Donny, the Group Leader
Donny, I believe, is the leader for various reasons. Donny is the group's leader since he keeps time and counts the laps for the runners. He counted laps and announced the amount of laps completed by the squad. Donny, as a leader, moderates the running by ensuring that the fast runners run gently so that the rest of the runners are not discouraged from running. Donny, in the same capacity, controls the pace for his squad and the distance to go before the next weigh-in. Donny also takes the lead in overseeing the weighing of the runners and assisting them in setting new weight-loss objectives. As a leader, Donny rewards the best performing runners with a jersey. Donny ensures that there is a perfect criterion for awarding the jersey, only the most consistent and performing runners received the reward. Through his inquisitive nature, Donny asks Harvey some questions regarding the running targets. Donny seems to take charge by acknowledging and creating rapport with the new member. Through such actions, Donny shows some leadership traits. After weigh-in, Donny creates two groups for those that achieved their targets and those that did not. Through the groups, Donny is organized to lead the group with facts and realistic Strategies.
Donny's Influence to the Group Members
Donny influences the group members by setting the targets for the team. Donny informs Harvey that the running exercise covered a distance of three miles for three days in a week. As the timekeeper, Donny influences the group by informing each member of the remaining or covered laps. By setting targets for reducing weight, Donny influences the group to work towards achieving the targets. While rewarding the best performing runners, Donny does not focus on individual performance such as that of Harvey and Harry who were the fastest in the group. Donny influence the group to bear consistent performance rather than individual performance. Donny also influences the whole team to finish their laps despite having some members who did not keep up with the pace.
Donny Influences the Runner's Performance
Rewarding the best runners influenced performance by creating the urge to achieve weight objectives and receive the jersey. Donny acts as a source of motivation by congratulating the good runners such as Harvey. The congratulatory remarks influence a runner's performance. For the team members struggling to achieve their target, Donny encourages them to finish up their laps and meet targets. As a result, Donny influences the performance of the poor, average, and good runners. As a leader, Donny gives instructions to his team such as those of fasting before initiating the running program. The team followed the instructions that helped achieve weight targets. Through individual talks, Donny influences the team. When Harvey sprinted in the last lap, Donny was concerned that the actions demotivated some of the team members with Donny's inclusion. Donny was against such actions and advocated for achieving team's target or group performance.
Leadership Theories
Transformational and traits leadership theories apply in this case. The traits theory suggests that leaders possess specific character traits and skills that are unique from other people (Bolden and Jonathan 4). Donny has traits such as being ambitious, persistent, dominant, decisive, and achievement-oriented. For the skills, Donny is creative, persuasive, organized, and intelligent. The dominant trait emerges with Donny's ability to influence others. Donny makes decisions such as distance to cover and is willing to have the team achieve their targets. Through forming groups, Donny portrays organization in an intelligent way. Transformational leaders are known to inspire and stimulate followers to achieve desirable outcomes (Bolden and Jonathan 14). Donny is a transformational leader by inspiring runners to complete their laps and helping them set their weight objectives. During the running exercise, Donny acts as a timekeeper and encourages the slow runners to finish their laps and meet their weight objectives.
Work Cited
Bolden, Richard, and Jonathan Gosling. "Leadership Competencies: time to change the tune?." Leadership 2.2 (2006): 147-163.
