Leadership and Conflict

Question 1

Qualities for effective leadership (3)

Answer 1

• Competency
• Compassion
• Commitment

Question 2

Types of leadership (2):

Answer 2

1. Positional leadership (formal role of leader; legitimate authority invested in the role).
2. Organisational leadership (have a shared vision of what the organisation could be and inspire others with that vision).

Question 3

Styles of leadership/group facilitation (4):

Answer 3

• Directive (assigns tasks, evaluates, makes decisions).
• Facilitative (leader takes on supportive role and relinquishes decision-making).
• Permissive (relinquishes all tasks, and maintains decision-making functions).
• Collaborative (the facilitator maintains the power to make decisions but consults with others individually or as a group and delegates tasks and responsibilities).

Question 4

Conflicts in group work…

Answer 4

The issue is not whether conflict can be prevented, but how it is managed so that the group is productive, creative and tolerant of diversity.
Conflict should not be avoided or discouraged as this leads to suppression of ideas and creativity.

Question 5

Types of conflict…

Answer 5

• Controversies: one person’s ideas, information, opinions etc are incompatible with another person’s within the group.
• Developmental conflicts: a result of changes in the group over time.
• Conceptual conflicts: incompatible ideas or goals within the one person leading to ambivalence about group goals.
• Conflicts of interest: differences in needs, values and goals between members; competition for scarce resources, or rewards such as promotion; internal rivalry.

Question 6

Common ways of dealing with conflict (6):

Answer 6

• Avoidance or withdrawal.
• Confrontation.
• Coercion.
• Harmonising/smoothing over.
• Compromising.
• Collaboration.