Washington and Leadership

Washington D.C. is the most conflict driven city in the United States. There is never ending conflict between all politicians on each side of the aisle. There has been a heavily talked about debate in recent years over whether or not Washington is broken. The source of this is healthy versus unhealthy conflict. When healthy conflict occurs people have legitimate differences of opinion and the impact the decision will have. However in the past decade a lot of unhealthy conflict has come in to play on capital hill. Many politicians have hidden agendas and conflict therefore arises between individual and group goals. 

Many times we go along with what these people are doing because they have legitimate power. When someone has legitimate power it is based on the recognition and acceptance of a person's authority. Since the average person doesn't have time to actually see what politicians are doing we either simply accept it or criticize them for everything. However this is America and what people say matters. There is unequal power in society however with high-status people having more say than low-status people because they have more which they can give to the political candidate of their choice. In recent elections it is proven true that the more funding one campaign receives, the are most likely to win. 

Sometimes it is extremely difficult to see what a leader is about because they can hide behind their charismatic personality, motivation of others, effort, and so forth. The fact is leaders are both born and made. This can be exemplified by both the situational and contingency approach. The situational approach states that leaders are only important at certain moments and in most day-to-day operations their impact is small. The contingency approach is also very important because it links traits and behaviors to situations. 

The problem in Washington is not going to go away anytime soon. I believe the system is broken and it is going to take people to realize the unhealthy conflict and do something to stop it. Political candidates should not be voted into office based on their reward power and what they can do for lobbyist but rather on expert and information power where people are elected on their credibility and knowledge of the problem at hand.

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2010/09/broken-washington-201009

http://www.hrbartender.com/2010/training/7-types-of-power-in-the-workplace/

http://www.drnadig.com/conflict.htm

http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadchr.html

http://www.enotes.com/contingency-approach-management-reference/contingency-approach-management

"The Phi Sigma Kappa Creed. I hereby solemnly declare My Faith in the wisdom and love of God; in the dignity and worth of my fellowmen; in the strength and beauty of true Fraternity; in the history and future of my Country; and in the traditions and program of my Alma Mater."


I recently decided to join a fraternity, Phi Sigma Kappa. Coming together with a group of guys, specifically one's pledge class, can be very difficult when everyone is meeting each other for the first time. This is where emotional intelligence plays an integral part in developing a cohesive group that is all on the same page. I have been pledging for two weeks now and see how important and useful it is to be able to read others, read the group, and read the environment so that I can understand others feelings, determine group needs, and accurately discern and respond to the organization.


One big project that our pledge class must complete is the pledge house project: come up with and design a project that will better the house. This can be difficult because, being that everyone has just met, we are still in the forming stage of group development and it could be hard to disagree with other members with out it reflecting bad upon yourself. 

We are indeed working to be a team. We have a purpose, productivity, numbers, longevity, accountability, and power. I believe two very important parts for each individual of the team to know is the ability to understand their own emotions as well as the ability to understand others emotions. Emotions are what guide human choice and inspire behavior. In order for my pledge class to make the right decisions and all become brothers of the fraternity we will most definitely need to be aware of our emotions. 


I am extremely happy to be a part of Phi Sigma Kappa. I believe if I can use my emotional intelligence and it's seven skills (identity, motivation, emotional awareness, communication, stress tolerance, conflict resolution, positive mod) to my advantage I will be very successful in helping my pledge class be the best class this fraternity has ever seen.


http://eqi.org/elit.htm#Definition%20of%20Emotional%20Literacy
http://www.drexel.edu/oca/l/tipsheets/Group_Development.pdf
http://yolocoaching.com/services/emotional-intelligence/
http://www.phisigmakappa.org/about-psk