Master Group Discussion Leadership: Tips for Emergent Leaders & Success

welcome back friends we are discussing group discussions in the previous lecture ah where we talked about both topic gds as well as case gds and we also show you how when you participate in a gd there are times when the discussion comes to ah halt because of the

conflict but then how can we come out of this conflict imagine yourself being a participant of the gd where you have something to say but you are not able to say and then there are two or three members who start talking to each other and creating a lot of fuss here

is the role of a leader as you remember well we had talked about the various theories of leadership but what sort of a leader we can have in a gd and how we can follow in the footsteps of such a leader how can leadership be exercised in a gd and who will become a

leader as usual if there is a case of designated leader or somebody appoint somebody a leader he will arrange time place and the other ways he also will decide the meeting agenda and then at times the topic he will try his level

best to ensure the rest of the group and the major task that he will do as a leader is to save the group he is actually a leader is a savior here and you also can become our savior you know any any discussion where there is no leader it is just like a boat which

is having people full but then nobody knows and when they come in the midst of the river and they feel who will help them so here is a leader so a leader is actually the main part of a group and as a leader he will be able he will be responsible to save

the group from getting sidetracked conflict arises because there are classes of ideas or interests now whenever there is a class and conflict it is the leader who will help in resolution of the conflict and then the leaders i will also fall on some people who

are totally silent so if a person who is totally silent anyone can help even even you can also you can also initiate you can also try to encourage persuade goad the person to speak so the inner participant to be brought back to the discussion so that you know everyone

has an idea because there are people who are ah not many people are extra word there are some people who are introvert in your group but then he also has to share his ideas only by little bit of encouragement he can come to start expressing his views and the leader

can also from time to time if he feels that the group gets sidetracked so he will summarize and then he will create such a situation where all the other members will start speaking and continuing we have already talked about the types of leader ah in a previous talks

in certain cases there can be specific leader there can be implied leader there can be emergent leader there can be designated but the case of a leader in a gd is totally different here is a person who will emerge as an avatar you know ah as a as a sort of incarnation

so suddenly you will find somebody will have that initial initiative will have that guts are to tell others ah can we come to the mainstream of the discussion can we come to the main issue fine so here is a leader who will emerge so here is an emergent leader emergent now

who can be emergent leader even you can be an emergent leader now you should have certain traits to be an emergent leader what are these traits what are these traits the first is all leaders have to be communicative know you should have a good communication ability

communication ability fine unless and until you have that ability you cannot convince others so a leader for that matter has to be a person who has actually you know what i have done is i have taken all the words of this ah ah

term leader so leader has not to be very rigid rather he has to be liberal a leader has to be liberal in his attitude he will see to it that everyone participates in the discussion so the first letter l i i analyze as liberal so leader has to be liberal a leader also

has to be eager and enthusiastic eager and enthusiastic eager to help very enthusiastic a leader also has to be a person who actually has a lot of knowledge you are in a group discussion because you have ah knowledge unless and until you have a grasp of the subject

of course in a gd you are not suppose to have lot of grasp about are the entire subject but then your previous knowledge will come your aid so a leader has to be a person who is eager a leader has to be a person who shows his

enthusiasm level in order ah to help the group come out of this or occurs or come out of the conflict come out of the problem help each other you know we we use the term help each other swim help each other sail otherwise the discussion will come to a close you know

there have been cases of many discussion where you know some participants simply look at the topic and then they say i dont agree with this and i think we do not have much to discuss now this should not be this spirit so a leader finally has to be a democrat what

i mean by democrat is as all of you ah believe a democrat is a person who sees that everybody gets an opportunity to share his or her view a democrat is a person who sees that nobody sentiment is hurt he also sees that everyone is treated fairly and the discussion continues

in a better direction a leader also at times he has to be assertive and how can you assert if you are not having the subject knowledge if you are not having ah a sort of erudition naturally you cannot assert so you have to assert without becoming arrogant

so assert when i say assert i mean influence other people by your constructive ideas and that will help you assert if i am confident of myself i can assert my point so leader has to be ah assertive a leader also has to be and (( )) meaning there by you should have

subject knowledge a leader also has to be rational you know he should not have a sort of discriminatory attitude and he should see that the ah discussion continues on the proper path in the proper direction and everybody participates

now the question is ah as sometimes you also might have felt that there are some people who never speak in the discussion now are these people danger some of you might be thinking it is good that he doesnt speak know so you get more time no if you are in a group discussion

you have a group responsibility as i discussed in the previous lecture so as a group member you should see that other members also participate the question is the panelist will see that why such a person its silent and nobody is taking any initiative

so the main task there is to persuade to try to got that person to speak and that is possible simply by being polite you know because ah there there there is a ah saying that an inhered participant or as silent person in the group becomes a liability since you are not judged

only because of your individual capability or behavior but you are also judged because of the contribution of all other members in the group you are just both as a group as an individual also hence ah they need is to see that the inhered people also speak they

also share panelist looks at everything the panelist is a person now what is the role of the panel is that are often you might ah be thinking the panelists after he has ah given you the topic he is an observer he plays the role of an observer he is looking at certain

things how the entire discussion maybe a times is also jotting down certain notes now a leader will influence the entire proceeding by his constructive participation by his rational thoughts and he will try to convince other participants of the importance of the view

or importance of a particular line of thinking and he actually tries to build a support by working with supporters in the group logically weakening the opponents point of view i mean if somebody takes a very extreme chance i mean goes too [fo/further] further and i am

goes to further in a way that other people get [abb/aggrieved] aggrieved now in such a situation the leader will come to the aid he will come to the help and will try to save and he will try again to fill the entire group with a sort of philip with

a sort of enthusiasm so that the discussion continues moreover as i said what are actually these ah panelists doing how they are observing group behavior they are looking who started the ah ah discussion but then they are also looking at each others reaction to each other

because you when you participate in a group discussion you do not participate only verbally rather you participate also non verbally by by showing your gesture by showing your posture by ah the pitch of the voice sometimes you know somebodys speak something and in order

to suppress sub do him you speak in a manner that may be hurting so what amount of loudness of the pitch you have maintained that is also in the purview of the panelists panelist will see to it who are the participants who speaks more who speaks less who actually started

speaking but suddenly became silent so who are the low participators who are the high participators if a high participator suddenly became a low participator what actually may be the reason so he is looking into all the details are there any reasons because

when you are participating in a discussion you also have to be aware of the fact that nobody is hurt there are many you know depending upon ah the topic of gd sometimes you find that if the topic is controversial because the topics may at times ah be factual topic

may be factual the topic may be abstract the topic may also be controversial so when there is a topic and you do not know what sort of topic topic you have been given so if there is a topic which appears lighting controversial so during ah this discussion

it has to be seen if somebody has been hurt religiously somebody has been hurt ethically somebody has been insulted so this is actually the task of the panelist so panelist see that why there is a shift in participation is it because somebody is going to support somebody

or is it because somebody is going to offered somebody or because somebody is trying just to pull his own weight and trying to sub the others so these are some of the questions which are on the panelists mind so please be careful

when moreover if somebody is silent you will find because you know that silent people become a liability on the entire group so in order to ah make him speak in the group sometimes ah you take such a stance and you may speak ah bit louder also so how are silent people

are treated in the group if silent people really have been made to feel that their liability know they should not be done moreover who keeps the ball rolling i mean you will find not everyone in the discussion continues to speak throughout but the participation level

is to be judged who speaks to whom and who keeps the ball rolling there are some people who simply believe that they have parted their part well their acted their part well now they do not have to do anything you know throughout as i said in the previous lecture

also you are to so your participation level and for that you have to so your motivation throughout you have to remain motivated committed in the gd so if the participation level is not naturally the discussion will not continue ah till the time given so who keeps the ball

rolling there will be some people who will ah have more participation why they are more participation not because they only have ideas but then they are more committed all of you both as an individual and as a group member should so ah that you are supporting each

other supporting in a way if you really believe that somebody is trying to augment or somebody is trying to develop your point so you should support that panelist doesnt believe in the thing ah that since you did not speak a number of times you did did not

participate actually he tries to ensure that either by sporting or by rejecting or by opposing you have proved your point so you should so an active interest in the proceedings by being involved throughout that is what is important not that you spoke at one time and then suddenly

became silent and you maintain that golden silence for a long time that should not be this spirit this spirits would be that you are thoroughly there your presence is thoroughly there now the question is ah how to prepare for

a gd this this question you might come across most of the time because ah ah as a prospective job seeker ah as a prospective candidate since you are to be judged in the first instance through a gd so what should you do now when you go to the venue and if the seats are arranged

the first thing that you should do is seat yourself comfortably be comfortably seated i mean ah the way you sit that actually reveals you are nonverbal behavior the way you start the discussion and if somebody else has a started the discussion and the way you show

your reaction through that also you are showing your nonverbal behavior so seat yourself comfortably that is the first thing which you should do then listen to the topic know many people those who have often complains that ah i dont know much ah they

are actually i i will call them the their escapists because they not believe in listening so if you listen to the topic you know half the battle you can wind if you listen to each and word very carefully some of the key words as i have been saying lies in the topic itself

suppose there is a topic about but when you should understand the meaning of the words which are in the topic some keywords will be there some word will suddenly ignite your thoughts so listen to the topic carefully listening

is an important ingredient of gd now we have been saying that if you listen you will get some more point you why because you know most of us haves ah a good many pieces of information which are lying in our subconscious and the moment we listen a particular word suddenly

we actually become alive and and when you become alive you start contributing to the group so listen to the topic carefully now when you start speaking before speaking it is actually mandatory that you should organize your thoughts when i say organize your thoughts

i mean whatever you have to say organize it in such a manner suppose i am talking about some policies ah oh which i like which i favor so i may say the recent announcement of this appears quite logical and convincing but then your your ah case does not end there you have

to also talk about the attributes why you feel because listening is an important part of the gd hence all of you will see that if you speak one sentence there has to be some follow up sentences that will ensure that you are ah having a sort of information on

that particular topic and you have organized and when you organized dont speak only in short sentences or in short phrases please speak the complete sentence and then when you speak see that the sentence is grammatically correct that is why i say organize your thoughts

before speaking remember all of you have to speak at the earliest opportunity what do i mean by earliest opportunity for that you cannot snatch others opportunities you have you know it is it is just like ah crowded bus where you also deserve some space

so how you will create your own own space is your own nd where so speak at the earliest opportunity but while doing so dont fight with others there are other people also because all the other participants in the group are like you so speak at the earliest opportunity

but see that if other person is speaking you have to maintain some poise you have to maintain some balance you have to have some patience let him speak and then speak but remember dont allow others to speak continuously the moment you feel that he has to be stopped

if if if there is a person who continues to speak for a long time maybe you can just intervene and say something but when you say something that has to be very rational because you are trying to see that time is being shared equally if you have to say something say it in a very

polite manner say it in a very polite manner as i have earlier talked ah may i ah sir my piece of mind may i say my piece of information i believe that what mister suraj says may be right in a particular situation but then this cannot be applied in all other situations

like this every situation has it own requirements i mean this is how you are proposing your own viewpoint by being polite you also have to identify your supporters and your opponents as we have been saying but if you are supported is speaking something you can keep mum and

if the need be you can augment his thought and you somebody is opposing please listen to ah his views carefully and then if you feel he needs to be countered you can put your own views so identify your supporters and your opponents

but remember because the panelist who has given you the time sees to it that everything is done well in time of course so you have to see that you keep track of time and time has to be shared fairly moreover thats should not stop you not from listening to others

listen to others and when you listen to others through your body language through your behavior through your manner so that you are committed while you are speaking to somebody please maintain eye contact not only while speaking or putting your own point but even also while

listening you now all your thoughts all your ideas will be null and void if you do not maintain the eye contact while talking to your opponents or even to your supporters but remember since gd its such a an opportunity where you have to shared time fairly at times

what people do and that they create a blender is they are in a great hurry and they simply feel that their space is being taken by others their time is being taken by others so you have to have certain percussions and one of these precautions the very first of

these precautions is dont be in a hurry to start discussion because you know if you have twenty minutes time you will get your time but you will have to show your own initiative never ever try to be silent in a group discussion you have to speak something and as i gave

you the mantra if you dont have any point and if you there listen to people perhaps you will get some points because there is no other the point in a group discussion since there are people who are expressing their views case should be taken

that you will never dominate know simply you know some people are under the impression that if they are dominate they will be decided as leaders that is actually a wrong ah thought you know simply by dominating you cannot become a leader you actually instead of ah dominate

let us use the word influence you have to influence the group an how can you influence you can influence the group by your constructive suggestions by your rational ideas by your factual and supporting views never take the role of a chairman who is a chairman chairman

is is a person who actually gives judgment know so you are not to judge you are to discuss know your roles and play your part well you cannot become a spoilsport i mean you should not become a person who is going to kill you

know the entire episode so never take the role of a chairman and do not ever take an extreme stamps sometimes you know many people what they do is they take a they take an extreme stance and they become very judgmental they become very ethical you know you have to be

ethical of course but while discussing you should not so that you are the only person who knows everything and you are judgmental and you say you cannot do like this you cannot speak like this know you do not have to do like the you simply have to express your own

view points and then you have to maintain that you are a participant as other participants of course you may be exercising your leadership skills through different ways by influencing by trying to save the other people who are trying to create a caws sometimes there may

be situations where you feel like you know the views of some of the people you do not like but then you should not waste time simply by arguing a lot with him you know he is as good a participant as you so you need to express your own views and

he has also a express it own views so never ever enter into arguments many people you know all all of us are humans so sometimes it so happens if ah if we find that there is a supporter for us we start a sort of whispering or parallel conversations so do not do that

never enter in to arguments with your opponents nor even ah start whispering with your ah supporters let us try not to pass value judgments moreover some people while they are participate in the group discussion also start looking at the faculty or at the panelists trying

to influence him that he or she is speaking but then that so wrong trait never look at the faculty and if somebody is not speaking i mean if there is a passive speaker if there an inert speaker if there is inner participant ah there is no need to shout at him by using

language which at times you feel are quite unbecoming ah which which are swanks never do that you know otherwise it will actually kill the spirit of the gd some some people have often been seen that when they are in a gd and they are discussing they start moving

accessibly sometimes in ordered to present their views and you want to try to subdue their partners they actually move forward also now this is very wrong you know you need to maintain a sort of balance you need to be

in the chair your thoughts have to have you know your ideas have to have weight you should not show your own weight moreover if you feel that you have a lot of ideas never put all the idea just in one go if you speak everything just in one go not only you are killing your

own time but you are also spoiling others time and some people feel that if i starts speaking and if i speak very fast trying to show you know your fluency and all you have to be fluent no doubt but you do not have to speak so fast

ah so that others may not understand otherwise if if others do not understand your line of thinking is there is any use of being in a gd no if you are a good speaker ah you will you will maintain a proper pitch a proper intonation a proper articulation level in

a manner that others also understand and do not digress from the topic it has often been seen that at times people while showing their views ah they deviate from their discussion but then that will be mended and that will be ah done ah by the leader who will try to

save the entire group there of course critical issues as i said the critical issue is of one person whom i have in my previous lecture call a person who tries to dominate such a person ah creates caws and ah he he can appear ah like a bulldozer

so and this bulldozer can be brought back to normalcy simply by finding some weakness or fault in the line of thinking ah but then there is no need ah to be too vocal while handling turbulence turbulence is a part of the game but the turbulence need to be controlled

and that can be controlled by rational ideas by ah controlling the thoughts in a very positive manner of course there are conflicts because of the nature of people but then ah that also has to be restricted to ah ah great amount because

there are some people who often ah while being very excited in order to prove their own points sometimes they also forget the fact that in a gd there may be gender differences also cultural differences also other some people who are very egoistic all these things should

be kept apart when you participate in a gd please see to it that you maintain a proper decorum once you are in a gd because your main ah objective in a gd is to continue a discussion in a very coherent in a very feasible in a very rational in a very logical in a

very democratic in a very ideal manner and this can be done if you maintain a sort of balance how can this balance come out you know sometimes you may find that the group gets sidetracked so at that point of time there are certain

majors you can define the problem ah and and as if as as an active participant in the gd ah you will feel ah that all of us have to look at both sides of the coin and whatever views you are going to say you know even if you are going to convince there is no need

that every gd will come to a proper consensus but at least there should be a proper exchange of words trial should be made to reach a consensus but sometimes there are certain topics where you feel there cannot be consensus but at least you can put forth your own views

there are certain gd topics which you might be very curious to know about gd topics differ from you know sometimes it may be as i said factual brain drain should be stopped ah human cloning should be ban sometimes it may be abstract also sometimes it may be factional

also sometimes it may be controversial also for example if ah there is a topic like ah money makes happy but too much of money make us dissatisfied and unhappy if we say there should be no reservation in jobs know that again can be a controversial

topic if we say can all the places of ah religious importance be ah ah transferred or be changed ah to something else now such such topics can create a lot of you know discussion but then care has to be taken that the discussion goes in a right manner and does not create

much of a sure are my dear friends keeping all these parameters into consideration when you go to participate in a gd take a mul mantra i mean take a solid stand but your stand should be based on logic and you should always follow the path that you are there to discuss you

are there not to quarrel because sometimes through discussion and through argument you end up quarreling our main motto through [gdo/gd] gd is not to quarrel but to express our views and come to a consensus because it is not only your

individual responsibility but it is also the responsibility of a group and a group as well as an individual they contribute to each other because every gd is a blend of individual responsibility and group responsibility i do hope that with the sorts of points that

we have discussed now you might be bubbling you might be getting excited to participate in a gd where you will use all these cautions all these precautions and help yourself become an effective speaker effective listener and come and come across any gd topic see to it

that you contribute your own might and you become successful thank you very much