CMM 408/508: Leadership & Group Communication
Dr. R. B. Bookwalter SH 245 x2815 bookwalt@marshall.edu
Spring 2006
General Purpose
This course provides opportunities for students to understand and develop leadership in a group setting. Assignments will focus on creating an awareness and understanding of what leadership is, how it is developed, how it is exercised, and what impact it has on a group. In-class activities will encourage students to practice, experiment with, and develop their own leadership skills and potential.
Philosophy
Although theories and concepts can be taught to you and your understanding of certain principles can be tested, the essential learnings available in this course must be pursued by you. You cannot learn to lead effectively by merely reading your assignments any more than you can learn to drive by reading a manual. The potential learning in this course requires experiential, trial-and-error, learning by doing. Most of our class time will be spent in groups engaging in either structured or unstructured discussions in which we will all have a chance to explore, as fully as we are willing, the patterns whereby each of us exercises power, influence, and leadership in groups.
I take responsibility for providing background, assignments, discussion material, encouragement, and feedback. Whether or not you learn anything in this course is entirely dependent, however, on the extent to which you take responsibility for making use of these resources. The more each of us commits to being actively involved in class discussions, encouraging others to contribute, responding openly and honestly to each other, and examining the implications of our actions, the more all of us will benefit from this course.
Requirements
1. Attendance at all class sessions. The experiential nature of this class requires your presence and your participation in class activities. As I emphasized earlier, you cannot learn leadership from the readings alone.
2. Contributing to others' learning. In order to experiment with and learn about your ability to influence others and lead groups you must have the cooperation of others who are willing to react and respond to your leadership behavior. It falls on you, therefore, to be willing to react and respond to help others understand how their leadership and influence impacts on you and on the group.
3. Weekly readings. The readings in this class are extensive but not unmanageable. While I don't expect every reading to be profoundly moving, each has been selected because it contains some potentially meaningful ideas. You will be asked to respond to and apply the readings in writing each week.
4. Weekly reading reaction papers. Although experience is the essential source of learning in this class, an unexamined experience yields little insight. Each week, therefore, you will be asked to respond to questions designed to integrate the ideas in the readings with class activities and group discussions.
5. Final Paper. You will be asked to summarize what you have learned in the course. This paper is outlined in detail in a separate handout.
CMM 408/508: Leadership in Groups page 2
Spring 2006
Requirements (continued)
6. Graduate Work. Graduate students will have four additional requirements.
a. First, you will have additional readings each week (these are designated by a (G) on your reading list).
b. Second, you will submit responses to additional reading reaction questions each week.
c. Third, you will submit a midterm exam. There will be two essay questions, the exam will be a take home exam.
d. Fourth, your final paper will be qualitatively different from the undergraduate papers. Your final paper should be a research-based, scholarly examination of some area of leadership study. Your paper should be developed by producing a formal reading list (due March 7), a full-sentence outline (due April 4), and a final draft (due April 25).
These papers will be essentially an account of your reactions to each week's class session and group discussion. Your reaction papers should focus on your goals with respect to understanding and developing your power, influence, and leadership abilities in your group. Each week’s paper should address the questions outlined in the syllabus and should be accompanied by an agenda for the following week. Follow the outline below:
1. Reading Reactions
a. Weekly reaction questions are outlined on the following three pages.
b. Everyone should answer the “Group Questions.”
c. Everyone should answer the “Undergraduate Questions.”
d. Grad students should also answer the “Graduate Questions.”
2. Agenda
a. Generally, in what direction would you like to see the group move in its next session? What skills or abilities would you like to work on?
b. Specifically, what do you think you can do to exercise appropriate power, influence or leadership in this group more effectively?
3. Hypotheses (2 per session; Graduate students only)
a. Based on your observations so far, what tentative conclusions can you draw about leadership and influence in your group or about groups in general?
Grading
Undergraduate Work
Reading Reactions (13 @ 100 points) 130
Final Paper 100
Undergraduate Total 230
Graduate Work
Reading Reactions (13 @ 15 points) 195
Midterm Exam 50
Reading List 25
Outline 25
Final Paper 100
Graduate Total 395
A B C D
Undergrads 210+ 190+ 170+ 150+
Graduates 355+ 315+ 275+ 235+
Communication 408/508: Leadership and Group Communication
Tentative Course Schedule; Spring 2006
Week Topic/Reading Assignments
J 10 Orientation to the Course
J 17 Introduction to the Study of Leadership
Survival at Sea
Hackman & Johnson Chpts 1 & 4
Heider, 3,5,8,9,15,25,28,32,73
(G) Chemers, “The social . . . context of effective leadership.”
J 24 Tapping Personal Potential in Groups
Survey: Interpersonal Style Inventory
Elliot, “The Group as a Laboratory” & “What to do when . . . ”
"How to Improve your Leadership Skills in a Training Group"
McLean & Weitzel, "Leadership begins with greater self-knowledge."
Kouzes & Posner, "The beginning of leadership." and "Become a leader . . .”
Heider, 2,10,16,19,24,44,50
(G) Yarbrough, "Intrapersonal conflict."
Survey: Process Analysis 90
J 31 Personal Power
Hackman & Johnson, Chpt 5
Zander, Becoming an influential group member."
Heider, 7,13,18,26,33,39,59,62
(G) Brown & Keller, “Power”
F 7 Influencing and Being Influenced by Others
Hackman & Johnson, Chpt 6
Gardner, "The heart of the matter: Leader-constituent interaction."
Zander, "Coping with others' power."
Heider, 22,29,30,37,49,57,78
(G) Gouran, "Principles of counteractive influence . . ."
F 14 Leader as Participant Observer
Brilhart, Galanes, & Adams, “Observing Group Discussions”
Schultz, "Diagnosis & change.
Heider, 11,12,18,23,36,40,47,48,56
(G) Schwarz, “Diagnosis: Identifying Behaviors . . .”
F 21 Understanding Group Process
Hackman & Johnson, Chpt 7
Exercises: They’ll Never Take Us Alive; The Radio Station
Pfeiffer & Jones, "What to look for in groups."
Heider, 35,46,58,64,65,77
(G) Hirokawa & Pace, “A descriptive investigation of possible communication-based reasons for effective an ineffective group decision making.”
Survey: Process Analysis 90
F 28 Leadership Processes: Leadership Emergence
Hackman & Johnson, Chpt 12
Heider, 23,27,30,56,71
(G) Scharf, "A rhetorical analysis of leadership emergence in small groups."
M 7 Leadership Styles
Hackman & Johnson, Chpt 2 & 3
Ross, "Leadership."
Heider, 8,9,17,20,22,24,28,29
*** Graduate Reading Lists Due
M 14 Facilitation Skills
Wilson & Hanna, "Leading group meetings."
Heider, 37,38,43,45,57,58,60,69,79
(G) Friedman & Yarbrough, "Facilitation skills.”
M 21 Spring Break
M 30 Intervention Models & Strategies
Zander, "Leading productive group discussions."
Kowitz & Knutson, “Process & Performance Evaluation: Problems & Solutions
(G) Schwarz, “How to Intervene”
A 6 Organizational Leadership
Hackman & Johnson, Chpt 8
Barge, “Competent Leadership Communication”
Bradford & Cohen, "Managing for excellence."
Survey: Process Analysis 90
*** Graduate Outlines Due
A 13 Further Thoughts on Organizational Leadership
Hackman & Johnson, Chapter 10
Storti, “The world of business: Dialogues 50-74.”
(G) Bennis & Nanus, Leading others, managing yourself."
A 20 Public Leadership
Hackman & Johnson, Chpt 9 & 11
A 27 Applications & Conclusions
*** All Final Papers Due
M 4 Summary & Evaluation
CMM 408/508 Weekly Reading Reaction Questions
Week 1: Jan 10 Orientation
No Writing Assignment
Week 2: Jan 17 Introduction to the Study of Leadership
A. Group Questions
What is your initial impression of each of your group members?
What impression do you want to create in them? What communication behaviors did you exhibit in order to foster that impression?
Rate yourself based on the five transformational leadership characteristics outlined in Chapter 4 (H&J).
What specific behaviors, by each member of the group, tend to promote or inhibit their leadership in the initial meeting? (Be sure to inform your assessment by referring to specific ideas outlined in Chapter 1 of H&J).
Week 3: Jan 24 Tapping Personal Potential in Groups
A. Group Questions
Who has shown the most leadership qualities (see “How to Improve your Leadership Skills . . .”)?
Who has shown the least leadership qualities so far?
Write a personal vision statement (see pp. 109-110). Answer discussion questions 1-4 (p. 110).
B. Undergraduate Questions
Note: Draw on at least two different readings in responding to these questions)
What leadership qualities are you exhibiting most? Which qualities do you need to work on?
C. Graduate Questions
What interpersonal conflicts have limited your leadership effectiveness?
Week 4: January 31 Personal Power
A. Group Questions
What types of power do you see being used or attempted?
Which types appear to be most effective at this point? Which appear to be least effective? Why?
B. Undergraduate Questions
What have you done to exercise power in the group?
How can you improve your exercise of power in the group?
C. Graduate Questions
Who is exercising the most power in the group? Who is exercising the least power so far? Explain.
Week 5: February 7 Influencing and Being Influenced by Others
A. Group Questions
Who seems to gain compliance most effectively?
Who inspires the most trust? Who inspires the least trust?
How does effective perspective taking influence your judgment of leadership in the group? (Or does it?)
B. Undergraduate Questions
Rate your credibility in the group. What could you do to improve your credibility?
C. Graduate Questions
What counteractive influences are at work in this group?
Weekly Reading Reaction Questions; page 2
Week 6: February 14 The Leader as Participant-Observer
A. Group Questions
Which members of the group most clearly play the role of participant-observer?
Are some group members more unbiased than others in their observations and feedback?
Does that affect your assessment of their leadership in the group?
B. Undergraduate Questions
Do you consider yourself an astute observer of group process? Why?
To what extent do you offer useful process feedback to the group?
How can you improve your observational skills?
C. Graduate Questions
Who shows the best understanding of group process? How is that exhibited?
How does that affect leadership emergence in the group?
Week 7: February 21 Understanding Group Process
A. Group Questions
Who shows the greatest number of “useful strategies” for leadership emergence (pp. 191-192)?
Who shows a tendency to follow the rules for NOT emerging as a leader (p. 190-191)?
Which team building skills are evident in your group? Which are not?
B. Undergraduate Questions
To what extent have you emerged as a leader? Are you satisfied with your level of emergence?
If not, what might you do differently from this point on?
C. Graduate Questions
What obstacles inhibit this group? What’s the source? What remedy would you suggest?
Week 8: February 28 Leadership Processes
A. Group Questions
Use either Covey or Cashman’s principles to account for leadership in your group.
B. Undergraduate Questions
What might you do to more fully develop these qualities?
C. Graduate Questions
Who seems best positioned to transcend divisions in the group? (Apply Scharf’s model to your group).
Week 9: March 7 Leadership Styles
A. Group Questions
What style of leadership seems to be most effective in your group? Why?
B. Undergraduate Questions
Are you more of a task leader or an interpersonal leader? What could you do to improve your
task leadership? Your interpersonal leadership?
What style of leadership is associated with each of the members of the group? What is working and what isn’t?
Week 10: March 14 Facilitation Skills
A. Group Questions
Rate the strengths and weaknesses of each member of your group as a meeting manager.
B. Undergraduate Questions
Rate your own meeting management abilities. What are your strengths?
What improvements can you make before the end of the term?
How would you rate your observation skills? Your feedback skills?
What improvements might help you facilitate your group more effectively?
Weekly Reading Reaction Questions; page 3
Week 11: March 28 Intervention Models & Strategies
A. Group Questions
Of all the problems discussed by Zander and Kowitz & Knutson, which has your group experienced?
Who has contributed to creating these problems? Who has done the most to overcome them?
B. Undergraduate Questions
What are your personal strengths in responding to group process problems?
What are your limitations?
What are the most useful pieces of advice from the readings for developing your intervention skills?
C. Graduate Questions
Rate your intervention skills in each of the stages of intervention detailed by Schwarz?
What improvements can you make?
Week 12: April 4 Leadership in Organizations
A. Group Questions
What is the culture of your group (what special terms, stories, or rituals/routines have you developed)? Who has done the most to promote that culture?
How well (or poorly) do you think the Manager-as-Developer model has worked in this class (focus on me as the Manager-as-Developer?
B. Undergraduate Questions
How have your self-expectations promoted or discouraged your leadership in the group? (apply the Galatea effect)
What would you change about the culture and/or rules in this group if you could?
How have expectations early in the life of the group promoted the emergence of certain individuals as leaders? How have expectations discouraged the emergence of some other members?
Week 13: April 11 Further Thoughts on Organizational Leadership
A. Group Questions
In what ways, if any, have differences in cultural orientations affected your group?
Are there differences in the way men and women lead in your group?
Are there differences in the groups’ responses to male and female leadership?
B. Undergraduate Questions
Do you exhibit “gender balanced leadership”?
What areas might you improve to lead a diverse group more effectively?
Who best exemplifies the principles outlined by Bennis & Nanus?
Who least embodies these principles?
Week 14: April 18 Public Leadership
A. Group Questions
What public leaders provide a positive archetype for you? Why?
B. Undergraduate Questions
How can you apply principles of effective public leadership to your own leadership experiences and your goals for the future?
C. Graduate Questions
Evaluate the potential for each members’ responsible, ethical, public leadership.
No Reading Reactions/Final Papers Due
Week 16: May 2 Final Class Session