Key Ideas about Leadership Groups

Groups come in all different structures and sizes, but there is one common trend between all of them. That one common trend is that structure helps a group see how they are going to succeed or fail. If a group has no structure at all then that group needs a very strong leader with a well developed vision, but if the group has structure then it is okay to have a weaker leader. Not only is the structure of a group important, but so is figuring out what the group stands for. Once the leader decides what the group should stand for it is his/her job to make sure that every member of their team knows that goal. If one member doesn't know what the group stands for then how can they work effectively to accomplish the goal? Once everyone in the group knows the essence of the team then the leader needs to find a way to measure the goals that they want to accomplish as a team. How can the team really tell if they are accomplishing the goal if they don't have a way to measure their success?

Cohesiveness

When you are in a group, you want to feel that everyone is there for the group and wants the group to achieve their common goal. This can be thought of as wanting the group to have cohesiveness. However, too much cohesiveness can be just as detrimental has not having any at all. If there is too much cohesiveness in a group it can lead to group thinking and a lack of creativity when solving problems. In a lot of group meetings group thinking goes on because the members don't want to hurt the other teammate's feelings. A good way to get rid of group thinking it to assign someone at the meeting to play devils advocate. If there is a devils advocate in the group it helps to challenge the team to think of different alternatives. When a team is challenged that is when the best answers to solve problems get spoken about. So just remember that a group needs to have the perfect balance of cohesiveness in order to have a successful team.

Kipp Academy

There was a story presented on 60 minutes about two young teachers that wanted to push the envelope of public education by creating a Kipp Academy. Kipp Academy is a inner city public school started in the south that teaches its students that great outcomes come from putting in a lot of hard work. The school meets from 7:30 am to 5:00-5:30pm every week day and then for a few hours on Saturdays. I loved how this video showed that leadership does not discriminate against age. You can be a leader at any age as long as you have the drive and passion to get your message across. The two teachers that started this amazing school were in their early 2o's when they presented their idea to the school board. After many failed attempts to get their proposal granted there was one school distract that believed in them. This helped to show me that a leader never gives up and persist until he/she gets their idea out to the community. In the news report it was very easy to see that the passion that started the school was still alive in the students, teachers, and parents. Passion and drive are contagious and because of these two attributes there are Kipp Academies across the entire United States.