Leadership
In John C. Maxwell's book, Becoming a Person of Influence, he talks about becoming a leader. In becoming a leader, we control whether we become a person of positive influence or of negative influence. He says there are four levels of influence. Level 1 is Modeling. “For most people, if they perceive that you are positive and trustworthy and have admirable qualities, then they will seek you as an influencer in their lives”. Level 2 is Motivating. “When people feel good about you and themselves during the times they're with you, then your level of influence increases significantly”. Level 3 is Mentoring. “Mentoring is pouring your life into other people and helping them reach their potential. The power of mentoring is so strong that you can actually see the lives of the persons you are influencing change before your eyes”. Level 4 is Multiplying. “As a multiplying influencer, you help people you're influencing to become positive influencers in the lives of others and pass on not only what they have received from you, but also what they have learned and gleaned on their own”.
Being a leader comes with great responsibility. It is often difficult for a leader to know how to deal with certain situations and without this knowledge, a leader can either take its followers down a path of positivity or a path of negativity. One major responsibility of a leader is to control or influence the culture of a workplace, school or organization. Sometimes toxic cultures can result from certain situations that need to be rectified. Toxic culture has no set definition but if there was such a definition, it might include terms such as conflict, negative, poor leadership and bullying. This section talks about how leadership can help to eradicate a toxic culture. To be effective in managing and preventing a toxic culture from developing, a team leader must be aware of these factors and know how to help build them within a team. At the very least, if a leader cannot build them, then recognize where the team is lacking and seek the appropriate help in building upon it. A leader should also be able to see both sides when conflict arises and must do so in a way that is positive and will not hurt or offend team members. 'A leader who makes a mistake and hurts someone or sees that others have acted in a similar manner needs to move quickly to address the situation and make efforts to repair the harm. Emotions that are allowed to fester can easily escalate to a point where rational discussion is no longer possible and team progress is thwarted” (Runde and Flanagan, 2008).
Conflict is practically inevitable in any workplace or organization. However, there are ways to manage it to avoid creating a toxic culture. Runde and Flanagan discuss in their book, “Building Conflict Competent Teams” ways to create the right climate in order to avoid conflict and eventually a toxic culture.
Effective Attitudes is the first factor they suggest in creating the right climate. It is suggested that team or group members share their thoughts on conflict as it is usually deemed as a negative thing but can also be used constructively. If everyone's thoughts and assumptions are out in the open, then people are less likely to see it with a negative tone.
Trust is the next factor in creating a positive climate. Trust is not something that comes easily to many people. In order to trust others we have to trust in ourselves. “Stephen Covey Jr. suggests that a motive of caring will do more than anything else to build credibility and trust (Covey and Merrill 2006). Integrity, honesty and courage all play a part” (Runde and Flanagan, 2008). If a team has shared opinions, experiences and thoughts out loud then this can often lead to trusting one another.
Safety is another factor that is mentioned by Runde and Flanagan. They don't mean the safety that a seat belt could provide for example. They mean psychological safety. This is sort of along the same lines as trust. “Like trust, it allows people to share ideas and collaborate with others readily”(Runde and Flanagan, 2008).
Working together seems like an obvious one but it is not that easily achieved. There are some people who simply cannot work together, no matter how hard they try and agree to disagree, it simply does not work. “When team members know how to work together, they begin to give each other the benefit of the doubt. When they do so, they are less likely to attribute bad motives to each other and task conflict is less likely to morph into relationship conflict”(Runde and Flanagan, 2008).
Emotional intelligence is the last factor mentioned. If a team understands the values and thoughts of the other team members, it is more likely to be a working, cohesive team. However, if a team is not in tune, their goal will not be acheived. “There is less volatility and less risk in discussing issues when people have differences, thus enabling task conflict to thrive” (Runde and Flanagan, 2008).
Hetty van Gurp is a prime example of someone who has shown that using influence in the appropriate manner can have a positive impact on what can be an awful situation. She is the President of an organization called Peaceful Schools International. She is certainly no celebrity and most people have never heard of her but those that do know her, hold her with very high regard. She, and her organization are certainly not out to save the world but to provide support to schools all over the world who have committed to creating and maintaining a culture of peace. She started this mission because she had a son with a moderate heart condition. He was bullied so aggressively in school, that he eventually succumbed to his heart condition. She and her family could not bear to see his death be in vain. She took her grief and directed it into something that has turned into an international organization that has had a huge, positive impact worldwide.
