| MUCG News | |
| LEADERS MUST BE ASSERTIVE, NOT AGGRESSIVE - Says Dr (Mrs.) Drafor-Amenyah | |
‘Being assertive is not
the same as being aggressive. Many people who had been so timid
and ‘submissive’ for so long tend to go the aggressive
way. Often, one goes aggressive before moving back to being assertive.’
This observation was made by Dr. (Mrs.) Ivy Drafor-Amenyah at a
seminar on Leadership organized by the Faculty of Social Studies
in the MBA Lecture Hall of the North-Wing Faculty Block at the Dansoman
campus of the Methodist University College Ghana on Thursday, May
28, 2009.Speaking on a wide range of issues under leadership she
explained the differences between being submissive, aggressive and
assertive. |
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| Dr (Mrs.) Drafor-Amenyah | |
| According to her, ‘those
who are submissive in behaviour tend to defer decision to others,
do not express their feelings and ideas, easily give way to others,
use apologetic words, address issues indirectly and avoid risk.’
She said by this attitude, ‘they may gain cooperation but not
necessarily respect.’ She described the ‘aggressive’ in behaviour as persons who are ‘inappropriately honest, put others down, dominates, attacks, blames, and over-reacts.’ She said such people often ‘use loaded superior words, and are sarcastic, rigid and demanding.’ The ‘assertive’ in behaviour, she said ‘are appropriately honest, express wants and feelings directly, and are empathetic, reflective and make conscious choices. They also exercise personal rights, respect others and use objective words. |
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| Dr. (Mrs.) Drafor-Amenyah
pointed out that various factors contributed to one’s ability
to be assertive. Among the factors she mentioned included gender,
culture, personality, faith, status, educational background, race/ethnicity,
age and others. She said the value of being assertive ‘is that
you gain respect from colleagues, family and others; free and easy
expression of ideas and opinions saying ‘no’ without feeling
guilty.’ She said being assertive also ‘helps to exercise
personal rights without denying others their rights.’ The second resource person was Mas Victoria Tsedzah. She spoke on the topic ‘Giving and Receiving Feedback Effectively.’ According to her, feedback is about past behaviour delivered in the present in a way that allows it to influence future behaviour. She said feedback also means helping the receiver to grow further. Ms. Tsedzah pointed out that the purpose of feedback was to share one’s experience/feelings about something that had happened. She said it was also to start, stop, continue or modify a behaviour. She intimated that feedback was a potentially critical dimension that was necessary when people interacted with each other in all instances. Among examples of feedback received and given at MUCG, Ms. Tsedzah cited confidential reports, students’ appraisal of lecturers, nature of interaction during lectures and students’ performance during examinations. She said guidelines for giving effective feedback should include; asking if the person wanted to receive the feedback, being descriptive not evaluative, and being specific not general. According to her, good feedback should be well timed. She advised that negative feedback should be given in private and that individuals should not be given more feedback than they can handle. She mentioned the need to check for receivers’ understanding of feedback and advised that the giver of the feedback should ensure that “his or her motives are pure.” Ms. Tsedzah gave some guidelines for receiving feedback effectively.
She said a receiver of feedback should listen, not explain; request
clarification if he or she does not understand; paraphrase for further
clarity; check his or her interpretation; not deny the fact but
check with others; ask for suggestions if possible; appreciate the
feedback, and say thank you. |
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