Discussion 04: Group Leadership
Please note: In order to successfully complete the program, you must respond to this post. Your comment/response should answer the questions/show that you completed the given activity (if any). Read the post carefully and implement the learning in the chat rooms. If you didn't participate in Discussion 03: Group Development & Therapeutic Factors
, then check here!
Now that we have considered the therapeutic processes that are available for group building and development to move a group towards its common goals. We will discuss the role of a group leader/ facilitator/ specialist who seeks to activate it. Certainly, every leader varies tremendously based on the type of groups they facilitate, the approach, intellectual and personality characteristics, and other factors. Yet we know that to become an effective leader, one could develop common sets of skills and characteristics. The roads can vary but the destination must be the same to ensure members have the best experiences in the group support.
Leading the group is different from individual support.
Listening & supporting in 1:1 setup and leading and supporting in the group set up is different. Because in group setup, you are not just one but sharing the space with a number of other members too who may be going through similar or different situations.
You will notice a level of anxiety among members. The anxiety of how they will share in the group, what if others will judge them or don’t understand, or what if they feel stuck in the middle of sharing, and so on. And, in an open group, when a new member joins in while a member is sharing, they might not feel comfortable as a new person joined and who do not know what sharer is going through.
In such situations as a leader, you would be managing and addressing the collective anxiety of the group. Acknowledging and supporting each member to feel comfortable and so the new member who joins in as well. Reminding them how they all are part of the group and each of them has valid struggles. So, as a leader, you are interacting with a bunch of members and ensuring they get support as well as providing support to each other.
Group dynamics can give insight into how the clients react in social situations outside of the group.
As a leader, you gain insights into how members could behave in the group setup. So, it is important, you make better choices while being a group leader:
How much leadership to exercise. Every group is different. Some members are more comfortable speaking up and sharing with each other while some groups would need gentle nudges to make them talk and seek and provide support. So, as a leader, you need to choose and decide how much leadership you need to exercise based on the group you participate in.
How to structure the group. You can structure the group i.e. how the group will function. Whether all interactions will be parallel or it will be turn-based setting so one share and others listen and process repeats.
When to intervene. Some like to sit back and listen and support the members as the chat goes while some leaders like to have tight control and decide how the chat will move. Every leader is different. And, interventions will vary based on groups too. If all members are supportive and comfortable discussing, a leader would let members discuss and support each other. While if some members join in with unacceptable behavior, the leader would need to take the lead and remind them to have appropriate behavior.
Personal Qualities of a Leader
Every leader has their own strengths and weaknesses and has a unique style to approach the group and lead it. But to be an effective group leader, it is important to have some common skills and traits like Constancy, Active Listening, Firm Identity, Confidence, Spontaneity, Integrity, Trust, Humor & Empathy.
You need to build your own firm identity in the group as there would be different leaders at different time periods. So, to build a healthy connection with the group members, it is important members know what kind of leader you are so they feel comfortable and have a sense of belonging when you present in the room. Moreover, be an empathetic leader who communicates with each member with respect and acceptance. Encourages them to discuss, share more, and take action. Compliments the members from time to time to keep them motivated and remind them their actions are getting noticed. Gently persuade them to speak more and take steps to progress and improve. And, provide support to all so everyone feels supported and has a sense of belonging.
As a leader, you are modeling and shaping the behavior of the room and group members. You would need to set an example and inspire group members to be like one and collectively have a modeled group support in the room. Your activity, participation, professionalism, and support determine how the group will be doing.
Discussion: How do you visualize ideal group support and group room as a group leader? What is one thing you need to make it happen?
Activity: Respond to at least two of your fellow trainees' comments with thoughts on their share.
After fulfilling the requirements of this post, please check out the next discussion here! Ensure to implement the learning from these discussions in the chat rooms to build and support the group. You must take part in the brainstorming/activities given in all of these discussions to successfully complete the program.
@ASilentObserver
Discussion: How do you visualize ideal group support and group room as a group leader?
I visualize a responsible group support room. By responsible, I mean every member and leader is aware that the room isn't all about them, it's all about everyone in it. And so, on top of wanting to be seen, heard, and validated, they should also be conscious of making other people in it, leaders or members, feel seen, heard, and validated.
Being open and vulnerable requires a lot out of people, but so is responding. We all have a responsibility to each other and to our shared space to make it conducive to remarkable exchanges of information, support, and positivity.
So, I visualize a responsible group support room where members and leaders equally work together to care, encourage, support, and be there for each other. :)
What is one thing you need to make it happen?
New guidelines before entering support group chat rooms. Keeping track of people who usually cause conflict (unconsciously or on purpose) and then providing them with 1-on-1 support to guide them on how to act in support group chat rooms (because there are some of them), manage their emotions, and how to become encouraging and supportive of the other people in the room.
For the fun part, if it's a possibility to hold "leader for a day" events in the rooms. Have members experience what it's like to be a room supporter/moderator so they would know how it feels like to be on the other side.
@ASilentObserver I personally think the ideal group support and group room would be one where every participant feels heard, safe and valued.
To ensure this, I would make sure every participant gets a warm welcome into the amicable environment that awaits them! Giving them an opportunity to respond and talk about any challenges on their mind would make the group an ideal one.
I feel that an ideal group does not always have to be one without any problems or conflicts, but it should be such that any arising issues are tackled together by all the members with effective and relevant resources. The group leader should make sure that they give the best of their efforts to bring about positive changes in the setting, providing time to the members to form bonds with one another too.
@StargirlTina really liked your idea of an ideal room "where every participant feels heard, safe and valued." thanks for sharing
My ideal space for group chats is where we are accepting of everyone, Where we can have a safe and welcoming space where everyone feels comfortable sharing what's on their mind. Everyone shines with empathy, understanding, validation, compassion, patience, and being non-judgmental. It is where everyone feels included and that this is their second home, that we belong, belong to a community. I view our chats to be structured, with everyone keeping in mind guidelines. It is where people feel respected, encouraged, supported, and are learning from each other. Through our diversity and uniquenesses between everyone from around the world, we can come together to build friendships, support and inspire each other, and learn about mental health/leadership/listening.
I think one way to achieve this is by starting with myself, remembering the rules, guidelines, and missions of cups, and working to be a positive and supportive member of this community. I can continue to look to take training and check in with my mentors to make sure my leadership and hosting are good to go. We can lead by example, showing other listeners and members how we can show empathy and understanding and all the things I mention. When we have good moderation, rules in place, and proper training for everyone, we will have the skills to achieve what the site can ideally be. Ultimately we are all humans and will mess up and have bad days. However, if we have the support and the programs put in place and all work to be open-minded to growing and always trying our best to achieve this, we will progress to this ideal group support.
@Estrellitaa
I love the emphasis you place on how our own attitudes as leaders impacts the success of group support. I agree whole heartedly with your point about being open to growing and learning all the time. Having that growth mindset benefits everyone and can be really inspiring for others to see too!
Discussion: How do you visualize ideal group support and group room as a group leader? What is one thing you need to make it happen?
I think it's really important for the leader to give up the scripts, listen and respond. We can do this by applying empathy and humor. In some cases, it's hard to tell which parts are safe to be spontaneous in, so I'd rely on other participants in the room to share their own POV as well.
@BrightandGentleHand
That's a really good point Bright. Spontaneous interaction versus controlled discussions is a tricky balance to have. I think you're right, knowing when to let natural conversation flow is a real skill and can determine the success of the support.
@ASilentObserver
Discussion: How do you visualize ideal group support and group room as a group leader? What is one thing you need to make it happen?
Ideal group support needs a balance between regular members and new members. It needs to be a space where everyone feels as though they can speak and be welcomed. Regular members are important and so are approachable/down to earth leaders but I believe it's more important to connect new members with old, to foster a sense of togetherness for the members (based on topic probably).
I believe part of this could be acheived by making some spaces member versus listener. Not in an aggressive way obviously but how about a member versus listener quiz or questions/discussions where the members ideas are pooled together.
In the same sort of spirit that 'houses' and 'house points' at school bands large sections of the school community together across ages. We could perhaps do a similar thing? Creating unity across the topics, ages, existing communitie?
It would be really important to balance this carefully so that the competitiveness does not get out of hand and create them versus us extremities. Probably set sessions rather than open ended and the right sort of leaders would have to be involved e.g. those who are familiar to members or who have built some sort of bond within a space first.
🦊
@ASilentObserver How do you visualize ideal group support and group room as a group leader? What is one thing you need to make it happen?
I would want an ideal group support to be where everyone are welcomed in the group chat and participate in the group chat. Everyone would have a right to say about their opinions on things or their suggestions if they have any.
One thing i need to make it happen is to have a certain topic to talk about which interests everyone so they can put their point of view across. Having a discussion on a topic, we could get to know various opinions on different subjects which helps us to improve and which would involve group participation
@yourbuddy30
That's a great idea buddy. When we have a topic for discussion, we can get all involved and there's a sense of community.
@ASilentObserver
How do you visualize ideal group support and group room as a group leader? What is one thing you need to make it happen?
I visualize ideal group as the one that can be open for everyone, its important that we all learn to understand eachother, learn new things that way we are able to support and grow together, build a stronger community full of compassion, comforting words, explanations, answers, hope, humanity and mental health awareness. A group :
One-for-all-all-for-one ♥️
To make it happen we need to start from ourself, imagine a perfect group and build it, reach out to the ones in need, be a helping hand and there we have it, showing and learning and passing the lessons to others can create a beautiful environment. At the end we are all in this together 💜
@ASilentObserver
My vision of a great group support room is somewhere that changes regular but is also focussed and grows with time, shows love, care, respect whilst also promoting freedom and space to speak without interruption.
A place where everyone is included and has a chance to speak without interruption so that they are heard and listened to.
The below is an example ONLY
Group Support Room called "The Cafe", 4 sessions a day which would be spread across 24 hours to ensure everyone worldwide is included, Topic Name "Coffee Morning - Weekly Achievements" with a title "Grab a coffee and join us for coffee morning, to hear some great achievements from our community members", it would work so that only one person is able to speak at a time and is free and open to tell everyone about any achievements, everyone gets a turn, and then we have an appraisal time where people can request to speak, and either ask questions about how someone was able to achieve what they did, or merely to congratulate, there could be a wide range of topics, not just achievements and about anything.
How would we Implement this?
Forgive me if I'm incorrect, but I think we already have rooms using a similar system, but this particular room as I said can change, and could change based on statistics (for example: what is the most viewed topic on 7 cups this week?) or we could even have a range of topics people can vote for, I would probably be tempted to only allow a certain number of people in the room at one time (i.e. Entry by username or ticket only) as I genuinely believe this would be a popular idea.
Obviously, in this nature, I would be tempted to either explore adding rules in addition to the current ones, or having the guidelines posted regular within the chat to ensure they are enforced.
@iCareUK
In addition to the above, the sessions would also be on a regular weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis based on demand to give our members purpose, structure and routine, we could also use any ideas discussed to further information and support throughout 7 cups.
@ASilentObserver
How do you visualize ideal group support and group room as a group leader? What is one thing you need to make it happen?
An ideal group support room would be the one that is inclusive. It is a space where everyone feel comfortable to share their stories and support each other.
As a leader, we can make sure there is supportive atmosphere by welcoming all who join the room, post the room guidelines (if any). The leader needs to take the initiative to remind people to be supportive, to observe the room dynamics which often varies depending on who are present in the room, let people in the room talk but know when to intervene.
