What is rural leadership
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Concept and meaning of Leadership
The Greek root of the term leader, is associated with verbs ‘archein’ meaning to begin, lead
and rule; and ‘pratein’ meaning to pass through, achieve and finish. This means that leader is
one who begins and work is finished by followers. The latin verbs associated with leadership
are ‘agere’ (to lead/set in motion) and ‘gerere’ (to bear). Thus, leader is supposedly one who
exercises influence over others. This influence helps in directing activities of others.
Leadership is basically a group phenomenon. A group consists of two or more people who
interact together for fulfillment of common goals. In any given group there is pattern of all
reactions and interaction among members. Relative strength of interpersonal relationship of
the members of a group determines leadership.
“According to Tend, (1998) leadership is the activity of influencing people to cooperate
towards some goal which they come to find desirable”.
Haiman (1996) described leadership as an effort to direct the behaviour of others towards a
particular and thus it can be said that
• Leadership is a matter of influencing people in the group.
• Leader is able to gain cooperation of members in achieving the goal.
• The decision of people to follow the leader is voluntary.
Importance of Rural Leadership
The utilization of rural leaders is essential because of the following reasons:
• Extension has a long tradition of using leader in extension work. Extension worker as an
outsider may not have complete knowledge about different aspects of village community
nor they are supposed to have similar perceptions and feelings about village problems as
local people may have. Thus, there are good reasons to use such people who belong to
the community.
• Leaders by virtue of their influences can convey messages of development more
convincingly in the people’s language. They can use arguments and styles of presentation
most appropriate for the target population. They can also help to get social sanction for
development. Besides, they can also serve as mouthpiece of people before extension
workers, they can explain elaborately the needs and aspirations of people.
• Number of extension workers is proportionately far less than required. Thus use of leader
can help to multiply effects of extension work conveniently and convincingly.
• Leaders can help in enlisting participation of people in programmes of their own
development. It is possible to organize people around concrete problems. Leaders can
use their influence and skills to bring people together and empower them to take action
for their development.
• Villages in India are still haunted by deep rooted beliefs, customs, superstitions and
ignorance which influence development negatively. It calls for different types of effort.
to overcome social barriers. Leaders, if positively inclined, can play prominent roles in
master minding development in right earnest.
Every social group has certain people who command respect. They have influence and
undisputed following.
Their opinions count. They have people flock around them for information, advice or
inspiration or otherwise influence members to action. Such people are called as leaders and
such activity is called as leadership. They are also known as power holders, men of power,
power centers and power elite. If they are somehow linked with development programmes,
the task of development would become very easy.
Leadership is an act that causes others to act or respond in a shared direction. A rural leader
is the one who can inspire, persuade, influence and motivate useful changes. Bringing about
change is a critical goal because most improvements demand a departure from routine ways.
A rural leader creates a vision for others and then directs them towards achieving that. A rural
leader has followers who have confidence in him and give him support and commitment to a
goal. This is what leadership really means.
Leadership in rural areas is a key dynamic force that motivates and capture the cooperation of
people. A rural leader must have a magnetic personality. Persuasion is another key aspect of
leaders role. A leader must often get people to change their minds or take actions they had
not considered. Influence is almost synonymous with leadership. Leadership is often defined
as the process of influencing others to achieve objectives. He influences others to accomplish
such things as taking on more responsibility, achieving high quality standards and raising
ethical standards. Many leaders, unfortunately in rural areas influence group members to
engage in negative, unethical acts that hurt the community in the long run.
The Greek root of the term leader, is associated with verbs ‘archein’ meaning to begin, lead
and rule; and ‘pratein’ meaning to pass through, achieve and finish. This means that leader is
one who begins and work is finished by followers. The latin verbs associated with leadership
are ‘agere’ (to lead/set in motion) and ‘gerere’ (to bear). Thus, leader is supposedly one who
exercises influence over others. This influence helps in directing activities of others.
Leadership is basically a group phenomenon. A group consists of two or more people who
interact together for fulfillment of common goals. In any given group there is pattern of all
reactions and interaction among members. Relative strength of interpersonal relationship of
the members of a group determines leadership.
“According to Tend, (1998) leadership is the activity of influencing people to cooperate
towards some goal which they come to find desirable”.
Haiman (1996) described leadership as an effort to direct the behaviour of others towards a
particular and thus it can be said that
• Leadership is a matter of influencing people in the group.
• Leader is able to gain cooperation of members in achieving the goal.
• The decision of people to follow the leader is voluntary.
Importance of Rural Leadership
The utilization of rural leaders is essential because of the following reasons:
• Extension has a long tradition of using leader in extension work. Extension worker as an
outsider may not have complete knowledge about different aspects of village community
nor they are supposed to have similar perceptions and feelings about village problems as
local people may have. Thus, there are good reasons to use such people who belong to
the community.
• Leaders by virtue of their influences can convey messages of development more
convincingly in the people’s language. They can use arguments and styles of presentation
most appropriate for the target population. They can also help to get social sanction for
development. Besides, they can also serve as mouthpiece of people before extension
workers, they can explain elaborately the needs and aspirations of people.
• Number of extension workers is proportionately far less than required. Thus use of leader
can help to multiply effects of extension work conveniently and convincingly.
• Leaders can help in enlisting participation of people in programmes of their own
development. It is possible to organize people around concrete problems. Leaders can
use their influence and skills to bring people together and empower them to take action
for their development.
• Villages in India are still haunted by deep rooted beliefs, customs, superstitions and
ignorance which influence development negatively. It calls for different types of effort.
to overcome social barriers. Leaders, if positively inclined, can play prominent roles in
master minding development in right earnest.
Every social group has certain people who command respect. They have influence and
undisputed following.
Their opinions count. They have people flock around them for information, advice or
inspiration or otherwise influence members to action. Such people are called as leaders and
such activity is called as leadership. They are also known as power holders, men of power,
power centers and power elite. If they are somehow linked with development programmes,
the task of development would become very easy.
Leadership is an act that causes others to act or respond in a shared direction. A rural leader
is the one who can inspire, persuade, influence and motivate useful changes. Bringing about
change is a critical goal because most improvements demand a departure from routine ways.
A rural leader creates a vision for others and then directs them towards achieving that. A rural
leader has followers who have confidence in him and give him support and commitment to a
goal. This is what leadership really means.
Leadership in rural areas is a key dynamic force that motivates and capture the cooperation of
people. A rural leader must have a magnetic personality. Persuasion is another key aspect of
leaders role. A leader must often get people to change their minds or take actions they had
not considered. Influence is almost synonymous with leadership. Leadership is often defined
as the process of influencing others to achieve objectives. He influences others to accomplish
such things as taking on more responsibility, achieving high quality standards and raising
ethical standards. Many leaders, unfortunately in rural areas influence group members to
engage in negative, unethical acts that hurt the community in the long run.
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RURAL LEADERSHIP. The White House Conference on Rural Education has stimulated in- terest throughout the entire nation.
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