I am so angry! How could a group project go so badly? I need to get my head straight before our meeting tonight, or i am really going to step on some toes.

A cute quote from the cute lecturer: When things are going badly or you fail in something, well, you may as well pick something up, you know, while you’re down there anyway…

So what can i pick up from this disaster? The first thing is probably that when i can see an opportunity to take a leadership role, i should take it. As the only native speaker in a group of international students, and probably the oldest person in the group (tho whether they all know that is another matter), I should have recognised that the others in the group possibly expected me to be the leader. I have ended up as the communications channel and quality controller at this late stage anyway, and we are practically on the verge of me doing two people’s work at the last moment, as well as being the editor and compiler. If we had better organised communications and set standards earlier on, group members would have been able to communicate problems earlier, recieved assistance earlier, and not have this current chaos just before the deadline. My approach of reluctant leadership (which means giving everyone else a chance to take it before making a move for it) is based on general unwillingness to lead, a desire to avoid heirachies, and a reluctance to impose my western self on the international students. In this case, my lack of action has wasted time and left us initially rudderless.

However, during the course there have been a number of opportunities to organise into groups. The international students often want me, as the native speaker, to represent them or to take some kind of leadership position. Im uncomfortable with this (Let’s perpetuate Western hegemony together!), but in each case i can see that we would have been better off as a group had i nominated myself for positions i can fill. Holding back has been unproductive for everyone. In the future i will make an effort to assume leadership of the group if it seems appropriate.

In this case, i wish i had initiated a bit of a discussion about how we approach essays, our strengths and weaknesses, what our attitudes were to referencing and research and collaboration. I should have attempted to outline some clear guidelines on how we would proceed with those things in the course of the current project, and i would have tried to arrange the work to everyone’s strengths. Hindsight is 20/20 tho ne?

In the future, i will try to identify the assumptions i hold and make an effort to check them. Failed assumptions in the current project include:
Students at post-grad level know how to write essays.
Students at post-grad level know how to reference their materials.
3 weeks is enough time for people to research and write 4-500 words about a topic thats not entirely new to them.
Cheating on references is uncommon.
International students at post-grad level understand enough English to be able to do the work.

Im learning a lot in this course. I need to remember it. Sorry for boring you. Wise words or experiences of leadership would be appreciated.

(Yes Ms. Pixie and Mr. Karaoke King, im looking at you two in particular. And to the Norwegian Ghetto Kingpin, your words of advice previously offered will be taken seriously.)

• MissSin said on 06/06/08 at 12:39 PM.....

  Leadership is a tricky thing…to lead or be led?

  
  not really sure which i am, but i don’t think either is wrong - or necessarily right.

  
  i’ve come to the conclusion that it’s virtually impossible (in a work/study) environment to get things done if no one is in a lead position.  in an ideal world we would all be equal & all offer the same amount of time/motivation/ideas.  but it doesn’t work like that, does it?

  someone will ALWAYS end up doing more, whatever the good intentions of the remaining members has been.

  
  and there’ll always be someone who’s more of a slacker.

  
  and there’ll always be someone who takes more of a leadership role - willingly or not.

  
  the trick is to and maneuver yourself into the position that suits you & the group best.

  
  and if i knew how to do that, and wouldn’t be sitting here frustrated with what’s going on around me at work….

   

  and here ends my little rant.

   

• T said on 06/06/08 at 01:50 PM.....

  Sometimes you have to step up especially if the non-action of others is going to affect you negatively.

  
  I have the opposite problem..  I have to stop myself from trying to lead people that don’t need to be led.  I am getting better at it though.

• The King said on 06/06/15 at 12:06 PM.....

  In the words of the great Hawkeye Pierce (edited):  Some aspire to leadership, and others have it thrust upon them.  And then some of us get it both ways.  Sounds like no leadership got you nothing, and indeed put you back, and when you did pick it up, it was a bit late.  I tend to make my opinions known and ask for others’ opinions and then move forward quickly by articulating the needs of the group and incorporating others’ opinions.  If someone else wants to lead, great, I’ll follow.  If not, I’ll lead.  But I do believe in service leadership, i.e. not the hard driving ‘you do this, you do that’ but the ‘what do we need to do?  who wants to do this, who wants to do that’ style.  Then supply the support, encouragement, persuasion, sometimes the whip, to get things done.  Begin with the end in mind and then divvy up the work.   I do believe J-ster my dear that you need to get things done to your satisfaction since it’s your bloody education, if you need to pick up the leadership, pick it up.  Better than getting stuck with all that last minute work.  Yuck.  (Does that help?)  By the way, karaoke next Friday, any takers?  The King

• j-ster said on 06/06/17 at 08:08 PM.....

  Yes, it does. And i will in the future. Hope karaoke is/was good, i miss karaoke so much!!! Noone here appreciates it! Ken kinda looked at me sideways when i suggested it one evening…

  
  Man oh man, we gave the presentation last night and two of my groupmates stood up and read out sections of the essay. I was so angry.