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The following information is published with ROUNDALAB's permission from the ROUNDALAB Reference Manual compiled by Richard & Jo Ann Lawson, 1987.

The Importance of Leadership

(Reprinted from the North Willamette Callers and Cuers Association newsletter "The Bellwether" dated July 1982)

How important is leadership? Obviously, it is very important. A group cannot lead a group. The absence of a leader is likely to result in confusion or chaos. We need someone who can help us see the way. Inevitably, someone must emerge to lead, either by group designation or by spontaneous events. Otherwise - "If the blind leads the blink, both shall fall into the ditch."

What is leadership? It is the ability to guide or direct, to be the head of a group, or movement. To lead is to conduct, to influence or induce, despite problems or opposition.

A leader is that person who helps move the group toward its objective. A leader helps people work cooperatively for a common purpose. Can a person develop the ability to be a leader? Yes - and for a Caller/Cuer/Partner, it is a necessity. However, certain conditions must be met. Command and control of one's behavior should be a top priority. Like the sun and the stars, some things are beyond our scope, beyond our capacity to change. But, there is much within us that we can change and improve.

  1. Knowledge of the Organization
    Each job has a particular function which must be fulfilled. Each member just by the action of coming to us and asking for opinions, ideas, and decisions, will - in their demands or expectations, urge us on into a role as a leader.
  2. Stamina
    A leader must maintain good health, as he must have the endurance to put up with irregularities of life and have the energy to see tasks thru regardless of various discouragements.
  3. Positive Attitude Toward Responsibility
    He/she must be willing to assume responsibilities and must not fear decision-making.
  4. Capacity to Inspire
    Like a quarterback who calls the plays and a coach who "psyches up" the team to win, the capable leader must have the ability to brighten the attitude and convey a contagious enthusiasm for the work at hand.
  5. Honesty and Integrity
    Followers must feel that they are being dealt with fairly and honestly, they must be able to believe what their leaders say.
  6. Respect for the Individual
    Commands and communications to the group should be given uniformly in style and manner. However, the leader must attempt to understand and appreciate the various attitudes that inevitably exist in a group. The rewards for respecting the individual comes in the form of cooperation.
  7. Mental Perception
    The individual who wants to be a leader must be able to calmly weigh the alternatives, assess the given data, and make judgments to the advantage of the group.
  8. Naturalness
    In studying and defining leadership, in analyzing leadership qualities, in growing in the knowledge and the techniques of leadership, one must be true to one's own self.
  9. Communication Skills
    The ability to communicate - to speak and to write - is important to effective leadership. More than anything else, the ability to communicate defines a leader in the group.
  10. Becoming Conscious of Self-Development
    It is up to each person to decide how best to grow and develop. However, a person goes about it, he or she must work diligently.

Developing your leadership potential requires the determination to BEGIN. Since you cannot be a leader alone, your goal will be to make use of opportunities to work with other people in a way that will be of mutual benefit.

Roundalab Journal, November, 1982