THE LEADER AND HIS FUNCTIONS

The functions of a leader depend on the kind of the group, which is being led. It depends on the structure and the goal of the group. Political, social, or religious leaders have different functions to perform. The general of an army has to perform a different function from that of the priest in the church. TO ACT AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE WORK-GROUP: Leader is the link between the top management and the work group. He has to communicate the problems and difficulties of the work group to the management and the expectation of the management to the work group. He act as a link between the top management and the work group. THE LEADER AS AN EXECUTIVE: The leader has a very important function of co-coordinating the activities of the group. So a leader in his executive capacity does not carry out work or activities but assigns it to other group members, as well as sees the proper execution of the policies. For instance, the leader of a political party makes it a point to see that the policies of the party are being executed. He also assigns the work of party propaganda to some persons, secretarial work to some others while the election work to some other members. He organizes discussions for the execution of the plan and acts as a guide during the discussion. However, sometimes, the leader is not able to delegate responsibilities and authority and feels necessity to be personally involved in each group activity. Such situation may prevent members from sharing responsibilities affecting their involvement in the work of the group. THE LEADER AS A PLANNER: The leader functions in the capacity of the planner too. He decides what ways and means are to be adopted to achieve the objective of the group. He plans the work of the grouping such a manner that the goal of the group may be achieved through proper steps being undertaken at the present and also in future. Thus, his planning may be for short term.

Every group has many problems pertaining to it, social, political, religious and economic aspects. The leaders also plan out the ways and means to fight with the enemies of the group. Frequently, the leaders are the only persons who know in complete details the plan to be adopted to achieve the group goal. The members are only told about some of the fragments of the plan with which they are concerned. Often the plan is drawn in such a manner that the execution in parts of it would ultimately lead to the attainment of the group objective. For example, for the security of India, many a short term plans are drawn up. These plans when integrated, will lead to the attainment of desired objective. THE LEADER AS THE POLICY MAKER: An important function of the leader of any social group is to plan out the group goals, objectives and policies. The leaders may themselves plan the policies or objectives or they may get the policies or objectives from other sources and then may try to establish then in the group. THE LEADER AS AN EXPERT: Leaders are generally viewed as the sources of readily available information and skills or expertise. The leader must, therefore, be quite a capable individual. In many informal groups, often the person demonstrating, the greatest technical knowledge and skills becomes the leaders. For example, during camping, the guide may play the role of a leader because of his familiarity and knowledge about the area. THE LEADER AS AN EXTERNAL GROUP REPRESENTATIVE: In case of large groups it is not possible for all members to directly deal with other groups. Thus, the leader assumes the role of representative of the group in its external relations. All communications outgoing and incoming are channeled through the leader. Also, the groups unity is enhanced when the leader functions as the symbol of the group.

In the governing bodies of the various universities, leaders act as the representative of their own group. CONTROLLER OF INTERNAL RELATIONSHIP: The leader has also to function as the controller of internal inter-personal relations, among the members of the group. He makes efforts to raise the moral standard of his group. He wishes that the group may progress and there are established good relations among its members. THE LEADER AS PURVEYOR OF REWARD AND PUNISHMENT: The group members perceive the leader as having power to apply rewards and also punishments. This enables the leader to exercise control over group members. Rewards and punishments may relate to being promoted to a higher position, giving special honors, or taking away the responsibility assigned or lowering of the status as the case may be. THE LEADER AS AN ARBITRATOR AND MEDIATOR: If there are certain conflicts and discussions in the group, the leader acts an arbitrator and mediator. He acts as a judge and gives his judgment regarding the ways in which the conflict can be resolved. But his task is not merely that of a judge. His important function is to establish good inter-group relationships. The leader can reduce tensions in the group and establish harmony. THE LEADER AS AN EXAMPLAR: The leader should serve as a model of behavior to the members of the group. He should by his own example, stimulate them to do such activities with which the groups objective can be realized. The commanding officer in the armed forces that leads his troops into the battlefield serves as an exemplar. Sometimes the leader provides the ideology of the group. He serves as the source of the beliefs, values and norms of the individual members. THE LEADER AS THE FATHER FIGURE: The leader may also play the emotional role of the father figure for the individual members of the group. The leader is the ideal object for identification,

for transferring feelings, and providing a focus for positive thinking. The members may have same feelings towards him as the child has towards his father. This role may form the basis of power of a leader in certain circumstances. TO ACT AS A COUNSELOR OF THE PEOPLE AT WORK: When the subordinates face problems at work, which may be technical or emotional, the leader has to guide and advise the subordinate concerned. There may be situation which are out of control, in that situation, leader must stand behind the subordinate to encourage and support and find a solution for the problem. PROPER USE OF POWER: Leader must be careful while exercising his power or authority in relation to his subordinates. According to the situation he may exercise different types of powers like reward power, corrective power, coercive power, expert power, formal or informal power etc., for the positive response from his subordinate. Make sure that while using the power the response from his subordinate should not yield a negative response to the group work. Leader must analyze the situation before exercising his power. TIME MANAGEMENT: Leader must ensure the timely completion of the work while ensuring the quality and efficiency of the work. At different stages, the work should be complete according to the plan. The timely completion of the individual tasks will ensure the completion of the group work. Leader should monitor and ensure the individual task at different stages are accomplished as per the plan. SECURE EFFECTIVENESS OF GROUP-EFFORT: To get the maximum contribution towards the achievement of objectives the leader must delegate authority, ensure the availability of the adequate resources, provide for a reward system to improve the efficiency of capable workmen, invite participation of employees in decision making and communicate necessary information to the employees.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LEADER AND MEMBERS (FOLLOWERS) 1. Protection and security. Good leaders and managers create safety for their followers. This, in turn, allows the followers to perform and develop. Employees simply do not perform or learn at their best without safety. In adult learning there is a basic rule that the facilitator must provide a balance of support and challenge. Leadership is similar. If there is too much challenge, people shut down. They become overwhelmed and disengaged. If, however, there is too much support (safety), they may become complacent. 2. Achievement and effectiveness. The achievement often comes through working together as a team. Achievement fuels self-efficacy, confidence, competence and desire. Effectiveness is a frequently overlooked driver of human motives. One of the most powerful developmental actions a manager can take is to help an employee plan out small wins towards a big accomplishment or objective. By creating small wins, we build momentum. Daniel Pink in Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, writes that people are intrinsically motivated when they can see progress towards mastery (the other two drivers of intrinsic motivation are autonomy and purpose). 3. Inclusion and belonging. Humans are social creatures. Belonging is a basic need. This created shared successes and a place to share and get answers to challenges. Adults like to learn from each other. Think of ways to tap into that. For example, two years ago, I was part of a major change effort at a company that had offices throughout the U.S. After the training was rolled out and coaching was in place, we helped the managers create team sessions where the team reinforced the lessons from training by first teaching the content back to each other and then collecting and sharing their successes and their challenges. The managers were delighted as these team sessions began to replace many of the questions and problems that previously had been directed to the managers. As one of the managers told me, Theyve become coaches for each other. They are helping each other solve problems whereas in the past they would have been in my office without even trying to solve the problem.

4. Pride and self-respect. These benefits are largely derived from the above benefits. This is also about respecting the members of the group. Good leaders make their team members feel respected and trusted. There is a huge pay-off when we help someone experience pride in their contribution. Not only do they tend to repeat and expand their contribution, but they also build confidence and courage to take on future challenges. By providing these things, followers gain a sense of direction, purpose, empowerment and pride. All of these add up to the fuel and motivation to act. Many people make mistake to separate leaders and followers. I think that no matter what position one has within an organization, he/she is playing a followers role to support someone else. Great leaders of an organization are following the profitable goals of their stakeholders. For a survival business, followers need to be effective and supportive for their leaders to be successful. Nevertheless, followers are more effective if they consider themselves active and independent (Yukl, George, & Jones, 2010). Similarly, Cavell (2007) noted that good followers should proactively find what they should do to be effective to their leaders. Therefore, the role of the followership significantly contributes in the leadership process. Cavell (2007) suggested several identified traits of good followers such as honesty, loyalty, trustworthy, ethics, team player, high energy, listener, patience, and positive attitude. It is more important in my opinion that how followers view of their leaders is. According to Yukl et al. (2010), leaders effectiveness implies leader competence and intentions in the view of the followers. Followers who are closed to their leaders are often the most susceptible to the crucibles of their failed leaders. Additionally, followers who are so committed to their leaders are the most disappointed people when they see their leaders fail. In this situation, followers reckon with the fact that they bet on the wrong horse (Kersten, 2009). Therefore, It is important to recognize that there is a tight interactive relationship between leaders and followers. With a participatory role, followers would be supportive and effective for their successful leaders. However, follower will produce a very long-term negative consequence for their failed leaders when they possess their committed role. Followership is critical to leadership that is much more effective. However, promoting models of followership may open an ethical issue for discussion. Sustained followership demands the continuing connection with and engagement

of associates (Goldman, 2011, p.10). While leaders need followers for the longterm, they are required to improve their communication skill and listening ability to moving from empowerment to authorship. That is why fairness is always an ethical key of discussion. According to Tyler, Dienhart, and Thomas (2008), employees within an organization understand that the policy and procedure are equally applied to all. They also notice that rule breaking will be punished and rule following will be rewarded (Tyler et al., 2008). Consequently, when the practice of the organization does not reflect this belief, fairness is an ethical issue that breaks the trusting and committing relationship of the followers towards their leaders. The relationship between leaders and followers within an organizational region has many different characters to the relationship of leaders and followers across the region. In any international organization, the relationship between leaders and followers also is depending on cultural values. The technology in the 21st century makes almost everything virtually available through the Internet services. However, location, time, governance, and cultural disparity are still the factors that may affect international businesses. Followers from foreign country may misunderstand the behaviors of the leaders of the company from the original nation. Perceptions of followers from different countries could also be a factor to barrier the development of the leadership and followership relationship.