Discussion Topic: Leadership Qualities
- Use “Red Ribbon Committee and Sober Graduation” (p.274) from the textbook by Adams and Galanes (2018).
The
Red Ribbon Committee is a community group in California’s Central
Valley. The committee develops, plans, and presents several community
events each year that promote a sober and drug-free lifestyle. Each year
the committee debates whether the sober graduation party should last
all night or end at 2 or 3 A.M. Students, noting that their parents
would not approve of an all-night event, have said they’d be willing to
go even if it was not all night. Lupe (a 50-year-old Latina woman with
strong community ties) and Tracy (a divorced Caucasian woman in her late
40s who is quite vocal about how things should be done) argue that it
should end early because the students and chaperones get too tired. In
addition, they note that the majority of problems usually happen after 2
A.M. They suggest that the main goal of sober graduation is to get as
many students as possible to attend, and that means guaranteeing their
safety. The other four members of the group (a Caucasian female and
former school board member, a wealthy female Portuguese dairy owner who
is feared in the community, a Portuguese man who is very active in the
community, and a young Caucasian man employed by the school district)
argue that the goal is to ensure the kids are safe all night.
Traditionally, they add, these events have been all-night affairs. Lupe
and Tracy have become increasingly adamant; they want the others to try
their idea at least once to see how it would work.
You are the leader of this group. At this point, how would you stimulate creative and critical thinking in this group?
1. Offer suggestions, relevant to this committee, about how members can stimulate creative thinking?
2. Offer ways the group can critically examine the suggestions generated by creative thinking?
Just do response each posted # 1 to 3 down below only.
Posted 1
Discussion Topic: Leadership Qualities
In
California’s Central Valley, the Red Ribbon Committees main goal is to
promote a sober and drug free lifestyle. The issue that the committee is
trying to decide if the sober graduation party should last all night or
end at 2 or 3 A.M. Students and other members feel that parents would
not approve of an all-night event and that chaperones get tired. Others
feel that the main goal is to ensure the safety of the kids all night.
The Red Ribbon Committees could take some time to allow the group to
brainstorm about new ideas that could help the situation. They could
also allow the group to take a break and work on their own for a little.
This would help the group have a little personal space and time to
clear their heads. Rewards such as candy or other items can be given for
new ideas. The group can list out pros and cons of the problem. They
can work together to come up with a reasonable solution.
Posted 2
Hi Class,
Happy last discussion post!
As
the leader of this group, its imperative we as a group set the focus on
the goal at hand, really reminding the group who we are doing this for!
Setting the expectation that we are a team and we need to all come into
the planning with an open mind is the first step. With such a diverse
group with different ties to the community, they have a finger on the
pulse of what the community wants to see. Putting into writing pros and
cons of both the all-night events vs ending at 2/3 am. Coming up with
solutions to the cons of each idea, being the devils advocate to the
pros and having a collaboration on these from the whole group. Taking
into consideration what the communities wants and what has worked and
what has not worked in the past.
Posted 3
There
are many ways to stimulate creative thinking. The Red Ribbon Committee
doe a great job of reaching out to the community. In order for the
committee to reach an agreement they must all be on the same page.
Determining the problem is the first step. Every member should then
express their thoughts and idea. This is one of the bet ways to get the
creative thinking flowing.
Playing devil’s advocate is a great exercise for this situation. As a
team, they should gather all items and go through them. Once every
member has had their opportunity to share their own idea then the
decision about the Sober Graduation Party time will then be made.
