Leading

      Good leaders are the key to large-scale community organizing.

      They do not tell other people what to do, but help others to take charge.

      They do not grab center stage, but nudge others into the limelight.

      They are not interested in being The Leader, but in trying to create more leaders.

      They recognize that only by creating more leaders can an organizing effort expand.

Leader

      A leader is one who influences others to attain goals.

      Leaders orchestrate change, set direction, and motivate people to overcome obstacle and move the organization toward its ideal future.

What do People want from our Leaders?

      People want help in achieving their goals, organization needs leaders at all levels.

5 Key Behaviors of Best Leaders

The road to great leadership (Kouzes & Posner, 1987) that is common to successful leaders:

1. Challenge the Process
2. Inspire a Shared Vision
3. Enable others to Act
4. Model the Way
5. Encourage the heart

Leadership

      Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent.

      Good leaders are made not born. If you have the desire and willpower, you can become an effective leader.

      Good leaders develop through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience (Jago, 1982)

Leadership Style

      Leadership style refers to a leader's behaviour. It is the result of the philosophy, personality and experience of the leader.

1.      Autocratic or authoritarian style

Under the autocratic leadership style, all decision-making powers are centralized in the leader, as with dictator leaders.
They do not entertain any suggestions or initiatives from subordinates. The autocratic management has been successful as it provides strong motivation to the manager. It permits quick decision-making, as only one person decides for the whole group and keeps each decision to himself until he feels it is needed to be shared with the rest of the group.

2.      Participative or democratic style

The democratic leadership style favors decision-making by the group as shown, such as leader gives instruction after consulting the group.
They can win the co-operation of their group and can motivate them effectively and positively. The decisions of the democratic leader are not unilateral as with the autocrat because they arise from consultation with the group members and participation by them.

3.      Laissez-faire or free rein style

A free-rein leader does not lead, but leaves the group entirely to itself as shown; such a leader allows maximum freedom to subordinates, i.e., they are given a free hand in deciding their own policies and methods.
Different situations call for different leadership styles. In an emergency when there is little time to converge on an agreement and where a designated authority has significantly more experience or expertise than the rest of the team, an autocratic leadership style may be most effective; however, in a highly motivated and aligned team with a homogeneous level of expertise, a more democratic or laissez-faire style may be more effective. The style adopted should be the one that most effectively achieves the objectives of the group while balancing the interests of its individual members.

Principles of Leadership

To help you be, know, and do, follow these eleven principles of leadership (U.S. Army, 1983). Note that later chapters in this guide expand on these and provide tools for implementing them:

   1. Know yourself and seek self-improvement - In order to know yourself, you have to understand your be, know, and do, attributes. Seeking self-improvement means continually strengthening your attributes. This can be accomplished through self-study, formal classes, reflection, and interacting with others.

   2. Be technically proficient - As a leader, you must know your job and have a solid familiarity with your employees' tasks.

   3. Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions - Search for ways to guide your organization to new heights. And when things go wrong, they always do sooner or later — do not blame others. Analyze the situation, take corrective action, and move on to the next challenge.

   4. Make sound and timely decisions - Use good problem solving, decision making, and planning tools.

   5. Set the example - Be a good role model for your employees. They must not only hear what they are expected to do, but also see. We must become the change we want to see - Mahatma Gandhi

   6. Know your people and look out for their well-being - Know human nature and the importance of sincerely caring for your workers.

   7. Keep your workers informed - Know how to communicate with not only them, but also seniors and other key people.

   8. Develop a sense of responsibility in your workers - Help to develop good character traits that will help them carry out their professional responsibilities.

   9. Ensure that tasks are understood, supervised, and accomplished - Communication is the key to this responsibility.

  10. Train as a team - Although many so called leaders call their organization, department, section, etc. a team; they are not really teams...they are just a group of people doing their jobs.

  11. Use the full capabilities of your organization - By developing a team spirit, you will be able to employ your organization, department, section, etc. to its fullest capabilities.