for one class that agreed with every idea that the group had; this prevented us from having intellectual debates that could have enriched our learning experience. While it is important to have a leader that is eager to help, it is also of equal importance to have a leader that is not afraid to take charge and lead. Behaviors that I believe to be helpful would be the middle of the road management because leaders that use this style are able to find a middle ground between being agreeable and being firm. In another class from last semester, I had another group where the assigned leader made it a priority to get to know everyone but also set rules and deadlines for the group. This allowed us to work well together and pushed us to work harder.

If you were the leader involved with this conflict, what type of leadership style would you use and why?

            I would use middle of the road leadership style because as mentioned above, it serves as a middle ground. Leaders who use this style are able to “find a balance between taking people into account and still emphasizing the work requirements”. In using this style, I would be able to avoid conflict while simultaneously moving towards increasing the level of production.