Leadership
The ability to take initiative in planning, organizing, and managing group activities, projects, and games.
In any group of children or adults, there are those who step forward to organize people and events to achieve a specific result. In organized activities, leaders can be designated and, in informal contexts, such as children's play groups, they may emerge naturally. What makes certain people into leaders is open to debate. Thus Luella Cole and Irma Nelson Hall have written that leadership "seems to consist of a cluster of traits, a few inborn but most of them acquired or at least developed by contact with the environment." Leaders have their own leadership style, and that style may not transfer from one situation to another.
Psychologists have also defined leadership as a mentality, as opposed to aptitude, the assumption being that mentalities can be acquired. For example, as John E. Anderson has observed, parents often play a crucial role in fostering a leadership mentality in their children. According to Anderson, when strength of mind and independent thinking are encouraged, "children don't succumb to peer pressure; they follow their own beliefs." While defining leadership mentality in general terms, Anderson recognizes that children's leadership behavior will depend on their interests; therefore, he advises sensitivity toward the child's chosen area of leadership: for example, a leader of a discussion group may be uncomfortable playing games.
In a 1993 research review, Ron Maynard underscored the importance of a child's ability to use his or her characteristic "leadership style." Researchers have identified two distinct types of leaders: "idea generators" and "social facilitators." They function equally in the preschool years, but the two groups later separate. The "facilitators" gain ascendance in elementary school and are eclipsed by the "idea generators" in early adolescence. The groups do not necessarily have to compete, however. For example, an introverted "idea generator" can learn the fundamental skills needed for successful social interaction, thereby safeguarding his or her feelings of self-worth without the compulsion to compete with the "facilitator."
Child psychologists who study girls, and particularly educators and parents advocating equal-opportunity education for girls, have remarked that girls with leadership potential often have to struggle with various prejudices, which also include the notion that leadership is a "male" characteristic. In a study of 304 fourth-, fifth-, and sixgraders enrolled in 16 Girl Scout troops, Cynthia A. Edwards found that in an all-female group, leaders consistently display characteristic qualities such as organizational skills and independent thinking. Significantly, election to leadership posts was based on perceived managerial skills, while "feminine" qualities, such as empathie behavior, were generally not taken into account. However, in examining the research on mixed (male-female) groups, Edwards has found studies that show "that the presence of male group members, even in the minority, suppresses the verbal expression and leadership behavior of female group members." The fact that leadership behavior can be suppressed would seem to strengthen the argument that leadership is, indeed, a learned behavior. A study by T. Sharpe, M. Brown, and K. Crider measured the effects of consistent positive reinforcement, favoring skills such as leadership, sportsmanship, and conflict resolution, on two urban elementary physical education classes. The researchers found that the focus on positive skills caused a significant increase in leadership and conflict-resolution behavior. These results seem to support the idea, discussed by Maynard, that leadership behavior can be non-competitive (different individuals exercising leadership in different areas) and also conducive to group cohesion, as children developing their strengths learn to replace conflict with collaborative behavior.
Although leaders display qualities they are born with, most leadership behaviors are learned. Parents and teachers can encourage the development of independent thinking and organizational abilities in children. Individual children have their own interests and leadership styles, however, and may not show leadership qualities in every context. Experts emphasize that learning to be an effective leader also means learning when to be a good follower. Knowing this distinction is an important step toward adulthood.
For Further Study
Books
Cole, Luella, and Irma Nelson Hall. Psychology of Adolescence. 7th ed. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1970.
Periodicals
Anderson, John E. "By Knowing These Eight Secrets You Can .. . Make Your Child A Leader." Reader's Digest 143, no. 1855, July 1993, pp. 19-26.
Edwards, Cynthia A. "Leadership in Groups of School-Age Girls." Developmental Psychology 30, no. 6, November 1994, pp. 920-27.
Maynard, Ron. "Nurturing Leadership: How Children's Style Differ." Chatelaine 66, no. 5, May 1993, pp. 32.
Sharpe, T., M. Browne, and K. Crider. "The Effects of A Sportsmanship Curriculum Intervention on Generalized Positive Social Behavior of Urban Elementary School Students." Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis 28, 1995, pp. 401-16.
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