Developing Local Community Leaders.

The successful development of local leaders is the goal of leadership training and community development. Development involves defining and developing leadership. Although leader-centered leadership offers few chances of meeting the maintenance needs of the group as a whole, shared leadership allows the group to join in the decision-making process. Effective shared leadership has two conceptual components: situational and functional. Groups may have many member leaders as well as elected or appointed leaders. Leaders are responsible for task and maintenance functions. Task functions must be performed to complete the job: initiating activities, informing, clarifying, summarizing, and consensus testing. The following maintenance functions maintain good group relations: harmonizing, tension reducing, encouraging, compromising, gatekeeping, and testing and setting standards. Leaders must be aware of nonfunctioning behavior, leadership types and styles, educational level, and group size. Many personal characteristics and motivational factors affect the leader's acceptability and effectiveness, but it is the group's responsibility to make a selection based on the group's needs. Leadership skills may be developed by learning to use democratic power. (Three activities are provided in this document: leadership type, leadership traits according to functional responsibilities, and leadership traits according to maintenance function. Eleven references are included.) (NLA)