SO FAR…

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So far on this season in survivor this was my favorite episode. It had a lot going on. First of all- after winning the first challenge Natalie and Jeremy make a drastic decision to give up their reward to show their gratitude to Jon and Jacyln for aligning with them and taking out josh in the previous council. A very bold and strategic move, everyone assumed that alliance is locked in. Jeremy is also strategically prepared to go to exile island, where he hopes to find the idol. Although leadership and actually being the leader can be very different it is obvious that Jeremy has a plan and seems to be leading his alliance in the direction they want to be heading, but a few things disrupt his seemingly sure advance. First of all while on exile island, Jeremy searches high and low for the idol, which leads him to believe Jon actually found the idol (which he did).

In survivor so  many aspects are important, not only leadership, endurance, and ability, but strategy is essential. To me Jeremy has been so concerned with leading the pack and keeping himself at the top of his alliance, he failed to stop the betrayal that he was working so hard to prevent. After his strategic move to get Jon and Jaclyn on his side by giving up the boat/feast reward he thought he was golden, but after Jon realized that  Jeremy was suspecting him of actually being in possession of the idol, Jon’s gratitude for taking Jeremy’s place on the boat was long forgotten. Although Jeremy was trying to promote leadership by taking such a big hit for his team, in hopes to further their advances, it ended up being the end of his time on survivor when in a split second Jon became convincing enough to the rest of alliance that it was time to send Jeremy packing.

I think Jeremy could be defined as a leader and for the people he wants to be aligned with he may display a form of leadership, in the sense during the council when Jaclyn is voicing her opinion about how the guys on the other alliance ignored her as soon as Jon was out of the picture, Jeremy added how he wouldn’t do that and treats Jaclyn as an individual, which I think was definitely another tactic just to keep people on “team Jeremy.”

In the end Jeremy was voted off and didn’t see it coming, I think he was clever and his leadership skills did benefit him but most of his competitors saw these characteristics as threats and recognized Jeremy for the strong player he was. I think if Jeremy hadn’t been so involved and gave up his “leader” position he might still be in the game.

Trait Leader? Maybe Not So Much

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Although each member is now playing individual in Survivor, for the most part, the members are still in alliances, which ultimately create groups. For example, in one group we have Jeremy, Natalie, John and Jacklyn. I argue that from the very beginning of the season, Jeremy has been a trait leader and he has demonstrated several forms of power including persuasive and charismatic power. Trait leader is defined in the book as a leader who is born instead of made.

Although it could be that he was taught him leadership skills, to me he always given me the impression of a natural leader. His persuasive and charismatic personality seems natural. For example, from the beginning people were trying to form alliances with him and he even expressed he felt like the “prom king.” His title of being a firefighter also gave me legitimate power, which is power from a job title. Especially at the beginning of the season, this title gave him the credibility of being physically trained and it carried on throughout the season. However, this did not save him from being eliminated.

Natalie and Jeremy showed Reward power when they traded their winning spot to John and Jacklyn. Reward power comes from giving out resources valued by members. Natalie and Jeremy though that by giving them these resources, they would guarantee their loyalty, strengthen their group/alliance and have better chances of being saved. Little did they know in this case that the reward power did not work because of the rules of the game.

Keith showed coercive power. In one of the scenes he says, “if anything I will play my idol and vote Josh out” Coercive power is power through having control and dealing out sanctions and punishments. He is trying to play the game by threatening to punish those against him, especially because he has an idol. This also gives him legitimate power because the idol was assigned and it gives him the upper hand if he plays his cards right.

For next episode, I am excited to see Natalie’s reaction and how she will handle the group tension!

SURVIVOR BLOG POST #8

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In this Episode, It actually starts off with a recap of the last season but it relates directly to the chapter because in the last episode John was trying to be a leader for his tribe and tried to trick Jacqueline and John into thinking they had an alliance. It actually turned to bite him in the butt because Josh tried to vote out the designated leader, Jeremy, but instead he got voted off by the tribe.

In this episodes challenge the tribe divided into two teams and each team decided who went first. In my opinion I believe this symbolizes leadership as well because they have to strategize who will lead best in certain areas of the challenge. The first member from each team were the more skinny more balanced tribe members.After, followed the women leaders of each team. Next was the strongest tribe members from each team which is a good example of how the text book describes the power of power.

What I thought what was really powerful in this episode was how Natalie and Jeremy gave up their huge feast for winning the challenge because in their opinion they felt like they deserved it. I believe this demonstrates true leadership because they both showed what it was to care ultimately, and this will most likely motivate the members to not vote them out as fast. They are trying to gain leadership amongst as many tribe members as possible which is a very good strategy in my opinion.

Strong Armed

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This episode added an expected twist to the season, because one of the most influential characters on the show was given the good old fashioned boot. JEremy was a strong character that showed many of the signs of leadership that we discuss in the chapter.

While after our class discussion i realize that we do not agree on all the same traits that leaders display, it became quite obvious that jeremy was a candidate for the leader position. He was physically strong and fairly sharp as well as charismatic and appeared to be well liked. However i believe that the other characters had a bit of cohesion and knew that if he continued on the show for much longer he would be a threat.

The  longer the characters have been on the show together we see more shifts in power, and the persuasion of all different characters. We see that bonds are formed that the the communication can become more personal, i also believe that this gives everyone a better chance to deceive each other. If one of the characters performs a well thought out lie, it tends to be more believable.

As far as my personal feeling toward the show goes they are mixed. I suppose that i am beginning to enjoy the show as i am more curious as to who will win. However i feel that many of the scenarios are not as dramatic as they actually appear. However this is all speculation, and i am assuming that all of the characters are very anxious to win or lose the big prize.  Whatever does occur, i am sure that we will have some good old fashioned american entertainment.

Survivor Blog Post #8

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This survivor episode got me mad. John has turned very selfish. In this episode relates again to our communication, especially leadership. John wants to become the leader. Him and everyone else are intimidated by Jeremy who seems to be the leader and the most strongest player in the team. Everyone rest in the team want wants to vote either Jeremy or Keith out, mostly Jeremy. In the challenge they had, Jeremy’s team won. Their prize was a ride on a ship with food and drinks. Natalie was on the Jeremy’s team and chose to give her position to John. Then Jeremy chose to give his spot to Jaclyn. I was surprised, but more surprised by Jeremy cause he knows John doesn’t want him. Jeremy shows that he is a good leader, looking out for everyone, and a strong competitor.In return, the winning team sends out Jeremy to exile island, that was wrong i believe. When John went to exile island he found the immunity piece but he didn’t tell anyone. He didn’t even bother to tell Jeremy who was looking like crazy. John wants to be the leader that he only cares about himself, he didn’t appreciate the favor that Jeremy did. That why in a challenge you cant trust anyone cause no one has your back. Reed on the other hand is against Keith, he goes through his bag and finds a clue to immunity so he realizes that Keith has the other immunity and goes around telling everyone. His intention is to vote Keith out and form alliance with the rest so he can be safe. At the end there are arguments between Reed John and Keith. But Jeremy gets voted out. Sometimes the strongest member of the group can be the biggest enemy because the rest of the team members want to be the leader.

Group Leadership in Survivor

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After the reality of Josh being voted off of Survivor sinks in, the men’s alliance realize they are in a really tough position. One of their biggest problems is perhaps their leadership issue. Josh may not have been the sole or clear leader of the men’s alliance, but he certainly led the alliance and took the reign to try to persuade the other members and persuade them to join their alliance. I believe that the loss of Josh is a huge loss for the men’s alliance because Josh was an emergent leader. He was not specifically designated or voted the leader, but his interactions and communication with both his alliance members and his efforts to gain alliance with the other members made him a very strong and influential figure in the men’s alliance. Josh certainly used a very proactive approach with his leading, talking early and often and offering his opinion in order to persuade the other members.

After winning a luxurious reward in the reward challenge, Natalie and Jeremy make a dramatic announcement when they decide to give up their reward spots to John and Jaquelyn. This gesture not only shows Natalie and Jeremy’s respect for John and Jaquelyn, but it also signifies the fact that John and Jaquelyn are emerging as leaders as a couple in the game and in the other alliance. Because John and Jaquelyn hold two very valuable votes, it is pivotal to have them on your alliance. Opposed to Josh, John and Jaquelyn take more of a backseat approach to their leadership, listening to everyone’s side of the story and plan and sharing what they know to each other to make the most informed decision they can. John and Jaquelyn’s communication and contributions to their alliances tribal council has evidently paid off and proven them to be a a very strong leader as a power couple.

John is obviously a very powerful player in this game. I think that this stems from the fact that John has both very strong position and personal power. John’s positional power comes from his and Jaquelyn’s position as the power couple and swaying vote. Because his vote is so vital as it is essentially two votes in one, he holds a very strong and powerful position when it comes to members wanting his alliance. His personal power has also gained prowess as his alliance members like Jeremy and Natalie have shown their strong respect for John.

Blog Post # 8 Chapter 5

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Claire Campagna Comm. 220-02

Chapter 5 Leadership

In episode eight Jon and Jaclyn seem to be the main leaders of the tribe. For a while now they have both been the focus and controllers of who gets sent home. This is because of their position in the game. They have position power because they are a couple that has been put in the middle of the the two alliances. Because they count as two votes they are desired. In this episode Jon also gains power because he finds an idol. This idol gives him personal power because it is an earned status. Jon is in a very good position so far.

Another type of leader in this episode was Josh. Josh has been a great figure throughout this season and has usually had a big say in who gets voted off. In this episode he is struggling to keep his power because now he has to deal with Jeremy and his followers. At one point he tries to keep Baylor as an alliance by using his referent power. He has this because he has helped Baylor in the past. He tries to use this to sway her opinion. In the end however Baylor is not moved and Josh is voted off.

Blog Post #8

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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.

 

Survivor entry 8

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the biggest idea that correlates back to our book was the presence of leadership.  In chapter five were given the question “What is leadership? ( Pg 101).  On episode9 its clear who’s the leaders and who are the standouts Jeremy and josh have solidified there stances and are the apparent leaders.  However once a leader or a standout player you unfortunately are targeted until there is no end.  Both of these players were eventually voted against and were sent home.  They both somewhat came out of nowhere and were appointed leaders not by democratic vote but by there strengths and soil sets.  Have uyu ever heard the praise he or she is a natural born leader, well i guess you could categorize them under that phrase.  Jeremy and Josh are leaders who obviously possessed leader charachteristics and as a result became seen as leadership material.

In this episode we see to groups trying to kindle up and solidify there alliance therefore Jeremy and Natalie gave up their winning reward to John and Jaclyn to sort of say thank you for being in their aliance in the last episode. Jeremy is then sent to exile island which he believed would be a good thing because he can then find the hidden immunity idol but he’s not sure if he could find find it because he feels John may already have possession of it. In the end there alliance was all a facade and Natalie and Jeremy’s alliance ended up getting Jeremy voted off.

 

Episode 9.

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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.