Leaders come in all shapes sizes and colors…
I wanted to specifically talk about what Jaime covered in class on Monday. Leadership is huge when considering thee success of a group, in my opinion. The two most prominent leaders that stand out most are Josh and Jeremy. In these last couple of episodes, since the merger, these two led the alliances that advocated for one another’s dismissal. Even though it would seem they both wanted the same thing, to get further in the game, they led their alliances and have traits that might not be so similar.
Jeremy probably designated himself as a leader in the very beginning. Everyone went along with it however I think Jeremy took a few extra steps to make sure he was in a leadership position. He spoke early and often, like our text mentions is a good strategy. Some would think that not giving others a chance to speak could be a major flaw in people like Jeremy. He would also offer his opinion every chance he could, even if it was on a personal issue like in this episode where the boys, Alec, Keith and Wes were treating the girls in a very rude manner; Jeremy thought that, even though they were on Survivor, a show meant to test your physical and mental capabilities, the men should show the woman respect by not farting or burping in front of them. They women start the fires and the men do the hard work, which Jeremy seemed to agree with. He tried to speak up for the girls, but in my opinion they need to speak up for themselves, maybe about the way the boys were talking to them but also realize that they were doing something that, by “society’s rules” was a masculine activity that took strength and agility, If they wanted people to treat them differently they have to treat themselves differently, meaning if you want a man to treat you the same don’t expect him to hold a door open for you just because your’e a woman. Anyway, I feel that Jeremy specifically help legitimate power, concerning Survivor, he seemed to be one of the few members that majority of others followed and were loyal to. He also has Coercive power to me because he brought values and beliefs over from being a father, husband and firefighter which allowed him to connect to more people in the game.
Josh was, to me, another story than Jeremy. He was an emergent type of leader. It wasn’t necessarily until later in the game did he come out as positively having traits of a leader. I always thought he showed those qualities in challenges when needed most; but then when there was a power vacuum Josh snagged it. Josh was more of a reward power leader because he was constantly being very nice to others hoping that by accumulating favors he could gain votes in return. To me he had very good communication skills and understood how to listen emphatically to other team members which made them emotionally attached to him, making it easier to follow someone who hasn’t always been a leader.
