Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!decwrl!labrea!rutgers!mcnc!ecsvax!seltzer@ernie.Berkeley.EDU From: seltzer@ernie.Berkeley.EDU (Linda Seltzer) Newsgroups: comp.society.women Subject: Re: Leadership in Small Groups Message-ID: <5425@ecsvax.uncecs.edu> Date: 26 Sep 88 02:51:28 GMT References: <5397@ecsvax.uncecs.edu> Sender: skyler@ecsvax.uncecs.edu Organization: University of California, Berkeley Lines: 43 Approved: skyler@ecsvax.uncecs.edu (Moderator -- Trish Roberts) Comments-to: comp-women-request@cs.purdue.edu Submissions-to: comp-women@cs.purdue.edu #anyway? I see at least two aspects of this: 1) what do you do to _be_ #a leader, and 2) how do you take leadership from the current leader? In answer to question #1, my experience is that in any work group there is a task to be done, and a great deal of work, time, energy, and interpersonal communication is needed to get the task done. Not everyone in the group is either willing or able to take on the responsibility. Usually, a person becomes the leader because either (1) a consensus has been developed that a certain person is dependable, responsible, and capable enough to get coordinate everything and get the job done, or (b) only one person is willing to take on the responsibility. If someone wants to be a leader, the best way to build this up is establish a track record of taking on responsbilities and handling them - and this includes the boring, time-consuming, routine tasks that have to get done in order to keep a group functioning. In every organization I have ever been involved in, my experience is that people who demonstrate a willingness and abilility to be leaders will have huge amounts of responsibility dumped on them, usually more responsibility then they ever wanted to get themselves involved in. The usual situation is more one of how to get everything done, not how to obtain a leadership role. As for question #2, this sounds like some type of political infighting. I don't think it's professionally smart to try to take responsibility or authority away from someone else, unless you have evidence that the leader has been dishonest or incompetent. If that is the case, there should be some formal procedures to address that. If you simply want to have more influence, then the best way is to spend more time taking on more responsibilities in the group, and you will naturally come to be an authority figure in the group. My answer is that leadership should not be thought of as power or influence, but as the amount of time, effort, and responsibility you are putting in towards completion of the task. If a person is exercising that amount of energy and responsibility, but is not being acknowledged or recognized, then it might be appropriate for the person to consider whether continued involvement in the group is appropriate. Linda Seltzer seltzer@ernie.Berkeley.EDU