by Terry L. Besser
Assistant professor and extension sociologist
Iowa State University Extension to Communities
All across Iowa, community leadership is provided by homemakers, farmers, insurance agents, post masters, service station owners, dentists, receptionists, truck drivers, teachers, bankers and people in many other walks of life.
For the most part, these people do not fit the stereotype of leaders. Even though they are not able to hypnotize crowds with rousing speeches, they are heroes and heroines. The reason we may not think of them as leaders is because there are many misconceptions about what leadership is.
The following are some of the most popular mistaken beliefs.
Myth No. 1: Leadership is an inborn trait. You either have it or you don't.
Wrong! Every once in awhile there is an extraordinary person who, without any experience, training, or support, is able to be an effective leaderÑbut it's a rare person, indeed. A more likely occurrence is that an ordinary person is motivated by extraordinary circumstances, or becomes dissatisfied with a situation, gets involved and learns the skills needed to be an effective leader.
Myth No. 2: Leaders are all-knowing visionaries
Leaders do have a vision and a sense of direction, but that doesn't mean that they display psychic abilities. Frequently, a leader's vision is inspired by someone else's ideas.
Myth No. 3: Leaders are charismatic
Some leaders are charismatic. Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy come immediately to mind. Most leaders, however, are followed not because they inspire great allegiance but because they are respected for their hard work, ideas and commitment.
Myth No. 4: Leaders are in charge and give orders
People in positions of authority can order others aroundÑteachers in the classroom, judges in the court room, military officers during a military operation. Sometimes a leader also has such a position. Just as often, however, the leader is not an authority figure, and all too often the authority figure is not a leader. Leadership is not the same as giving orders.
Now that you know what leadership is not, let's consider what it is. LEADERSHIP IS TAKING RESPONSIBILITY AND GETTING INVOLVEDÑin organizations, community and society. Leaders are people who inspire a shared vision, facilitate group efforts to achieve a mutual goal, encourage and strengthen others, and foster collaboration.
Most community officials know that they can't afford to wait for those exceptional few (who are born leaders) to appear miraculously in their midst. Good leadership is just too important to the community's future to leave to chance. Instead, many towns help the process along by offering leadership training programs for citizens. Through these programs, citizens learn the skills of leadership, develop confidence, acquire a network of relationships within the community, and are exposed to local and non-local resources which can be used for community betterment.
The value of leadership training is difficult to prove scientifically because it usually takes years for the people so trained to bring about any notable changes in the community, and outside forces (for example, plant closings or openings, school reorganization, crop failures, or national trade agreements) may create circumstances that even the best leadership cannot cope with.
Still we can get an idea of its impact by considering the short term results of an ISU Extension to Communities program called Tomorrow's Leaders Today. ISU coordinated this program for seven years from 1987 to 1993. A total of 1,418 people from 329 of Iowa's smallest towns completed the training. One purpose of the program was to encourage small towns to work together with neighboring towns to form "clusters." Forty-six such clusters were created.
A list of some of the projects undertaken by the graduates will give us insight into the difference community leadership can make. These leaders created: on-going multicommunity development organizations, multicommunity newsletters, calendars, bulletin boards, chains of contact people for dissemination of information and lobbying, local golf tournaments, bike events, local festivals, community run grocery stores, programs to encourage people to move back to the area, youth activities, substance abuse programs, programs for public involvement, town meetings, a value added agricultural program, Main Street beautification programs, recycling programs, 911 telephone emergency access, elimination of long distance telephone charges within the cluster, cluster logos and promotion programs, and too many other projects to list.
Almost all private and community colleges, the Iowa Department of Economic Development and UNI's Institute for Decision Making provide assistance to communities in the design and delivery of leadership programs. Of course, ISU Extension to Communities continues to provide leadership training similar to the TLT program and will custom design other programs to meet local needs. For information on leadership programs, contact your local County Extension Education Director or the other listed sources.
Contacts:
Terry L. Besser, ISU
Extension Sociology, (515) 294-6508
Del Marks, ISU Extension
Communication Systems, (515) 294-9807
