Group Observation

In this group there were no disruptive members. I filled the role of an observer, I offered feedback at the end of the session. The counselor filled the role of standard setter. There was an encourager, a harmonizer, an expediter, and a follower.

Much has been written about the difference between management and leadership. In the past, competent management staffs ran effective companies. In light of our ever-changing world, however, most companies have come to realize that it is much more important to lead than to manage. In today's world the old ways of management no longer work. One reason is that the degree of environmental and competitive change we are experiencing is extreme. Although exciting, the world is also very unstable and confused. In an article entitled What’s the Difference between Your Hospital and the Other? Gary Campbell states that the difference between a manager and a leader is that the manager “finds himself quite willing to

in this picture i took a group selfie at work. my manager drew, the man in the orange, is looking at the camera. he is wearing an orange shirt, has his glasses on. has a look on his face as if to say “storm what are you doing?” one of my best friends jasmine is also in this picture. she goes to school with me. she has a smile on her face because i had just cracked a joke. i seem to always make the crew members laugh. she is weariing her mcdonald's visor / hat. has on the mcdonalds uniform and is looking at me all smiles. Erika, the woman in the picture with purple gauges is about 8 months pregnant. she is having a baby boy and she is rubbing her tummy, her son was kicking, her belly was moving in the way his foot was. she seemed to be in alot

Over the past few weeks, I have been observing an all-girl organization by the name of EAGER Inc. I observed middle-school aged girls in Baltimore City Charter Schools. The girls have been working together for about one to two years. They interact with one another on a daily basis, and sometimes after school for programs. The groups needs came to the agency's attention through the principal of the school who noticed that the girls needed behavioral assistance. This group of girls need mentors and the appropriate guidance that will help them transform into successful young women and people who can help keep them out of trouble. The group barely got along with each other, and they always bumped heads during the sessions. The girls realized that

Awards received: BOA Class Champions twice, 1st place in the local Regional Competition twice. Bronze in MetLife Stadium US Band Competition.

In July, on two consecutive days, I attended two group sessions for two and three year-old children that took place at the libraries in various parts of San Antonio. The library setting of these groups additionally emphasized the importance of early literacy through a series of interactive and entertaining activities. The goal of these sessions was to offer a great variety of educational and entertaining activities to encourage development through play and learning through sensory stimulation, storytelling, and movement.

I attended an open public group that was held a Family Success Center in East Orange on Wednesday, September 2, 2015 from 11 am to 1 pm. The group I attended is a parent support group held for parents that have children with Autism. Every Wednesday the group runs for two hours and there are many topics that are discussed during these support groups. Before I attended I obtained permission to observe the group from the facilitator Ms. Anderson. On the day that I observed the group there was a guest presentation from Autism New Jersey.

Groups talk about goals in different ways, using different words. Some groups have major and minor goals or meta- and micro-goals; others divide goals into mission, purpose or goal, and objectives, while other groups talk about aims and expectations. A group is strengthened to the extent it has clear goals and all members know what their roles are in helping to achieve them (Dimock and Kass, 2008, p.62-63). My placement is currently in the Mental Health field and as mental health workers we have groups that are organized to promote to mental health of all and to support the resilience and recovery of people experiencing mental illness.

Warren Bennis provided several distinctions between a manager and a leader: a leader innovates, develops new concepts, focuses on people rather than systems, inspires trust, has a long-range perspective, has his eye on the horizon, the leader asks what, and why (Satterlee, 2013, p. 102). A leader should motivate, drive, and inspire other members of the organization to believe in the vision

Observation: During this group session I observed a lot of silences. Not just your average counseling pauses these silences were profound and one even lasted about 40 seconds.

During this round I notice that my group and I were very confused at the pictures. The facilitators did not explain the activity very well and the pictures did not look like they were from the same story. I saw this response from the other groups when I was looking around the room. I heard a lot of justification going around the classroom when people were trying to explain why the order they thought was right or not.

Our topic of this presentation is introducing a non-profit organization and we choose to run an organization which is helping the underprivileged children. Our organization is called Shield for Children. We worked as a team and finished this presentation together.

Groups play a significant role in people’s lives. Humans have a tendency to “instinctively gravitate to one another in groups to share concerns, find direction in life, solve each other’s problems and otherwise provide protection and support” (Maguire, 2002, p, 120). There are different types of groups, such as: support groups, therapy groups, growth groups, education guidance groups and tasks groups. These groups serve multiple purposes and needs and they are based on various influential theories.

There are varying interpretations of the differences between leaders and managers. Many people say that they are quite similar while other say they are not even in the same league. The latter definition is quite accurate according to Marlene Caroselli’s Leadership Skills for Managers. Mangers are known as people who direct workflow and manager what people do and when they do it. As liaisons between employees and upper management, their responsibilities do not end with just what work is done. They are responsible to employees and “wear many different hats” (Caroselli, p. 2, 2000). Leaders on the other hand are different breed of people. The basic definition of a true leader is someone who motivates his or her subordinates to do something

Webster’s English Dictionary defines a leader as “One who, or that which, leads or conducts; a guide; a conductor. Especially: (a) One who goes first. (b) One having authority to direct; a chief; a commander” (Dictionary.com). This gives us the insight into how leaders are seen today. In the past a leader and a manager were one and the same thing, with the advent of scientific management and the development of the theories of Frederick Winslow Taylor the job of the manager or leader was to gain the greatest value from the employees. In many easy, this is still the role of the leader. However, the methods and perceptions regarding the way in which this is achieved have changed greatly. The industrial revolution that embodies scientific management saw standardisation in the use of procedures and tools, with the one best method being dictated to the most suitable employee, who was expected to perform the task in their machine like manner. The tasks were broken down into the smallest components which would acquire the issues give or training. John Child