Purpose Statement
Within small groups, leadership styles can differ significantly depending on their specific characteristics. This paper aims to conduct a case study analyzing leadership forms prevailing in a running club I used to be a part of to evaluate how leadership style is formed in an activity-oriented community. The running club “Run Wild” was established in 2008 as a community of individuals passionate about running.
At the moment, my membership consists of 30 active participants. The club’s goal is to organize running events and social gatherings to promote a healthy lifestyle. The basis of the club’s operation is voluntary, with the members gathering regularly for joint running and training sessions and to participate in races. Being a member of this club for a year, I could observe the leadership dynamics in this group, which this paper will focus on examining.
Overview of the Selected Leadership Style
The leadership style mainly characterizing the chosen small group is democratic leadership. In this style, the leaders prioritize consensus among all participating individuals and value inclusivity and collaboration among everyone (Porfírio et al., 2021). Input is expected from all team members, and the decisions are made in collaboration, with the leader facilitating the collaborative process (Porfírioet al., 2021).
Beyond its definition, democratic leadership creates a sense of shared ownership for everyone involved. It makes individuals feel that their participation matters and can make a difference. The idea behind this leading philosophy is that the decision outcomes will be better with diverse perspectives being acknowledged.
In terms of the strengths, the quality of decisions is high in the approach. Another advantage is that group members tend to feel more engaged and motivated. There are, however, some weaknesses, such as a time-consuming decision-making process and difficulty in achieving consensus, resulting in indecision in some cases. A group may gravitate towards this style to increase the members’ satisfaction level and in cases when the problems need multifaceted solutions.
Application of Leadership Within the Group
In the context of the “Run Wild” club, there were several instances in which the members were engaged in this form of leadership. One of the instances that can be recalled was at the beginning of the first season when I participated in the club; the team needed to decide the races in which we would participate.
Each of us was encouraged to propose possible races, and after a joint discussion of the races’ location and difficulty, we decided on three races that fit everyone’s level. The second example was when we decided how to plan our training sessions. Even though we had coaches, they often encouraged us to express our preferences and ideas as to what we would like to focus on in the following sessions and modify them accordingly.
Evaluation and Recommendations for Improvement
In general, the leadership style in the group was somewhat effective and helped everyone to make the best of their participation in the club. In some cases, however, the communication of the feedback or the ideas was relatively informal, even though all members were prompted to express their thoughts. A more formal approach could lead to even more effective decisions, such as establishing an online platform where everyone could express their opinion on some issues. The members’ roles were also not established clearly, and it would be helpful to organize a voting process to select individuals who will lead meetings, organize events, or collect everyone’s suggestions.
Reference
Porfírio, J. A., Carrilho, T., Felício, J. A., & Jardim, J. (2021). Leadership characteristics and digital transformation. Journal of Business Research, 124, 610-619. Web.
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