LEADERSHIP - MEANING, CLASSIFICATION OF LEADERS, ROLES OF A LEADER AND DIFFERENT METHODS IN SELECTION OF A LEADER

LEADERSHIP - MEANING, CLASSIFICATION OF LEADERS, ROLES OF A LEADER AND DIFFERENT METHODS IN SELECTION OF A LEADER

 

Definitions of Leader:-

Leader is a person who exerts an influence over a number of people.

 

Leader is one who leads by initiation of social behavior, by directing, organizing or controlling the efforts of others, by prestige or power or position.

 

Leadership is defined as an activity in which effort is made to influence people to cooperate in achieving a goal viewed by the group as desirable.                                                               – Rogers and Olmsted

 

Leadership is defined as the role and status of one or more individuals in the structure and functioning of group organizations, which enable these groups to meet a need or purpose that can be achieved only through the co-operation of the members of the group.

 

Types of Leaders:-

There are several classifications of leaders. For example the leaders may be classified in terms of the types of groups they work with such as political, military, business, religious, recreational leaders etc. Whyte has classified leaders in to 4 categories as follows,

 

1. Operational Leaders:- Those persons who actually initiate action within the group, regardless of whether or not they hold an elected office.

 2. Popularity Leaders:- Means in a group a popular person will be elected to a position of leadership because the members like him. Sometimes such an individual may or may not be the actual leader of the group. Such persons holding elective positions do very little about initiating action for the group and are mere figureheads or ornamental leaders. They are also called nominal leaders.

 

3. Assumed Representative Type:- refers to a person selected to work with a committee or other leaders because the latter (Group B) have assumed that he represents another group (Group A) they desire to work with; he may or may not be a leader of the group.

 

4. Prominent Talent:- e.g. artists and musicians who have exhibited an outstanding ability and accomplishment in their respective fields. It may include the experts and intellectual leaders.

 

 

Another classification divides leaders in to 2 categories:-

1. Professional Leaders:- The professional leader is one who has received specific specialized training in the field. He works full time as an occupation and is paid for his work. E.g. Extension Officer, Gram Sevak, Agricultural Officer etc.

 

2. Lay Leaders:- The lay leader may or may not have received special training, is not paid for his work and usually works part time e.g. Youth club president, Gram Sahayak etc. Lay leaders also called as Volunteer leaders, or Local leaders or Natural leaders. These local leaders may be either formal leaders or informal leaders, depending on whether they are regular office bearers of organized groups or not.

 

Perhaps the most significant classification form the viewpoint of modern research into the following three types:-

1. Autocratic Leader:- Autocratic leader is also known as authoritarian leader. He operates as if he cannot trust people. He thinks his subordinates are never doing what they should do that the employee is paid to work and therefore must work. If he is a benevolent (kind) autocrat he may tend to view employees as children and encourage them to come to him with all their problems, no matter what is the nature or magnitude of the problem.

 

2. Democratic Leader:- He shares with the group members the decision making and planning of activities. The participation of all members is encouraged. He works to develop a feeling of responsibility on the part of every member of the group. He attempts to understand the position and feelings of the employee. If he criticizes, he does so in terms of results expected, rather than on the basis of personalities.

 

3. Laissez-Faire Leader:- He believes that if you leave workers alone, the work will be done. He seems to have no confidence in himself. If at all possible he puts off decision-making. He tends to withdraw from the work group. He is often a rationalizer.

 

Roles of leader in a Group

Groups are dependent on leaders. A leader is not only a member of group and also is the focal point of activity of his group. He plays an important role in group's activity. The important roles of the leader are as follows:

1. Group Initiator:- The most important role of leader is that he should take initiative to get the group in to action.

2. Group Spokesman:- Leader has the responsibility of speaking for the group and representing the interests of the group

 

3. Group Harmonizer:- A leader should be able to resolve differences peacefully. The role of the group harmonizer is to promote harmony in the group in line with basic purpose of the group.

 

4. Group Planner:- The leader has to plan the way by which the group can satisfy its needs. The leader has to plan for the group and with the group.

 

5. Group Executive:- It is the job of the leader that individuals of group accept responsibility of their part of activities in any plan of action adopted by the group

 

6. Group Educator or Teacher:- In most of the groups the leader will have more training and experience. So the leader can teach according to the level of understanding of the members of the group so that they can understand his views. In this capacity his chief function is to develop and train other leaders so that group is not dependent completely on him.

 

7. Group Supervisor:- The leader also acts as supervisor. A good leader supervises the work of his peers and subordinates. Professional leaders such as Extension Officers, in addition to serving as leaders of social groups also devote a portion of their time to working with lay leaders and group organizations like youth clubs, cooperatives etc.

 

 

DIFFERENT METHODS OF SELECTION OF BOTH PROFESSIONAL AND LAY LEADERS

Selection of Professional Leaders:-

A. Interview:-

• The most widely used method of selecting persons for position of professional leadership. It is based primarily upon an interview and an evaluation of past academic and occupational records of the individual.
• The chief difficulty with the interview is that one can observe and evaluate the applicant only as he answers questions during a brief period of time.
• These tests measure ability, aptitudes, attitudes and interests and both the academic training and practical experience.
• The use of a battery of tests along with an interview provides a better basis for selection than using the interview alone.

 

B. Performance Tests:-

• These have been used in certain situations as a part of the basis for selection of professional leaders.
• One type of these is the ‘Leaderless group tests’ in which seven or eight persons are given a common task to perform and it is left up to the persons involved to determine which person have become the leader.
• Another type of test is to appoint an individual as a leader and then observe how well he directs the activities of the members of the group.
• The big advantage of these performance tests is that one can observe the potential leader in a real life situation in which he is functioning as the leader of a group.

 

Selection of Lay Leaders:-

A. Sociometry:-

• Sociometry is concerned primarily with obtaining choices in inter-personal relations, such as with whom one would like to work, play etc. or to whom one would go for advice on farming or other problems.
• It may be used in selecting professional leaders also, but of greater use in selection of lay leaders.
• It is necessary that all the persons involved in a sociometric test know one another.
• This method is very useful to the extension worker in finding out the natural or local or informal leaders in the villages
• An extension worker goes into a given area and asks the farmers to indicate whom; they ordinarily consult for advice on farming, which the extension worker wants to introduce.

 

B. Election:-

• Another method widely used in selecting leaders, consists simply of the members of the group electing a leader through voting or any other method.
• The extension worker can guide or assist the local people in electing the right person for the right job by explaining to the group, the functions of leader in relation to particular problem and outlining the qualifications of a good leader for the given purpose.
• Election can also be used for selecting persons to receive leadership training who later become the actual leaders.

 

C. The Discussion Method:-

• Through discussions (on any subject) the person with sound knowledge and ability is soon recognized and a mere talker easily spotted.
• Discussion gives encouragement and assurance to the potential leader to express himself, and over a period of time may make him more confident in accepting some position of leadership and he emerges as a valuable leader.

 

D. The Workshop Method:-

• In this method a large group is broken in to smaller groups and the responsibility of the program and decision-making rests upon the smaller units.
• Leadership emerges in each small group.
• The extension worker or professional leader in the workshop has the position of consultant, observer, discussion group leader etc.

 

E. The Group Observer:-

• The extension worker should watch (observe) a community or group in action and then he will be able to spot potential leaders
• He may observe the community in any type of situation. For obtaining the best results, the group should not be aware of that the extension worker is observing them Rogers who designated the local leaders as opinion leaders mentions the following two methods to locate these leaders in mass public.

 

F. Self-designating Technique:- This consists of asking a respondent a series of questions to determine the degree to which he perceives himself to be an opinion leader based on the analysis of the answers obtained, the extension workers selects a leader.

 

Thank You

Vikas Kashyap:)