Social Change Model: Congruence

Congruence is important in building trust and consistency within a group. Acting consistently is an important aspect leadership and congruence shows this. Congruence signifies that you will stick to your beliefs, what you know is right, and how you value truth and your group over the stress of obstacles and challenges.

What?

I’ve been faced with the hard task of showing congruency several times before. A clear example of showing congruency in relations to believing I fairness was freshman year during a leadership project. One of our members didn’t show up to any of the meetings and wasn’t putting in any input or work into the group. So, I had to be fair. Obviously, I did not want to inform them that I would be giving them a low grade on group effort, but it was the congruent thing to do and tell them. After this discussion, they picked up some of the slack but still underperformed. I gave them a fair grade.

So what?

Obviously, this situation was not pleasant. Giving someone a fair chance then still having to give them a horrible grade is not fun. However, it made me realize the value of doing the right thing and consistency. So, when the group saw that I was going to actually grade people based on their work and merit, then they were more genuine and appreciative of their work. Because of congruency, the kids who got an A on the project actually deserved it, and didn’t piggyback off anyone else. Congruency made leadership more appreciable as well. Since I consistently did what I said, people were more comfortable around me.

Now What?

In the future as I do now, I plan on staying congruent. When I move to a new place and a new job, congruency is important. In fact, I hope that my work ethics stay congruent throughout most of my professional career. I think one of the best ways to stay congruent is by building a schedule and staying organized for events and plans. Additionally, congruency is something I value greatly in a leader. If they can’t walk the talk, then dealing with that leader or manager would concern me if I do not know what to expect.