Process Theory

Last week we discussed the “Process Theory”, or “Reciprocal Theory” of leadership. This is a much more inclusive style of leadership.  There is frequent engagement between leaders and followers.  We discussed the “Relational Leadership Model”, which encompasses all of the qualities of the Process Theory. The Relational Leadership Model is composed of four standards: ethical, inclusive, empowering, and purposeful. To be ethical is to live in accordance with the rules of right conduct. It is basically making moral decisions. For instance, if you as a leader happen to know that one of your workers is struggling to make ends meet and is having a difficult time at work, it would be more ethical to sit down with that individual and discuss options of improving the situation, rather than firing him or her on the spot. To be inclusive is to embrace different points of view. To run things in an inclusive manner ensures that there is much collaboration, which will ultimately be beneficial to the group. To be empowering is to lift the spirits of not only yourself, but those around you. It is using your words and actions to enable people to perform at their best. Coming into work and criticizing everyone is not the best approach if one is seeking improvement. To motivate your group, you would need to find a different way to go about it. To be purposeful is to know what the goal is. It is to be determined and set on a particular accomplishment. If the group knows what is significant and what they are working towards, the chance that they will be successful is indefinitely higher. Having no clue what the goal at hand is can greatly hinder a group’s ability to function well. These principles have three dimensions: knowing, being and doing. These are all self-explanatory so I won’t elaborate on them. We then talked about the Social Change Model revolves around the individual, the community and the group. It needs to be inclusive, and in this model, leadership is viewed as a process and not a position. It promotes things such as self-awareness, citizenship social justice and service to name a few. Social change is aimed at altering a social structure in some way. Social change touches on many different fields in society. Regarding the individual, one needs to be conscious of self, meaning that they need to know their own convictions, values, ideas, emotions, attitudes, etc. They need to understand how to interact with others. They also need to be congruent, or consistent in their behavior. He or she needs to be authentic. Lastly, he or she needs to be committed. The group needs to be able to collaborate, have a common goal and get through issues in a civil manner. The group needs to show citizenship, in that they have a connection to the community. I just recently signed up for the Relay for Life. I found out about it through HOSA, a group on campus that is certainly showing citizenship by addressing this issue in society: cancer. They have been working together to raise money for this cause. I’m going to participate in the Relay for Life in April. It’s nice to see so many people come together to make a difference.