6 Things to emerge as a leader in the Group Discussion
Group Discussion is one of the common techniques for selecting the right candidate. It is used during recruitment of employees or admission procedure for Masters degree.
Leadership is the most studied aspect of any group communication. It is important to point out that a group has only one authorized leader, other members play important leadership roles.
A boss overlooks and supervises his employees, but, a leader leads his team towards progress and growth.
Here are some tips which will help you to emerge as a leader in GD:1. Appearance: Appearance and personality always influences the listeners and judges. One should be well-dressed and look impressive and be polite to everyone. You have to be inclusive in your behavior towards all the members of your team. And yes, the personality has to be pleasing over all – A smile on the face does the trick!
2. Take Initiative: Taking initiative is an important quality of a leader. If you have understood the topic well and have something substantial to say, initiate the discussion. However, do not initiate the discussion for the sake of doing it and give fellow speakers also an opportunity to put across their views.
3. Openness to ideas : You have to remember that it is a discussion and different members are bound to have different views. You should be open to listen to them and accept them if they sound logical.
4. Direction oriented: A very important quality of a leader is that he/ she never loses the sight of his destination. And, this applies to the GDs as well.
It is very easy for the discussion to stray out. If you see that the discussion is distracting from its actual course, try to steer it back in the right direction. You can do this by politely reminding everyone that “we are getting a bit off track”.
5. Patience: Do not get into an argument. Try to be patient and listen to other’s point of view as well. If you disagree, you can counter them with your reasons when it is your chance to speak.
If you see someone not letting the other speakers participate, politely ask them to let the other member speak.
6. Body language: The body language of a leader is always confident but at the same time it does not put off his team members. He always looks approachable in interested in their growth. Same applies to the group discussions as well.
The leader here also sounds confident and interested in the welfare of the other members.
