Group dynamics and leadership

Group and conglomerate

Group: is a group of people seeking a common goal. There is an interaction and rules are necessary to reach the objective. The groups have permanence in time. The members identify and recognize each other; Furthermore, a group is identifiable from the outside.

Conglomerate: it has characteristics similar to groups, with the exception that, once the objective has been met, it dissolves. In addition it does not have norms that regulate it but uses and customs. Its members do not identify each other. The interaction is relative.

There are 3 types:

Crowd: it is formed in the face of an unforeseen event (example: shock) Manifestation: it can be from an anticipated or unforeseen end to express an opinion Audience: we are spectators, but we know what we are doing (example: cinema, football)

When any of these 3 forms becomes violent, we have a mob. There are factors to this: someone who encourages, becomes violent, and influences people.

There are several types of peat:

Aggressive: when he tries to destroy the inciter.Regressive: when he escapes from the act (example: in a repression) Acquisitive: when he wants to appropriate the fact (example: singer fans) Expansive: during a recreation situation (example: in bowling alleys), when there is a fight and everyone gets in)

Group classification

According to size:

Small Medium Large

According to the function it fulfills:

UnifunctionalMultifunctionalSuprafunctional

According to its nature:

Offensive: they try to impose ideas through violence or indoctrination. Defensive: through their ideas they try to help (unions, charities)

Depending on who sets the standards:

Formal: the rules are dictated by the organization to which the group belongs, that is, they are pre-established. People access the group to fulfill an instrumental purpose; that is, the group is a means to achieve another end, consequently access to the group is mandatory.Informal: every informal group dictates its own rules that, generally, are established implicitly, constituting 2 codes: one internal, where the rules for group maintenance (example: meeting on Sundays); and an external one, to deal with other groups. In addition, every informal group establishes a "jargon" that only group members understand. The purpose that unites the group is emotional, that is, affective recognition. Access is voluntary.In fact: it is the family. The rules are dictated by its members (parents).Access is neither voluntary nor compulsory, but in fact, natural. The members are emotionally united, but this is not the end, it is to be the first socializing agent.

Every group must have a certain permanence and for this there must be coercive actions. There are certain variables that make people collaborate in cohesion:

Affinity: possibility of interaction; the proposed purposes; etc. (it is not the affective affinity). The prestige of status: it gives a feeling of belonging in the group, that is, one does not leave in order not to lose the status. Compliance of the objectives: the longer one will remain in the group the more one is according to the objectives Biological factors:

Age: adolescents are more unstable. Sex: it can be a homogeneous or heterogeneous group. Race: it can be a conflict factor.

Every group has a permanent dynamic, which is the way to organize. It has 2 aspects:

Internal: it establishes the different roles within the group, norms, and customs. External: it is the relationship with other groups, which may be one of rejection or integration depending on the guidelines and values that the groups have.

Conjunctive and disjunctive processes come into play in the dynamics.

Conjunctive:

Cooperation: mutual help between members. Adaptation: acceptance of the guidelines of others and imposition of their own. Assimilation: internalization of the guidelines.

Disjunctive:

Conflict: it is impersonal and has an affective connotation. Competence: it is personal and rational (it is sought, it is not unconscious). Obstruction: deliberately placing obstacles, boycotting.

These processes are more effective in informal groups, since there are no strict rules that control the actions of members. It depends on how they collaborate to achieve the goals, on the affective, etc. There are different roles.

According to the adhesion and acceptance of new exchange alternatives:

Positive role: adapts Negative role: constantly resists, opposes, criticizes.

According to the communication:

The one who informs: brings the information The one who passes the information: is the one in charge of distributing the information (gossip).

Other types of roles:

Planner: the one who organizes and coordinates the specific actions of group members. Sometimes he also supervises and sometimes he is also the initiator. Initiator: he who has the initiative to carry out actions. Confessor: according to his way of being, he is always sought as emotional support. He who confesses: he who seeks to draw attention to through constant confessions about his life. Fool: he always makes jokes, but in the long run he ends up getting tired. Turtle: the one who needs shoving to carry out tasks; he is slow in making decisions. Star: he who considers himself the "star" of the group; she likes to “shine” and will get into those groups where she can. Nerón: she likes to command. Creeper: she uses the members and the group to reach her own goal. Legalist: she likes to establish norms and control their compliance. Artist:It aims to impose an artistic touch on the activities, that is, it seeks aesthetics. You can state what you like or directly impose your aesthetic sense.Economist: seeks economic means and has a sense of saving. He is the one who does the math.

External dynamics relate groups whether formal or informal. There is an interaction that can lead to the internalization of different values.

Leader

Men need someone to guide, organize and establish the media. From the last century, the English word “leader”, from “to lead”, began to be used. With the appearance of political leaders, it began to investigate if these people could control the masses, so three theories appear:

Trait theories: there are certain people who, due to their physical and psychological characteristics, can manage certain social groups. They are generally stereotypes that the group looks for (example: attractive people). Theory of behavior: Gouldner, a social psychologist, says that it is the behavior that allows the individual to lead a group and not its appearance. Situational theory: it defines leadership completely.

Leadership.

It is a process of influencing people, exercised through a communication process, in a given situation and in search of specific goals.

It is a process because: it is a series of interrelated events, produced gradually. Influence: it is the ability to modify the behavior of other individuals. Communication process: because there must be a permanent social interaction. In a given situation: in internal circumstances, within of a context.

Differences between power, authority and leadership.

Power: quality of dominating wills. Authority: it is the delegated power. Leadership: it is the potential power that a person has, which is not delegated but natural. He has the capacity for power and uses it to influence.

For leadership to be effective there must be common goals or ends with the group. In the organization we can find 4 types of goals:

Purposes established by the organization, with values, norms, etc. Group goals, which do not necessarily coincide with those of the organization. They can be getting increases, working less, etc. Individual goals, to be achieved through the group and / or the organization (example: prestige, position, etc.) Leader goals, which are those that you will want to achieve regarding:

The group: influencing itself.

Types of leaders

According to White, the formal boss or leader can be:

Autocratic Paternalistic Participatory Constitutional or Legalistic.

The informal leader can be:

Authoritarian: makes decisions without consulting the group. Paternalistic: it occurs in children, for example, when a larger group of 13 appears in a group of children of 10 years. Democratic: makes decisions in consensus. It is very difficult to detect. Permissive: is the one who is revered for his possessions (example: the one with the car).

Group dynamics

In a group we can identify two types of protagonists: the leader (who tries to influence others) and the followers (who are those who are influenced).

There is a constant interaction between these two protagonists. To know this interaction you have to take into account:

The personality of the Leader The personality of the followers The situation

In order to act, the leader does so through motivation, that is, incentives. For this, you need to know what the needs of individuals are, and therefore you must have a perceptual capacity. You need perception to know what others need so that you can stimulate them to achieve what they are looking for.

Followers are not only stimulated by the leader, but also by the situation. There are factors that produce that they cannot capture the stimuli of the leader. There may also be cultural patterns that the leader has and the group does not, so a conflict would break out. Ideally, there should be complete agreement between the leader's perception and the adherence of the group members. When this occurs, we are facing a social sensitivity and when not, it is a social non-sensitivity.

The cultural perspectives in which the organization is going to be established must be taken into account, therefore it must be adapted. The same is true for people within the organization. Therefore, there is a process of adaptation of the group within the organization, so that the people who enter can understand and internalize the guidelines and norms of the organization.

Once we have established the situation and the group, the leader will seek to perceive what the group is looking for. According to the levels of the organization, we are going to take the first step in perceiving the needs (example: a worker does not seek prestige, but security, belonging).

Keys to personality that must be taken into account within the group

According to Reisman: the person needs to feel that he belongs to the group and feel an affinity. According to Eric Fromm: in the higher levels, prestige is sought and, consequently, the best techniques to sell better. Success for these people is essential.

Factors that influence

Stereotypes: searching for one of these can serve as a “hook”; for example, showing experiences of successful people (Rockefeller, H. Ford, etc.) Situation: you have to use it to generate influence (example: in working conditions).Sex: depending on the situation, it is generally easier to lead a male group.

Each of us perceives these factors differently, and we expect others to have the same perception as we do. This is impossible, since the socialization processes are different in each person; In addition, feelings (the affective) also have an important influence on perception. Prejudices appear, causing objectivity to be lost in some opinion.

Aspects to consider as perceivers of cultural objectivity

Every social perception has 3 elements:

The one who perceives: who is generally the leader The person or group that is A given situation, either personal or group.

We can find different situations:

Groups and Leadership

You always have to keep rummaging through a situation when you get the first insight. We must not stay with it, since we fall into prejudice and, therefore, in generalizations and we are going to make mistakes. We must avoid sensitive, subjective perceptions.

Fundamental characteristics of a leader

a) Skill

When we say skill, we mean that which allows the leader to internalize the suggestions, as well as having the group internalize them. It also implies knowing how to interpret and choose those suggestions that come from the group and that are possible to carry out.

b) Adaptation to the group

Skill must be the tool that enables this. People act differently when they are in a group than when they do it individually, so evaluating them in the latter state would lead to a series of errors, such as subjectivity, affective dependence, etc.

c) Knowledge of their own characteristics

For which you must take into account certain aspects:

Aspects that are similar to the leader and the group (such as age, sex, socio-economic level and culture). If these aspects are very different, a rethinking of the situation is better. Similar aspects of the group members to each other. Depending on the type of group that is needed, it will be convenient to have a homogeneous or heterogeneous group. Depending on the situation in which the group is included, it will be the type of leadership that is carried out.

d) Know how to relate to the group and superiors

In many cases the leader is the link between superiors and group members, therefore he must be very objective and judicious when transmitting information.

Change and resistance to change

The changes in the organizations are generally deliberate, that is to say, thought and planned.

The organization is a system, whose subsystems or integrating elements are:

Resources (human and material) Capital (to implement these resources) Work (to materialize resources with capital) Business management (to control and integrate the other elements)

Like any system, if a subsystem is modified it will influence the system as a whole. These modifications will bring different problems to the recipients of the change and to those who produce it. The behaviors that will occur as a result of the change can be positive or negative, in this case being resistance.

The resistance to change depends on many factors, especially cultural, reflected on age and sex.

In addition, at the group level, resistance can be influenced by informal leadership. Also certain situational factors can influence resistance to change, such as climate, geography, etc.

Consequences of resistance to change

At the individual level:

Absenteeism Increased tardiness rate Decreased performance Increased workplace accidents

At group level:

Strike Boycott

How can I bring about change?

Explain the reasons for the change. Obtain the benefits of the change. Seek participation in the consensus for change.

Through certain elements, the recipients of change must be convinced. This is where resistance appears, that is, the typical fears that appear when an existing structure is modified.

To provoke consensus, the leader is predominant. This will use the different techniques (opinion polling, group meetings, etc.) to achieve consensus.

Senge and "The Fifth Discipline"

In his book, Senge proposes ideal leadership within a "smart organization." Her theory aims to achieve:

Superior performance: through better, trained and well-selected human resources. Improve the relationship with customers: when you speak of "customer" you mean both internal and external. Knowledge of competitiveness: exchange of information between companies, leading to an improvement in quality. A workforce in a position to change. A participatory company: where all the members of the organization can participate in its decision-making, starting from the concept of the “intelligent organization” as a system.

Kleifer and the “New Vision of the Leader”

For Kleifer, the leader must perform these functions:

Designer: You must design the structure on which you intend to incorporate the group. Butler: must coordinate the tasks, in addition to being responsible for their completion. Teacher: You must achieve, through the exchange of ideas (inferences), that people analyze and deduce certain conclusions.

The Great Leader is the one who does with the group, who learns as he teaches. That is, the one who controls but learns from the suggestions that come to him.

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