Course Learning Outcomes:
At the end of this lesson students should be able to:
Learn what is Social and Personal Relationships.
Know the Importance about social influence, group leadership and followership
Identify the qualities of a Leader and Follower
What is Social Relationship?
Social relations are broadly defined as any relationship or interaction between
two or more individuals’ connection that exist between people who have recurring
interactions that are perceived by the participants to have personal meaning.
A social relationship is any voluntary or involuntary interpersonal link between
two or more people, individually or within/between groups.
What is Personal Relationship?
Personal relationships refer to close connections between people, formed by
emotional bonds and interactions. These bonds often grow from and are
strengthened by mutual experiences.
The concept of "relationships and family" is broad and varies from person to
person. What you mean by relationship is unique to you, but most people do
think of a state of connectedness, especially an emotional connection.
Personal Influence
Power of individuals to sway or control the purchasing decisions of others.
Personal influence can be either external or internal. External personal influence
involves social interaction between two or more people, such as a neighbor, a
mother, a father, and a child.
Social Influence
Social Influence refers to the impact social factors and constructs have on the
person in terms of emotions, opinions or behavior brought about by social
engagements. Influence may mean the occurrence of change in behavior caused
by a person to another whether intentionally or not resulting into changed
perception about themselves, others and the society as a whole.
3 Areas of Social Influence
1. Conformity- Is like the adolescents changing their behavior to be like others.
The challenge to this is that, it can go as far as changing beliefs and values
system to simply fit with peers or well admired superiors.
2. Compliance- Is where for example; college students may do what they are
asked to do, such as making them join student organizations or outreach
programs in the community. A times there can be temptations not to comply
however, many of them may be aware of consequences or disadvantages of not
joining or exposing themselves in such type of activities.
3. Obedience- Entails submitting oneself to an authority figure such as the director
of students’ discipline imposing disciplinary policies in school. This may also
include obedience towards parents within the family and submission to the
authority in the community. Adolescents may feel restricted to some extent
however, they are confronted with the pressing demand to obey their parents and
the authorities in their communities.
Group Leadership A leader leads others. One can stand out as a leader. John
Maxwell’s 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership states “The true measure of leadership is
influence – nothing more, nothing less”. John Maxwell further explains that if a leader
lacks the ability to influence, leading is nearly impossible.
The strength of influence carried by the leader is a product of constellation of varied
skills. Some of the major ones are the following: General background of leadership,
Mentoring and coaching, Knowledge of job description and standards of evaluating work
performance, Human relations and customer service, Knowledge of self and self-
envisioning, Power dressing, formulating vision and mission of the team,
Communication skills, Conflict resolution and management, Stress management,
Planning, Leading, Organizing and Controlling (PLOC)
The more skilled a leader is, the more he could best respond to varied challenges
presented to him. New leaders can be rigid while the experienced ones are more
relaxed and decisive not because they are used to the situation but the exercise of
frequent exposure, evaluation, learning and improving oneself may support such
practicality in responding with situations.
Essential Leadership Qualities
1. Communication- The best leaders are skilled communicators who are able to
communicate in a variety of ways, from transmitting information to inspiring
others to coaching direct reports.
2. Respect- Treating people with respect on a daily basis is one of the most
important things a leader can do. It will ease tensions and conflict, create trust,
and improve effectiveness.
3. Influence- For some people, “influence” feels like a dirty word. But being able to
convince people through the influencing tactics of logical, emotional, or
cooperative appeals is an important trait of inspiring, effective leaders. Influence
is quite different from manipulation, and it needs to be done authentically and
transparently. It requires emotional intelligence and trust.
4. Learning Agility- Learning agility is the ability to know what to do when you
don’t know what to do. If you’re a “quick study” or are able to excel in unfamiliar
circumstances, you might already be learning agile.
5. Integrity- Integrity is an essential leadership trait for the individual and the
organization. It’s especially important for top-level executives who are charting
the organization’s course and making countless other significant decisions.
Followership- Followership refers to one’s ability to take directions and to deliver what
is instructed of him. It also refers to a role held by an individual who involves himself in
any group or organization. The success of a leader is caused by followers who commit
themselves towards accomplishment of the goals set by them.
Four main qualities of effective followers by Robert Kelly
1. Self-management- This involves one’s ability to critically think, control and work
independently.
2. Commitment- This is a quality of a follower that sticks to the goal or thrust of the
group or team.
3. Competence- Refers to essential skills and attitude of the follower necessary to
perform his duties and responsibilities with the initiative to continually improve
and upgrade oneself through higher education, training, seminars and workshop.
4. Courage- Refers to the quality of a follower that stand on their ground unbent
with unethical practices of some corrupt leaders or superiors. They are honest,
loyal and properly asserts themselves to their leaders and colleagues also when
values are questioned and challenged.
Are personal relationships at work a good or bad thing?
With the average person spending 90,000 working hours over the course of their
lifetime, it’s highly likely romantic relationships will begin at work. But it is not
always bad news.
Measures for handling personal relationships at work
Once aware of some of the challenges you face with personal relationships at
work, it’s important to consider what measures you can take to address and
reduce the potential risks. Any practical steps taken to manage personal
relationships at work must be fair, lawful and reasonable, and not discriminate on
the grounds of a “protected characteristic” (gender, marital status, age, disability,
gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity,
race, religion or belief).
Social relationship in the workplace focuses on employee feelings, attitudes and
perceptions. It includes employee interaction with colleagues in the form of
subordinates, peers or supervisors that may be positive or negative.
