View video – Ryan Guy’s Small Group Communication Lectures: Video 9, Leadership [10:33 min.] Guy describes the essence of leadership as the way we use communication to influence group members to help the group meet shared goals. Leaders may use various interpersonal influence methods of charisma or likeability, information flow, and ecological, reward, punishment, or expert power. However, in Guy’s view, good leaders focus on the creative thinking process, and helping people rise to the occasion of solution finding. He notes most people expect leaders to do administrative tasks, as well as moderate, mentor, and coach participants in both interpersonal and task concerns to support both individual and group success. Guy points out all group members can provide leadership in one or more of these ways. He also discusses autocratic, charismatic, transactional, laissez-faire, democratic, and transformational leadership behaviours. In closing, he recommends these ethical guidelines: be honest, open respectful, supportive, and help members put the group goals first to achieve success.
