The "bigger" picture of the Process Theory

Hello everyone,

This week we ‘tune’ in on what the Process Theory entails and different models along the way. So what is this so-called ‘Process Theory’? Basically what it is can be known as the reciprocal theory in which leadership is more conclusive to the followers and the leader as a whole. A model known as the Relational Model is composed of five different segments including purpose, inclusive, empowering, ethical, and process. Here is a simple breakdown of each:
1. Purpose- the shared value or vision of the group as a whole
2. Inclusive- a sense of ‘we’ different people and different points of view
3. Empowering- through others generate a sense of empowerment to essentially ‘motivate’ each other
4. Ethical- basically means making moral decisions
5. Process- the way the group goes about to achieve goal(s), how they communicate, and plan and steps in doing so

So the way this concept works is by following through with each of the above terms. As you can see, process, encompasses the whole imaginatively by keeping track of the ‘teams’ progression. It is also important to note that there is no ‘end goal’ in this model, but perhaps each individual has a personal goal they may want to get out of the whole thing. Essentially, the means do not justify the end in this rare case scenario. For example, this relates to my life in the exact way how my program Blue Chip is doing. All of the above terms correlate with how the program is run in being that everyone works together, in class, in projects, and in the community, but each one may want to get something different out of it than others. Perhaps one may do service to get a letter of recommendation, or one may want the satisfaction of helping people in general. I feel this purpose of me being a part of this program is to get a better understanding of leadership, help my community, and generate a strong portfolio for future job positions.
The other model described was the “Social Change” Model in which it is inclusive, views leadership as a process rather than a position, promotes the values of equity, social justice, self-knowledge, personal empowerment, citizenship and service. In other words, the term can encompass concepts as broad as revolution and paradigm shift, to narrow changes such as a particular cause within small town government. One of the areas this concept can derive from is in political science. An easy example of how this relates to my life and our generation is the election of President Barack Obama as the nation’s first black president. This marked a ‘huge’ point in history and some even say he is the ‘renewing’ of the Civil Rights movement as it continues throughout this day in society. This makes sense right? This effects me as I m able to witness this social change in time and due to unfortunate events in Tucson, Arizona I was able to see and hear him talk to the public about the tragedy earlier this year. The question of the day is what social change can apply to you?

Behavior and Situational Theories.....

Welcome back,
Today I will be discussing the Behavioral and Situational Trait theories. As mentioned in the earlier blogs these theories are ones that could apply to anyone from past to present. Over the last century studying behavior of leaders has been a primary focus. Some aspects to take into consideration of this concept is that learned behaviors and not predisposed traits are associated with leadership. It can be learned. One commonly used technique to show results is self scoring assessments. It has been proved through research that some behaviors are more related to leaders than non-leaders. Through research these skills continue to appear throughout: technical, human, and conceptual skills. Like the trait approach, the skills approach takes a general consensus of effective leaders. However, according to Northouse the skills approach bases the ideology on that skills are something the leader can accomplish whereas traits are who leaders are.

The first skill is the technical skill which means the knowledge about and proficiency in a specific type of work or activity. For example, I have known many general managers of stores who are high on this skill but may lack other skills. They were very good with numbers and being very ‘micro-managing’ in a sense. My former manager knew what the quota was each day and pushed for the employees to meet it at the end of the business day. The second skill, human, is simple. It essentially means ‘people’ skills; how you work with others and your knowledge in doing so. This can be a very rewarding skill or can create problems with being ‘too’ nice with others and not being focused on the overall ‘grand’ scheme of things (i.e. what you are trying to accomplish). The last is conceptual, which going back to Northouse, means the abilities to work with ideas and concepts. For example, relating to my life, my current manager has exceedingly great conceptual skills pertaining to the layout of new products in given areas of the store. Though the company has pre-designed layouts of certain areas, he has me and others position products on the floor to generate more customers and profitability. The last concept to take into consideration is the Situational Theory which describes itself practically, though there are four underlinings of this including: coaching, supporting, directing, and delegating.

I won’t go into much detail on these because they all ‘speak’ for themselves. However, the one that can be a little more difficult to understand is delegating. What is it? This approach is the members basically run the show; however you are given the title as the group leader with minimal support and direction. You do help, but in the aspect of using each members strengths for the groups own good. I have seen this in many groups especially in high school where our leader would ‘sit-back’ and watch us work, but I believe this can build strong character in the long run. So, what theory do you support and why? Until next time…….

To be or not to be? Extraverted or introverted that is.........

Welcome back,

Today I will be discussing a widely used psychometric assessment questionnaire known as the MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator). First published in 1962, this assessment composed and based off of Carl Jung’s psychological types, were believed to narrow down how the human mind worked. The key concepts to this were either extraverted or introverted (outspoken vs. within one self) so to speak. When you take this test there are 8 mental functions the test will decide upon based on how you answered the questions to the best of your ability. There are:
- Extraversion
- Introversion
- Sensing
- Intuition
- Thinking
- Feeling
- Judging
- Perceiving
Here I will discuss the concept of extraversion a little more in depth. Now according to dictionary.com, extraversion is “the act of directing one’s interest outward or to things outside the self”. For example, this deals with being outgoing and energetic versus solitary and reserved (like introverted) also being excited and seeking stimulation on others. On the other hand, the concept of introversion is “the direction of or tendency to direct one's thoughts and feelings toward oneself”. For example, this term is pretty much the opposite of extrovert, less out-going, not as sociable, and more likely to thrive with minimum new social contacts. This doesn’t mean the person is asocial either, but you get the point?
How this all relates to me, is that when I took this test I received ESTJ. I can agree with this because it relates to how I am in life. It was broken down in the following order from highest to lowest (descending): Extraverted thinking, introverted sensing, extraverted intuition, introverted feeling, introverted thinking, extraverted sensing, introverted intuition, and extraverted feeling. Well what does this all mean? Here’s the breakdown of (some) it according to our Blue Chip manuals:

- Extraverted thinking (Te): Establishing goals and applying objective analysis to arrive at a logical, defendable decision
- Introverted sensing (Si): Recalling the details of past experiences and reliving the emotions that accompany them
- Extraverted intuition (Ne): Creating possibilities for the future and spontaneously recognizing patterns and connections
- Introverted feeling (Fi): Feeling internal tranquility when reality matches what is uniquely and deeply valued
- Extraverted sensing (Se): Alive in the moment and aware of what the senses are able to immediately experience

Now keep in mind, most likely when you first take the test you will come up with the four letters of the eight words I described above. There is a quite complicated equation you must use to fit those letters in descending order (1-8) to come up with your strongest and weakest mental functions. This relates to me by showing me what my strengths are and what I can ‘improve’ on to be helpful to others. You can take this test online to see what defines you. What I like most about this assessment is that it is different from other tests where as they point out your weaknesses, however this test focuses more on strengths (and what can be worked on). So the question is, how do you function in life; introvert or extravert?

"Are you born a leader?"

Hello everyone,
Thank you for coming once again to my blog where I fill you in on leadership and what it’s all about anyways. Whether you’re in school, holding a job position, or just wanting or thinking about creating charisma for yourself through a newly developed organization, I am here to help. This week we are going to be looking at “The Great Man Theory” and “The Trait Theory”. These two different concepts are very different in a sense that they both contain different guidelines of what leadership meant and in some cases still means today.

As discussed in the previous blog, the concept of “The Great Man Theory” led to the thought that leaders were born to be great. The leaders of the time were politically powerful, wealthy, and royal. What would you say on who you think could fit into this category? Perhaps, Abraham Lincoln or Nelson Mandela who served as the President of South Africa from 1994-1999. His political figure in society has always been one to notice for his great acts to promote a better democratic multi-racial country for his people. Today, he still remains an ‘idol’ among many people from all across the nation. This could be a perfect example on the applied theory mentioned above. The way this would apply to my life would make sense in a way, but I believe that being outspoken could definitely be a contributing quality in which this is something that I am becoming more and more dependent upon. The other conceptual theory was the “Trait Theory”, that in a way lacks a theory altogether. This is because the definition of a great leader was the physical appearance of the person such as the hair, build, height, and so on so forth. Through studies traits arose to make what researchers thought to be “The five top traits for effective leadership” and they were:

-Intelligence
-Self Confidence
-Determination
-Integrity
-Sociability

Now when I look these they do make somewhat sense, but there are many traits that could easily be placed with these. This theory can relate to my life in that when I have been or will be put into a leadership position, it is essential that you look and present yourself in good manner because who wants to follow after some poorly dressed, ‘scruffy’, pessimistic person? I certainly won’t. How about you? What do you define as a good leader?

There have been many theories over the years but on a side note as learned during lecture was the “Achievement Motivation Theory” in which was designed by McClelland where it focuses on how the leaders performance and need for power, achievement, and affiliation. Though this can be seen as a minuscule outlier to the wide spectrum of leadership theories varying from tested, proved, researched, and so forth, the achievement theory may be one that a certain leader goes by. All in all, the essentials of good leadership is what you feel is right and what others view of that in being their purpose to come to reasoning with you in the long term.

picture above (www.black-collegian.com/newsspecial-reports/mandela2000-1st1.shtml)