Rural Leadership
Leadership has an important place in the rural power structure. In the present complex society, our entire social system is directly or indirectly based on leadership. The reason for this is that there are very few such persons in the society, who have the ability to make their own decisions on any subject or to anticipate the circumstances. Most of the people in each community follow only a small number of people who have leadership potential. According to Chitambar, “In the power structure of every society, some individuals are so powerful and intelligent that they influence their actions by encouraging, motivating and guiding others. Leaders can be called power holders, powerful human beings, power centers or powerful elites.
This means that individuals who have a greater ability to understand and solve the problems of a particular group or community, they naturally tend to lead a small or large sector. From this point of view, leadership is called a social phenomenon. It is important to note that leadership is also a relative concept. This means that a person who has leadership qualities also has the qualities to follow. But when the leadership instinct of a person is more developed than to be followed and it is accepted by a large number of people, then that person attains the position of leader in the group. In democratic societies, the interest of sociologists, political scientists and psychologists is increasing continuously towards the study of leadership, but the number of scholars studying in the context of rural leadership is relatively less.
With the present discussion, our objective is to clarify the concept of rural leadership, as well as to see that along with clarifying the concept of traditional, rural leadership, it is also to see that in comparison to the traditional, rural leadership, what new related to leadership today is Trends are taking birth and how have they affected rural life.
Concept of Leadership
Many different scholars have clarified the concept of leadership in many ways. Literally (leader) is understood to mean any person who is a guide, head, skill in any subject, giving wisdom or behavior. From the democratic point of view, leadership is understood to mean a situation in which some individuals are voluntarily obeying the orders of another person. If on the basis of power in any person, to get other persons to behave as desired. If there is capability then it is also included under the concept of leadership. In fact, all these meanings are very narrow. Practically, leadership is that manner of behavior in which one person is more influenced by his behavior than by the behavior of others. does. Whether this work is done by pressure or by training personality related qualities.
Piger has defined leadership as saying that “Leadership is a concept destroying the relationship between personality and environment. It discusses the situation in which a person has taken such a place within a particular environment.” It is taken that his desire, feeling and intuition disciplines and controls other people to achieve a common goal.” On the basis of this definition, the equation can be said as that of the specific environment + situation of the individual. x instruction lead.
It means that a person can be in a particular environment, be it primary, religious, political, educational or entertainment and any field, when he attains a particular place, he can influence the behavior of other people by his qualities or ability. seems to do. This position is called leadership position. According to Lapier and Farnsworth, “Leadership is the behavior that affects the behavior of other people more than the behavior of other people affects the leader.” By this definition, Lapier defined leadership as leader and leader. on the basis of the relations found between his followers.
A leader is not only influenced by the behavior of the followers but also by their behavior himself. But when the influence of the leader becomes comparatively more then his behavior is accepted as leadership. In the words of Mam Seeman and Morris, “Leadership refers to the actions taken by one person that influence other persons in a particular direction.” Taking action is not leadership, but leadership means turning their behavior towards a certain or desired direction. It is almost on this basis that Teed has written, “Leadership is an action by which people can be influenced to cooperate to achieve desired goals.” For example, a village is a social unit consisting of one or many such persons. Those who can set their goals in front of other people and can inspire all people to work together to achieve them. According to Teed, “This pattern of influence can be called leadership.”
In order to explain the nature of leadership, it is necessary to clarify the difference between leadership and dominance. In the words of Kimball Young, “Dominance can be viewed as an instrument of power that is used by one person to control and change the attitudes and actions of another.” The element of power or power is necessarily attached to it.
The changes brought about by dominance in the behavior of individuals are usually through coercion. Conversely, the change that leadership produces in the behavior of individuals is voluntary. For example, if an officer makes desired changes in the behavior of other employees in his office, it is called dominance, not leadership. In addition, the success of leadership requires a leader and his followers and mutual sacrifice, while dominance can be maintained without any closeness and sacrifice.
Anderson states that behavior related to leadership is generally progressive whereas dominance has more conservative elements. Even after this it has to be acknowledged that leadership and dominance are not completely separate from each other . can be done. The reason for this is that even in leadership some people are the followers of the leader and in dominance also some people have to work under some person. It is on this ground that Kimball Young has written what we generally call leadership, it should rightly be discussed in the form of dominance.
From the above definitions four main characteristics of leadership are clear. They are – Leader, Follower, Situation and Task. TOP LEADER – Every group has a leader who interacts and establishes relationships with the people of the group at different times.
To understand leadership more clearly, we will consider some of its important aspects.
(1) There is a difference in leadership in terms of formal and informal influences. But in the situation of leadership, both the parties are involved. The person who is the leader in a formal situation may also be in informal and vice versa when a formal leader is ineffective in the presence of informal and effective leader.
(2) It is possible to measure the determination of leadership in terms of quantity only. A person can manifest different amounts of leadership in different fields at different times and in different situations. Leadership can be divided and distributed in different quantities among the people of the group or society. It is not necessary that the same person should lead in all situations and times. Leaders can change under different times and circumstances.
(3) Persons who lead have effective ability and ability to complete the task. Leaders of different qualities are required to complete different tasks and according to different times and circumstances. That’s why one person cannot lead successful in all situations.
(4) The characteristics of leadership are personal. They are related to the situation in which the work is being done. This is the reason why a person is a leader in one situation and not in another.
(5) Leadership is not only related to prestige position and ability, but it is also related to completing the work effectively. If there is no visible activity of the leader, then we will say that the leadership is very weak.
(6) Leadership involves the social interaction that takes place between the members of the group, between the leader and the followers, and between the individual and the group. Pigger believes that leadership is a process of mutual stimulation.
(7) The leader has a central place in the group. Sometimes the leader starts many activities for the group without the suggestion of his followers.
(8) The effect of leadership is that action is taken collectively by the whole group.
(9) Leadership is cumulative in nature. When a person plays his role in any situation, he finds pressure on him in many ways.
(10) Leadership can be formal or informal. The influence of formal leadership in the power structure of society is less than that of informal ones.
(11) The scope of leadership is wide. From directing the actions of a small group to the activities of the entire nation, the field of leadership is pervasive.
Qualities of a leader
( Attributes of a Leader )
For a person to be a successful leader, he should have many physical and mental characteristics. What are these characteristics? Psychologists differ on this Vata. Teed has identified 10 general qualities as essential for a leader. Allport considers 21 qualities in a good leader and Shribanard 31 desirable. Winde mentions 79 qualities of a leader as described by 20 psychologists.
Mr. M. N. Basu considers the following 10 qualities essential in a leader
(1) The personality of the leader should be strong.
(2) The leader should be sympathetic towards others.
(3) The leader must be a good orator because he brings the crowd under his al influence through his speech.
(4) The expression of the leader should be clear. People are easily attracted by his verbal expression
(5) The leader should have good knowledge of group psychology.
(6) The leader should be honest. (
7) The leader should have morality and kindness.
(8) The leader should have the ability to adapt himself to the circumstances.
(9) The leader should be aware of all kinds of information.
(10) The leader should be of many interests.
Apart from the above mentioned characteristics also some other qualities are expected in the leader which are as follows
Physical Qualities – The leader should be physically fit. Stagdil and Govin believe that length is a special quality of the element. Beligreth, Govin and Patridge Pradti found in their study that leaders were of heavy body. A person with a physically healthy, beautiful and attractive personality is more preferred as a leader.
Intelligent – It is expected from a leader that he is more intelligent than ordinary people, because sometimes in difficult situations he has to take decisions, he guides and controls the people.
Self-belief – The leader should have strong self-belief. At times, he grapples with conflict situations. On the basis of his courage and self-confidence, he attracts people with his speech. Scholars like Cox, Drake and Gibb etc. found in their studies that leaders were full of unusual self-belief.
Sociability – The leader should be tactful and maintain a relationship with everyone. Goodenough, Kantel and Stice, Moore and New Comb etc. All scholars consider sociality in the individual to be essential for successful leadership.
Willpower – The leader should have determination power. Many scholars have found in their studies that the determination power of the leader was much more than that of the common people. Only on the basis of will power, a person is capable of taking decisions, taking responsibility and maintaining self-restraint.
Hardworking – To be a leader it is necessary that he should be hardworking. It is because of hard work and dedication that they are successful in achieving the objectives of the group. Seeing the leader working hard, others also follow him. The prestige of such a person in the village is high, who works hard.
Imagination Power – It is necessary to have imagination power in the leader. On the same basis, he plans, implements them and finds solutions for future difficulties by anticipating them.
Insight – Insight is essential in a leader. On the basis of this quality, he finds out the mental state of his followers and changes his behavior accordingly. He assesses the future circumstances in advance and takes action accordingly.
Flexibility – A good leader is considered to be the one who adapts himself according to the time and circumstances. It is necessary for successful leadership to bring changes in conduct according to new circumstances, otherwise it is considered conservative and anti-change.
Excitability – A leader should be efficient, cheerful, ready to work, candid, original, cheerful, enthusiastic and energetic.
The presence of all the above mentioned common qualities is essential for a successful leader. This does not mean that a leader should not have any other qualities other than these or that one who has all these qualities will necessarily become a leader. If time and circumstances match a person having suitable characteristics, then there is every possibility of him becoming a leader.
Types of Leadership
On the basis of the origin of leadership, the behavior of the leader, the relationship found between the leader and the followers, many types of leaders have been seen. We will mention here some types of leaders:
F . C . Bartlett’s classification
Bartlett has given three types of leaders.
(1) Institutional Leader – This is the administrator or manager of an organization. The power of such a leader is based on tradition, customs, temple, church, mosque, school or economic system.
(2) Dominant leader – Such a leader is aggressive, pressurized and takes strong action.
(3) Heartfelt leader – Such a leader maintains his control through words and signs, he also uses flattery, suggestion and verbal advice.
. The Classification of Leaders by Kimball Young. Young has mentioned seven types of leaders.
(1) Political leader – Such a leader is a product of modern democracy. His area of work is usually at the city or state level. He belongs to a political party. It is the product of struggle and creates an environment of struggle to grab power. Therefore, he should be a good fighter and he should have the ability to form an organization so that he can get success in the election.
(2) Democratic leaders – Such leaders are also the product of democracy but they are active outside the political party as well. Such leaders are tolerant, adaptable and compromising. He firmly believes in law and order.
(3) Bureaucratic leaders – Such leaders are the product of government machinery. These leaders are practical, theoretically intelligent and disciplined towards their duty and work. They take any decision on the basis of law only. They insist on maintaining a certain working method.
(4) Diplomat – Such leaders work only according to the rules fixed by the government. They are the representatives of any government or institution. They use dual policy to achieve their goals. They use their words with great measure. It is said that when a diplomat says ‘yes’ he means ‘maybe’ when he says ‘maybe’ he means ‘no’ and when he says no it means he is not a diplomat.
(5) Reformers – In a democratic society, such leaders are usually found in many who try to remove many defects found in the prevailing social and political system and bring a new system. They are not radical revolutionaries but are passionate about change and reform. They do not want to compromise on their principles in any way.
(6) Pradolak – The fanatic is of radical reformist ideas. Those basic principles. Wants to spread and gets excited soon after opposing them. He lacks compromise, is violent and intolerant by nature. He wants to achieve his goal through violence.
(7) Theoretician – Such a leader is impractical. He does not believe in the movement. He is so much more. He does not care whether his principles can be put into practice or not. He presents his theories in an organized and systematic manner.
Orenstein’s classification Orenstein divided the village leader into two major parts. Again two subs of informal. Parts are given. We can put it this way leadership mataformal informal acknowledgment accept active passive
(1) Formal leaders: In this category, all those leaders of the village come who are appointed according to the formal procedure and rules. The village sarpanch, patwari, village servant, teacher etc. come under the category of formal leaders.
(2) Informal leaders – There are many leaders in the village who are not appointed by any rule or government process. Such leaders have more influence in the villages. They also affect formal leaders. Informal leaders are also divided into two sub-parts: Fuel (A) Approved, (B) Rejected.
(A) Accepted leaders – These are the leaders whom the people of the village accept as their leader. They have dominance and dominance in the village. Accepted leaders can also be further divided into two sub-parts – one passive and the other passive leaders are consulted from time to time. People follow his conduct. His qualities are a matter of inspiration for others. But they do not force anyone to obey their words. They are people of high status, old age and high caste and good reputation in the society. We can put village priest, temple priest, astrologer, saints and sadhus in this category. Mohini active leaders include those people who are powerful and use their power on people. They can encourage people to do some work or prevent them to do some work. Behind this act of theirs is the force of the majority. Sometimes their decisions may even go against the wishes of most people. They live with dignity, take forced labor from people and also use deceit, deceit, force and temptation when the opportunity arises.
(B) Rejected leader – There are some people in the village who do the work in some way.