EXERCISE 6.4

Independence

Going Along with the Group—Or Not

Purpose

To recognize the value of acting independently

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30 to 45 minutes

Review the applications of independence and discern best practices.

Outcomes

• Gain perspective on the value and application of acting independently
• Identify the factors that need to be balanced to achieve real independence

Audience

• Intact team
• Unaffiliated group
• Individual working with a coach

Facilitator Competencies

Easy

Materials

• Going Along with the Group—Or Not—Handout
• Flip chart and markers
• Pens

Time Matrix

Activity	Estimated Time
Discuss attached vignettes	10–15 minutes
Review examples of how they’ve applied independence in their own lives	10–15 minutes
Draft a 21-day development plan	10–15 minutes
Total Time	30 to 45 minutes

Instructions

1. Give the coaching client or the group the vignettes on the handout.

• Ask them to explore how they see the exercise of independence, or lack thereof, in the examples.
• Ask where they see healthy applications of independence and where the strategies are unhelpful.
• Follow along this track in discussing group observations. Note that different individuals may see different applications of independence in the same vignette.

2. Ask them to discuss their own experiences with the application of independence.

• Look for examples of both useful and unhelpful applications of the skill.
• Work with the group or your coaching client to develop a list of criteria to consider in determining the best use of independence as a skill.
• In your discussion of the pros and cons of behaving independently, brainstorm ways to do so successfully and tactfully.

3. Invite each individual to work with a partner (if that fits the group dynamics; if not, do so alone) to draft a twenty-one-day development plan for increasing his or her own independence. This plan includes the specific new behavior each of them commits to undertake for the next twenty-one days. Examples of elements of the plan follow:

• To decide on your own two days a week when and where you want to go to lunch instead of waiting for others in your office every day
• To speak up to authority figures in your life to present your differing view when you disagree on an important point

4. Remind them to look at the nuances of the application of independence so their behavior is respectful and furthers organizational needs as well as their own.

5. Ask each person to make a commitment to change and report back to the group or a designated person in the group in twenty-one days.

GOING ALONG WITH THE GROUP—OR NOT—HANDOUT

Read these scenarios and talk about whether each way of expressing independence was helpful to the individual and to the organization.

Scenario One

A senior management official reports to a board that has been quite pleased with his timely and competent work. He seems to always exhibit a can-do attitude with them and reliably gets things done. It seems whatever they want, he can do, and he never complains. Needless to say, the board members were shocked when they received the results of a 360-degree assessment with statements from his staff showing they were about to mutiny. It turned out that the senior official took whatever the board wanted back to his staff and told them to do it, no matter what. It often meant unnecessary emergencies, late nights, and confusing assignments because they hadn’t been thought through well enough. Now the board is wondering whether they can keep this employee.

Scenario Two

A few members of a seven-person team are disgruntled with their boss. The unhappiest person brought the group together to develop a list of concerns that they then decided to take to their boss’s boss first, without talking to their immediate boss. One member of the team refused to go along with the strategy, even though his co-workers became very angry with him. He had only been directly assigned to the team for three years, but he’d been working in the field for fifteen years and just didn’t agree that this was the right way to go about it. The other team members are going ahead, and the senior boss has agreed to meet with them.