Observational Exercise

Out-Groups

Purpose

1. To learn to recognize out-groups and how they form

2. To understand the role of out-groups in the leadership process

Directions

1. Your task in this exercise is to identify, observe, and analyze an actual out-group. This can be an out-group at your place of employment, in an informal group, in a class group, in a community group, or on a sports team.

2. For each of the questions below, write down what you observed in your experiences with out-groups.

Identify and describe a group in which you observed an out-group.

Observations of out-group members' actions:

Observations of the leader's actions:

Questions

1. What is the identity of out-group members? How do they see themselves?

2. How were out-group members treated by the other members in the group?

3. What is the most challenging aspect of trying to deal with members of this out-group?

4. What does the leader need to do to integrate the out-group members into the larger group?

Reflection and Action Worksheet

Out-Groups

Reflection

1. Based on the score you received on the Building Community Questionnaire, how would you describe your attitude toward out-group members? Discuss.

2. As we discussed in this chapter, out-groups run counter to building community in groups. How important do you think it is for a leader to build community? Discuss.

3. One way to engage out-group members is to empower them. How do you see your own competencies in the area of empowerment? What keeps you from empowering others? Discuss.

Action

1. Using items from the Building Community Questionnaire as your criteria, list three specific actions you could take that would show sensitivity to and tolerance of out-group members.

2. In the last section of this chapter, six strategies for responding to out-group members were discussed. Rank these strategies from strongest to weakest with regard to how you use them in your own leadership. Describe specifically what you could do to become more effective in all six strategies.

3. Imagine for a moment that you are doing a class project with six other students. The group has decided by taking a vote to do a fund-raising campaign for the local Big Brothers Big Sisters program. Two people in the group have said they are not enthused about the project and would rather do something for an organization like Habitat for Humanity.

While the group is moving forward with the agreed-upon project, the two people who did not like the idea have started missing meetings, and when they do attend, they are very negative. As a leader, list five specific actions you could take to assist and engage this out-group.