Group Leadership

1
Group Leadership
2
Leaders

• Leaders maintain certain personal qualities
  apply specific skills implement various
  practices and address individuals and/or the
  group with informed interventions.
• Leaders are bound to ethical standards.
• Confidentiality and Informed Consent
• Cultural Awareness
• Respect
• Dual Relationships
• Scope of Profession
• National Organization for Human Services
• Association for Specialists in Group Work

3
Personal Qualities of Leaders

• Think about leaders who inspire you in life. On
  a piece of paper, write down what it is about
  these leaders that you find so attractive or
  inspiring?
• Now write down the personal strengths you believe
  you hold that would be useful as a leader of a
  group?
• Are there particular qualities you would like to
  develop that would further assist you as a group
  leader? If so, what are they? Write these down
  as well.

4
Leader Qualities

• Compassion
• nothing, no technical consideration, takes
  precedence over this attitude compassion.
  (Yalom/Leszcz, 2005)
• Are you really invested in the welfare of others
  for the the welfare of others (i.e. altruistic)?
• Firm Identity
• Knowing ones self before knowing another (e.g.
  triggers, judgments, emotional junk
  counter-transference, strengths/weaknesses,
  etc.)
• Confidence
• Demonstrated by a groundedness that allows a
  leader to move though the unpredictability of a
  group (comes from learned knowledge and
  experience).

5
Leader Qualities cont.

• Integrity
• Both personal and professional (tethered to
  ethical standards).
• Trustworthiness
• Leader trusting group members (so members trust
  themselves and others).
• Group members trusting leader (so to establish a
  safe place for members).
• Humor
• Laugh with, never at.
• Humor may reduce tension, relax people, help to
  deal with taboo topics if done with sensitivity
  (e.g. sex), build shared experiences, etc.

6
Leader Qualities cont.

• Empathy
• the ability to identify someone elses feelings
  while remaining aware that the feelings of others
  are distinct from ones own.
• An empathetic leader
• Communicates respect for and acceptance of
  clients and their feelings.
• Encourages a nonjudgmental, supportive and
  collaborative relationship.
• Sincerely compliments rather than denigrates or
  diminishes another person.
• Tells less and listens more.
• Gently persuades, while understanding that the
  decision to change is the clients.

7
Skills of Leaders

• Share an experience with your group that
  describes the best group leader you have
  encountered. This could have been in a
  counseling setting, as well as in a class,
  business setting or any other group.
• What was the influence of this leader on you in
  the group?
• Talk to others about the skills that this leader
  demonstrated that made him/her so effective. Make
  a list identifying the skills you have discussed.

8
Leader Skills

• Communication (keystone to effective group work)
• Rephrasing (i.e. paraphrasing) Restating what
  was said, modeling listening and responding.
• Reflecting feelings Reflecting back what was
  heard but on a deeper level, unveiling an
  unspoken feeling.
• Interpreting Decoding underlying meaning and
  offering the interpretation back to group to
  promote greater self-understanding.
• Reframing Used to help group members to change
  the way they view their situation or problem.

9
Leader Skills cont.

• Questioning
• Use questions only when indirect means do not
  work, otherwise you may come across as
  interrogating.
• Open versus closed questions will encourage
  elaboration.
• Avoid why questions as people usually dont
  have an answer. Instead ask with what,
  where, or how.

10
Leader Skills cont.

• Self-disclosure Making it safe for group members
  to reveal themselves in an honest and open way
  via self-disclosure.
• Is there another way I can do this without
  putting the focus on me?
• Will a group member say the same thing?
• How will this help the group and its members?
• Am I balanced in who I am choosing to
  self-disclose with?
• How can I be most efficient about the disclosure
  so not to keep the members attention for very
  long?

11
Leader Skills cont.

• Confronting Subtly assisting a group member who
  has confronted another member to be more
  empathetic, to link to a similar
  experience/feeling or to help the confronted
  member to hear what is said done in this way,
  confronting is an effective skill.
  Confrontation, as a skill, is different from
  intervening in a confrontation where escalated
  affect exists (e.g. attacks) instead this may be
  considered blocking.
• Jill Cmon James I'm tired of hearing that same
  old stuff why dont you finally take some
  responsibility for your actions and-
• James Why dont you shut it Jill, you dont
  know what its like to be me and look whose
  talking about taking responsibility
• Leader ??

12
Leader Skills cont.

• Summarizing Used when transitioning from one
  topic/subject to another when discussions are
  fractured and/or chaotic or when transition is
  needed in the group.
• Be concise and to the point.
• Encourage group members to provide the summary
  and leader fills in as necessary.

13
Leader Skills cont.

• Linking Involves building as many bridges and
  connections as you can between members,
  connecting their issues and fostering direct
  interaction.
• Leader is building cohesion and trust in group by
  linking member s together in their common
  experiences.
• Done by summarizing (if necessary) and by guiding
  (verbally/nonverbally) individual members to
  speak directly to one another.
• Cuing Scanning the group closely often while
  observing the slightest nonverbal communication
  (e.g. crossed arms, nodding heads, frowns, etc.)
  and inviting members to say things you think they
  may be feeling. Useful for linking.

14
Leader Skills cont.

• Blocking Stopping member interactions that are
  deemed inappropriate, insensitive or unnecessary.
• When someone is being pressured to do or say
  something they do not feel ready for
• When someone is being disrespectful or abusive
  towards another or ridiculed or picked on
• When someone is rambling or distracting
• When someone is intellectualizing
• When someone uses a racial or cultural slur
• When someone is talking about a person or events
  outside the group that cant be controlled
• Or when you just need to stop the group to allow
  the group to process something going on.
• Im going to stop you right now (with hand out).

15
Leader Skills cont.

• Supporting Applied any time a group member does
  something you want to reinforce enough so that
  they continue the behavior.
• This can be done by simply acknowledging the
  interaction or statement when a member
• Takes a significant risk
• Says something kind or caring to another
• Discloses something personal
• Confronts another in an appropriate manner
• Ceases doing something inappropriate or
  distracting.

16
Leadership Practices

• Actions that may be supported by a leaders
  qualities and skills, yet more nuanced than
  interventions. However, interventions also
  integrate various skills of the leader.
• Constancy
• Spontaneity
• Models appropriate behavior
• Uses suitable wording
• Sensitivity to ethical issues
• Maintains safe setting