Archive for month: November, 2014

Episode 9: Getting to Crunch Time

In this episode trust became a huge factor to the players. Everyone became obsessed with who had the idol and even Jeremy went looking for it on Exile Island. When he couldn’t find it he tried to talk to his members of his alliance to make sure the votes weren’t going toward him. Even after giving up his reward it wasn’t enough and they ended up voting him off.

The chapter that seemed to line up the most was chapter 5. Jeremy was a leader from the beginning. In the last couple episodes however it was starting to become reality that despite his charisma and honesty, that his strength in the game can make the other players lose to him at the very end. Now that he is gone it’ll be interesting to see who ends up becoming the new leader.

The one person in the episode that seemed to show interest was Reed. He is desperate to be seen as an asset to the tribe and it’ll be interesting to see if he steps up. He did all of the strategies in becoming a leader, he listens to others, found out info about Keith hiding the idol (then shared it with everyone), and often shares his opinion. I don’t think he’ll stick around long but maybe his efforts with make everyone turn focus towards someone else.

Episode nine starts off with a recap of Josh getting voted off. His boyfriend is very upset that he isn’t here anymore. For the first challenge, they had to be split into two teams. I noticed in past challenges, the blue team was always winning the challenges, but for the first time, the yellow team was able to do well because of their communication skills. Even though it was a close challenge, the yellow team won the challenge. I noticed that it was very difficult for these people to talk to each other because so many alliances have been made. It was very quiet when they were enjoying their challenge win. As you can already tell, there was non-verbal communication because none of them were talking, but they could all tell that a lot wanted to be said. In the second challenge, Baylor won the immunity, which made Missy feel uncomfortable and nervous. I think the reason why so many people want Jeremy kicked off the show is because he really shows a good example of what a real leader is. He shows respect towards others, he shows adaptive styles, and he is very fair and reasonable.

By now, it is quite clear that the Huyopa tribe is dominated by two emergent leaders: Josh and Jeremy. Jeremy’s personal power has led his alliance to believe in his skills and knowledge whereas Josh has come up through the ranks with his charismatic power. That being said, I don’t think Josh appeared to be very likable in this episode.  When he tried to use coercive power to regain an alliance with Baylor, it seemed that his hidden agenda was all that mattered. He tried to be an autocratic leader by telling Baylor that she “owed him” but, when he realized that she wasn’t going to obey his orders, he said he was “done with her”. From that point on, Josh was set on getting Baylor voted out.

According to the 5M model of Leadership Effectiveness, Josh is ineffective in the first task of modeling leadership for Baylor. The text says that a model leader works to “build a climate of mutual trust between the leader and group members”. Josh failed to do this with Baylor. Early on, Baylor had been a willing follower but, Josh voted for her at a Tribal Council and this brought about mistrust. Keeping in mind that Josh’s leadership was derived from personal power rather than position power, he would have done well to remember that his power came from an earned status. The text points out that “followers have a say about where they are being led” and, Baylor did not want to be led into an alliance where she couldn’t trust her leader.

On the other hand, Fiedler’s Contingency Model of Leadership Effectiveness can be used to identify Jeremy as a task-motivated leader. For now, this style is causing him to shine in his role as a leader. He is enjoying good leader-member relationships, there is a clear task and, he has a lot of power. With regard to leader-member relations, Jeremy’s alliance seems to have positive group members who are friendly towards one another and loyal to their leader. One reason for this may be that Jeremy treats his members with respect. Missy commented on this when she stated that “Jeremy and Jon are the only gentlemen.” While the other male tribe members paraded around with bad manners, Jeremy took care to maintain his level of personal power by not joining in with the poor behavior.

It follows however, that not all of the power in this game is personal. Jon and Jaclyn have been repeatedly looked upon as a “power couple” in this game but, this episode makes it clear that all of the power is perceived to be in Jon’s hands. Jon and Jaclyn use a democratic style to make decisions together but, Jon seems to have the positional power of being the man in the relationship. The effects of gender and leadership were quite evident as Jon went away to Exile Island and Jaclyn returned to camp with the others. None of the guys tried to talk to Jaclyn or strategize with her  while her beau was away but, they all went running to Jon the moment he returned. Alec’s sentiments seemed rather clear when he boasted that Jaclyn was “gonna do whatever Jon says”. Maybe this week’s Tribal Council will teach Alec to show Jaclyn a little more respect, though; Jon followed Jaclyn’s wishes for this vote and voted against the guys.

Things don’t always go as expected on Survivor. Now that Josh is gone, it will be interesting to see if a new leader emerges in his place.

After the first challenge, Jeremy and Nadiya decide to give up their winning spots on the yacht to Jacklyn and John. This act was initially viewed as selfless, but upon further analysis, it appears that Jeremy and Nadiya were utilizing their group decision making and problem solving skills. Giving up their spots was a sign of appreciation for John and Jaclyn , but it also was an attempt to solidify their alliances. Even though Jeremy and Nadiya weren’t facing a problem in the present moment, they utilized their problem solving skills to ensure future protection. It seems as though Both Jeremy and Nadiya were Rational decision makers because they quickly concluded that their present sacrifice would be rewarded with future protection. After Jeremy is sent off to exile island, he quickly realizes that the hidden  idol is not there. He becomes suspicious that John has the Idol and begins to question the strength of their alliance. In the group cohesion section of Listening in Groups, one of the four strategies of enhancing group cohesion is the ability to emphasize teamwork: Cohesive group members believe that their combined contributions are essential to group success. In this particular circumstance, Jeremy is under the impression that he and John are in cohesive group relationship. Group conflict is the result of the broken trust of these two group mates. When Jeremy returns, he is certain of John’s deceit. This conclusion alters the course of the show. Reed is becoming increasingly vulnerable to being voted off. He becomes suspicious of of keith and decides to look through his bag wherein he finds out that Keith has an  idol. Reed Tries to form an alliance with some of the girls by revealing what he had found in Keith’s bag. As the number of contestants dwindle, the game has become more intense. Members within both tribes are realizing that the alliances that they have formed are fleeting and that there can only be one winner. Jeremy gets blindsided and voted off. I am so extremely interested to find out how this amazing show turns out! SO GOOD. SO GOOD!!!