My Greatest Challenge As A Group Facilitator

Leadership is that process in which one person sets the purpose or direction for one or more other persons and gets them to move along together with him or her and with each other in that direction with competence and full commitment (Elliott, 2009). Leadership is supposed to guide people to attain a particular set vision. Motivation is fundamental in the process of leadership as if there is no motivation there will be laxity among the people involved. It is also a critical scenario for leadership to have followers; this will infer a relationship between leaders and followers (Frank, 2003).

Leadership is summarized as ‘the process in which an individual impacts a variety of individuals to attain a common goal’. The goal is attained by mutual collaboration and cohesive behavior. A leader infuses a sense of positivity and manages others to reach a specified goal. Leadership has had a very profound influence throughout my life by affecting my family, friends, teammates, and the overall decisions that I have made. By using my personal experiences with leadership, I have learned how to use these skills not only on the field, but throughout my everyday actions.

The Groups Dynamics of a team can be effected if the category of leadership is not in place. Leadership means “the activity of leading a group of people or an organization or the ability to do this.” In order to be a good leader you must have a strong value that you can give to your team. A good leader must have strong values to pass on to their team. At the top of the teams hierarchy is a leader, so that the leader can put input towards everything the team does, so that the team would be successful because the leader controls and guides the team.

As I began the Group Process and Dynamics course, I was excited to become educated and experienced with group counseling. Group counseling is a topic I have enjoyed in the past and have continued to be fascinated by. I have learned the elements of a group process through observation and research. The group process consists of several elements that come together when the group begins and ends when the group is terminated. I have observed group norms, group cohesion, the generation of trust, the manifestation of resistance, the emergence of conflict and resolution, healing forces, the reactions of group members, and the various stages a group develops through (Corey, Corey, & Corey, 2010). Throughout this course, I was able to derive a conceptualization of groups. From this course I will take with me the understanding of how effective group counseling can be for individuals. Groups have been known to be as effective as individual therapy and a great source of treatment. Group counseling is designed as a part of a treatment plan that helps individuals and guide them through change. Group counseling is a versatile practice, which can be used in several settings and with different populations (Corey et al., 2010). This course has given me the opportunity to reflect on my own personal leadership style, the challenges that may arise, and an action plan to continue my group leadership knowledge and skills.

Leadership entails guiding others to realize particular goals using a variety of skills (Sullivan & Garland, 2011); Weihrich & Koontz, 2008). Likewise, Spector (2006) defined leadership as the art of influencing others to readily and actively endeavour towards achieving goals set by the team. Additionally, Spector (2006) emphasized that there is a shared theme that leadership comprises influencing individual belief systems, behaviours and feelings. As such, the smooth running of an organization requires effective leadership.

Our group facilitation was on the subject of time management with regards to completing most important tasks first and devoting time to those specific tasks. Our goals for the group were to create an inclusive, encouraging, and positive environment between group members. My partner and I researched ideas for information that we could use to share as well as use our experience’s with the topic amongst the group. The duration of our group facilitation was ten minutes. As we reflect on the events coming to and during the facilitation we will discourse the inclusion between group members, linking members to discussion and group as well as the process of our facilitation.

Classical organisational theorist defined leadership in terms of achieving a group’s objectives R.C Davies (1942) referred to leadership as “the principle dynamic forces that motivates and coordinates the organisation in the accomplishment of its objectives.” Similarly, Urwick (1953) stated that the leader is “the personification of common purpose not only to all who work under taking, but to everyone outside it.” K. Davies (1962) defined leadership as “the human factor which binds a group together and motivates it towards goals.” Cattell (1951) took the extreme position that leadership is whatever or whoever contributes to the group’s performance. To measure each members Leadership, Cattell noted, removed him or her from the group, one at a time, and observe what happens to the group’s performance. Calder (1977) and Pfeffer (1977) “stated that leadership is mainly influence and is even attributed to participants after the fact.

Leadership skills are important to developing a successful and effective group session. Leaders can include nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists, recreational therapists, occupational therapists, and other types of mental health workers. Leaders need to have the skills to develop behavioral rules to maintain positive function, facilitate communication between clients, and direct the group in meeting their desired goals. The role of the leader is to be open, sincere, kind, warm, positive, honest, and flexible. This allows clients to feel trust, freedom and confidentiality. It is also important for leaders to act as role models, set boundaries, and up-hold rules and procedures. This encourages clients to express their thoughts

Leadership is a process of influencing activities of a particular group of people with the aim of attaining certain stipulated goals. In defining leadership there is need to consider a particular group, the common goals and the duties that are allocated to specific members of the group depending on their abilities (Fiedler 1976). Leadership therefore cannot successfully occur unless members of the group are given different considerations in terms of personality, traits and responsibilities. In considering leadership, it is important to look at the leader, the group or organization they are leading, the members as individuals and the situation; these are

As a group, our goal as facilitators was to help the individuals attending the group with coping skills and to help them find support while exploring the grieving process. Overall, I would rate my personal success in the facilitation as a seven or an eight. Although I feel like I was an active facilitator, there is always something that could use improvement.

Behavioral group leaders are look at more like teachers who are very active in the group, educating group members on life skills that can be used daily. In addition, group leaders should know and be able to demonstrate a set of skills that the participants are trying to develop. Leaders also will need significant experience in modeling behavior and helping others learn discrete elements of behavior(SAMSHA, 2005). Other general skills, such as sensitivity to what is going on in the room and other conditions that are related to certain problems and conditions that will hinder change (Corey, 2013). In a substance abuse groups dependency is conceptualized as a learned behavior that is subject to modification through various intervention(SAMHSA,

Leadership has been studied extensively and many varying definitions exist. Hughes, Ginnett and Curphy (2015, p.4) review many of these definitions and consequently describe leadership as ‘the process of influencing an organised group towards its goals’. Leadership involves the interplay of a range of different factors, not least the leader themselves, the followers and the situation. For

The group therapy leader is one of the most essential variables that will influence the group’s success or breakdown. Group therapy leaders need to have very important group leadership skills before they can go into helping individuals deal with their own problems. Group leaders must have knowledge of how groups best function and that they individual posses the skills to intervene in timely and effective ways. When a group leader creates a group climate that fosters interpersonal norms such as directness, openness, respect and concern for one another, these norms will create therapeutic interactions among the members. Essential leader behavior is to cultivate a group climate that is secure, constructive, and encouraging, yet strong enough to at times withstand highly charged emotions, challenges, and interactions between members. In addition to personal characteristics, group leaders need to acquire a body of knowledge and a set of skills specific to group work. Counseling skills can be taught, but there is also an element of art involved in using these skills. The objective of this paper is to compile a list of the important factors and traits that allow therapists to be successful group therapy leaders.

Communication is a factor which controls and motivates people to do their job efficiently. It offers a platform to release emotional feelings, which is challenging when communicating by use of mails and other forms of communication. There are many communication barriers when dealing with effective communication in departments of a company such as auditing.

"Jennifer... Jennifer" the group facilitator called as she looked at Jennifer with wide eyes as if that was a sure fire way to get her attention. There were technically no rules in support groups, but it was widely understood that you should pay attention or at least pretend to. Jennifer was always good about listening, and it was even her favorite part of group since she didn 't like sharing, but today she stared at a wall and couldn 't manage to focus on anything else.