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Reflective Essay On Group Diversity

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Through my work in groups, I have had to adjust my feedback and leadership styles based on the different cultures of my group members. “Every organization has its own unique spoken and unspoken rules that define the culture. Culture is often simply stated as, ‘the way we work around here.’ Cultures are formed and change through a variety of environmental events, leadership, and experiences” (Weiss, Tilin, & Morgan, 2014, p. 153). I need more here maybe?
When bringing students together from different backgrounds and cultures, it is anticipated to run into some cultural diversity. While these differences are expected to be met with professionalism in all settings, according to Weiss, Tilin, and Morgan (2014) we have a “tendency to interpret the behavior of others through the lens of our own habits of thought or personal bias” (pp. 191-192). Upon acceptance into the radiography program, I had a preformed stereotype or prejudice of my classmates. Because it is a prestigious and competitive program, I assumed each member would strive to go above and beyond to produce optimum results. My personal cultural bias was believing everyone would set those high goals and do whatever it takes to achieve them. I have found in my classroom groups that some members only do the bare minimum. They are sometimes unprepared and look toward others for results. This impacted group communications because someone had to lead the group and bring more insight when others were not contributing. It also made members do more than their fair share of work. Some members had to take on more to make up for the lack of effort shown by others.
My group works together very well when providing feedback. We established that we all thrive from constructive criticism and even welcome it. Feedback is important for all groups because knowing what was good and bad about a performance or assignment is how you learn from your experiences. “By institutionalizing feedback strategies, power sharing becomes the responsibility of leaders as well as members who provide each other with constructive opinions and supportive advice” (Weiss, et al., 2014, p. 141). So far my experiences in providing and receiving feedback within my group have been mostly positive.

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