Liberty University Eye Contact Facilitating Communication Discussion Responses

You must respond to at least 2 classmates’ threads 

First reply:

Misty Phillips 

DB 3

    When I consider skills that would be hardest and easiest for myself as a group leader, I appreciated the video series to help me see what they would look like.  The one I would consider to be the easiest would be drawing members out.  Jacobs et. al. (2016) shared that eye contact with everyone, especially those not participating, helps to draw group members into speaking.  I am the type of person that does not like to speak up because I do not like the feeling of rejection.  However, sometime ago, I learned that if the leader made eye contact with me, I felt more secure with sharing.  I have found that even now, I make eye contact with people I would like to speak up.  I may not be leading groups, per se, but even in friend circles, I will make eye contact with the person not speaking.  That usually encourages them to speak.

    When considering the area that would be hardest for me, is cutting off.  I am a timid person and the idea of stopping someone from speaking is quite intimidating for me.  I felt better after reading from our textbook because the idea of using eye contact and shifting to another person, makes it seem so much easier (Jacobs et. al., 2016).  I saw Jerry Corey do this often in the video series and he was also very good at finding a small gap and asking the new person, to whom he was making eye contact with, what they thought of the topic. 

    There is importance to different personality styles and they contribute to the overall good of society.  In groups, power in the right manner, is very productive.  Forsyth (2019) shares that positive power encourages positive responses and actions by those under them.  The idea of a group is to have a positive power that encourages goal meeting and community.  Status is important because without it, someone is going to step up and form the hierarchy (Forsyth, 2019).  Establishing the status of the group, and leaders balancing that status, so that no one person runs it all, takes delicate balance.  

References

Forsyth, D. R. (2019). Group dynamics (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage

Jacobs, E. E., Schimmel, C. J., Masson, R. L., & Harvill, R. L. (2016). Group counseling: Strategies and skills. Boston,

                      MA: Cengage

Second reply:

Gina Barker INSTRUCTOR MANAGER 

Group Leadership Skills

It was really interesting to learn what you identified as the easiest and hardest leadership skills to acquire and use. What stood out to me in your threads was how many of these skills were identified as the easiest to use by some and the hardest to master by others, including actively listening, using eyes, linking, modeling/self-disclosing, and drawing out members. This speaks to the critical importance of knowing your strengths and weaknesses as a group leader. As this discussion closes this week, continue to examine these different skills while considering the role of various group dynamics—including power and status—along with leader personality and styles.