Organize the Community for Action

The role of leaders and external facilitators in group development

An important aspect of the group development process is the role the leader or leaders decide to play. Different styles of leadership may be appropriate for different groups or even for the same group at different stages in its development.

Hersey and Blanchard developed a theory of Situational Leadership™ that complements Tuckman’s work (Kormanski, 1985). This theory states that leaders need to be aware of the different stages of group development, a group’s ability to do a task, and a group’s willingness and motivation to do a task. The leader should then tailor his/her leadership style to the particular needs of the group as it develops.

Hersey and Blanchard described four specific styles a leader might use in working with a group over an extended period: Telling, Selling, Participating, and Delegating. As the names suggest, the style usually evolves from directive to increasingly non-directive.

There are many other perspectives on leadership styles that are helpful to know about, such as Training for Transformation’s “authoritarian leadership” in survival situations, “consultative leadership” to build security, and “enabling leadership” to foster participation (Hope and Timmel, 1986). The list of resources at the end of this phase mentions several other sources of information on leadership.

Your team may want to think about and discuss appropriate leadership styles. You may use role plays, stories, or real experience with groups to try out various leadership styles. It is helpful to observe different effective leaders and analyze their styles to determine what it is about their style that makes them effective in the settings in which they live and work. Are they using a mix of styles effectively? Have they found a group that naturally fits their preferred leadership style? Which leadership styles fit more naturally within the cultural setting in which these leaders work?

If you find that your team does not possess the organizational development and leadership skills to develop and work with groups, you may want to consider recruiting team members who do have this expertise.

An old group or a new group?
Strategies for identifying and recruiting core group members
Core group norms
Documenting core group and other meetings
Assessing and monitoring core group capacity