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The Members and Their Roles 115

advertising group’s account executive, was highly cognitively complex. She constantly
asked questions to understand the client’s point of view, she absorbed the massive
amounts of information Marija gave her about which media outlets were likely to
reach the client’s target audience, and she was a master at weaving the client’s ideas
and suggestions together with the recommendations offered by the advertising
professionals.

Self-Monitoring
A third cognitive input important to how we interact with others in problem solving is
called self-monitoring. Self-monitoring refers to the degree to which a person monitors Self-Monitoring
and controls self-presentation in social situations: High self-monitors pay careful The extent to which
attention to the social cues other group members send, and, from these cues, they someone pays
infer how their own behavior is being received and interpreted; then, if necessary, they attention to and
can adapt their behavior so that it is more appropriate to the situation. In short, controls his or her
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there are two elements to self-monitoring: the ability to perceive how others are self-presentation in
responding to you and the ability to adjust your behavior so that others will respond social situations; high
more favorably. In contrast, low self-monitors rely only on their own internal cues and self-monitors are able
attitudes; thus, they say and do what they want without much consideration about to assess how others
how others are responding to them. High self-monitors, then, are keenly aware of perceive them and
adapt their behavior
whether others’ responses to their behavior suggest approval or disapproval of that to elicit a desired
behavior. They can adjust their behavior to achieve desired responses better than low response.
self-monitors. In other words, sensitivity to cues from others is not sufficient; flexibil-
ity and skill in adjusting one’s behavior as a small group member is also necessary. In
fact, this ability to modify their behavior instead of following their initial inclinations
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is the main reason why high self-monitors often emerge as group leaders, which we
discuss in Chapter 7.
High self-monitors demonstrate rhetorical sensitivity. Rhetorically sensitive per- Rhetorical Sensitivity
sons monitor what they say, adapting their statements to how they think other mem- Speaking and
bers of the group may react. You might have doubts about the ethical standards of phrasing statements
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rhetorically sensitive self-monitors, but we do not. The rhetorically sensitive person is in such a way that the
not a reflector who says what she thinks others want her to say or a noble self who feelings and beliefs
blurts out whatever comes to mind. Rather, before speaking out, rhetorically sensitive of the listener are
people search consciously for the most effective way to express their point in order to considered; phrasing
help ensure that other members give their points the fairest possible hearing. They are statements in order
careful not to insult or inflame other members. not to offend others
Ben, the retail advertising division head who was our advertising team’s leader, or trigger emotional
was good at phrasing suggestions so that clients could give them a fair hearing. For overreactions.
example, a client who owned a chain of shoe stores thought it would be funny to
have a cartoon kangaroo (kangaroos have huge feet) wearing women’s high heels
(an image Ben thought would keep women away in droves). Instead of saying, “Oh,
that’s a great idea!” (as a reflector would) or “That’s one of the dumbest things I’ve
ever heard!” (as a noble self would), he responded in a rhetorically sensitive way: “I
think the kangaroo image is really funny, particularly if you think about kangaroos
wearing high heels. I’m not sure it will do what you want, though. Our research

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