Leadership is a term that is often thrown around. It is, however, very important in the running of many organizations, including the civil society. Its role in the civil society cannot be stressed enough, as it forms the foundation of every functioning civil society (Edwards et al., 2018). For a veritable foundation, the leadership must be efficient; it must possess a mission that is clear, a vision and a clear strategy that clearly projects how it intends to achieve the civil society’s set objectives and a culture that is favorable for the attainment of success. If these pillars of an effective leadership are obfuscating in any way, the civil society cannot thrive.
One of the roles of leadership in the civil society is that of offering guidance. Leadership offers foresight as other team players in the civil society tackle the day-to-day activities. Effective leadership also designates duties to other team members in the society and guides every team member in clearly understanding their roles. When all these team members clearly understand their roles, the synergistic output that results is one that is desirable and that ensures that the civil society is robust in carrying out their mandate of protecting the interest and will of citizens (Edwards et al., 2018). This guidance is particularly necessary when the civil society is working under stressful circumstances involving gun violence. Such circumstances require a strong leadership to guide the society members on the necessary actions to take. Since citizens look up to the civil society for the protection and preservation of their rights, it is imperative that the civil society is properly guided in achieving its mission by an effective leadership.
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The second role of leadership in the civil society is that of empowerment. Psychologists quip that empowerment is deep-rooted and it pushes team players to accomplish their assigned tasks. Empowerment influences the team players’ work and their energy towards the tasks. The civil society can be a tough society to be in due to the stress that comes with activities such as lobbying and demonstrations that sometimes involve gun violence (El-Bannaet al., 2018). Empowerment of the team players by an effective leadership helps reduce team players’ cynicism that is characteristic of high-stress jobs. Sometimes the civil society is faced with tough situations such as dealing with gun violence. These are potentially life-threatening situations. For the civil society members to be able to work in such tough situations, they need empowerment which is offered by the leadership of the civil society. Due to the fact that citizens look up to the civil society for empowerment, it is extremely important that all the players in the civil society are sufficiently empowered as well. This is especially true when considering the social exchange theory which postulates that social behavior is influenced by a process of exchange in a way that works to keep costs at a minimum while maximizing benefits. This theory was advanced by a prominent sociologist by the name George Hormans. It is therefore evident that if leadership passes down motivation to the team players, the team players will reciprocate by carrying out their tasks effectively.
The third role of leadership is that of caring for team members. This is especially important due to the fact that the civil society job is a high-stress job. Citizens look up to civil society players to safeguard their rights and interests. This is a noble course, but it can come with tough, sometimes life-threatening challenges. An example of an environment that is extremely dangerous to the civil society is Syria (Huda et al., 2018). The civil war that started in 2011 in the country when the country's government launched a full-on war against a very popular and notorious uprising led to the extreme brutality in the form of gun violence that occurred every day. The 2014 progression of ISIL forces into Syria and Iraq to the extent that ISIL virtually controlled a third of Syria made worse an already dangerous situation. The civil society sometimes gets confronted with such situations of brutality and gun violence and an effective leadership is extremely important in providing care to all the civil society members in such tough situations.
Another crucial role that leadership plays in the civil society is that of decision-making. The civil society is an organized society and- like many organized societies- is often faced with situations that require important decisions to be made. A good example is seen in the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms that took place in 2001. The leadership of the civil society took part in the decision to fight this illicit trade, thereby taking part in a decision-making process involving the very serious issue of gun violence. Some decisions are minor but some are large and affect everyone in the society. This shows how important decision-making is important to the leadership of the civil society. The leadership's role is to make good decisions for the benefit of all the civil society members and citizens (Huda et al., 2018). An effective leadership relies on four key leadership styles. The first style is the command style. This involves making decisions without consulting other society members. This can be detrimental but it is important for desperate circumstances that call for quick action. The second style is the collaborative style. This style involves consultations between the leadership and other social players before making decisions.
The information that the leadership gathers from the other society players often helps it to make good decisions. The third style is the consensus style. This involves making decisions after a voting process. The leadership calls the society members to a meeting, explains to them the decision to be decided on and then the voting process takes place. This style is particularly useful in deciding on issues that affect the majority of the society payers. The fourth style convenience. In this style, the leadership delegates the decision-making role. This serves to empower other society players and to test their ability to make good decisions. In all these styles, it is clear that leadership is important in decision-making.
Leadership also plays the role of setting the civil society’s program. The civil society engages in numerous activities that benefit citizens. These activities include education, attending conferences on important issues such as gun violence and philanthropy, among other activities. All these activities require proper planning without which implementation would not be possible (Huda et al., 2018). The society’s leadership plays an important role in ensuring the society’s programs are properly set for the attainment of the society’s mandate. The leadership ensures that all the set programs are beneficial and in line with the society’s mandate. With properly set programs, the society’s players get motivated to accomplish the civil society’s tasks.
The civil society’s leadership plays the important role of leading the other civil society members to self-leadership. They do this by equipping them with the character and other important skills needed to become effective leaders that are able to lead an able team even in tough situations and in handling difficult issues such as gun violence, taking into account that the United States is ranked 31 st in the world on the cases of gun violence. They put the other members in a good strategic positioning and coach them thereby making them productive, independent and able to work with minimal supervision (Lewis et al., 2018). A leadership's strength is measured by the number of leaders it has been able to mentor. An effective leadership is thus seen by a large number of leaders it has been able to create. The leadership generally inspires the other society members to achieve greatness. When all the society members are inspired, they outperform. These members hold such great value that their role cannot be overlooked. Inspired members exhibit three important characteristics: Pride in the society and its role in the society and this pushes them to be self-driven and therefore reliable, responsible, helpful to the other team members and able to complete their duties within stipulated times. They exhibit a level of productivity that is extraordinary and show a deep passion in driving their society towards ensuring that citizens’ rights are protected and preserved.
The other important role that leadership plays in the civil society is that of negotiation. The leadership is always in the forefront in civil society negotiations, for example, the negotiations around the multilateral trade that emerged in the United States in the 1990s and negotiations on how to stop illicit firearm trade that encourages gun violence. There are seven important negotiation skills that effective leadership use. The first skill is that of aiming for a win-win situation in every negotiation (Lewis et al., 2018). This ensures that both sides of the negotiation achieve victory and the needs of each side are satisfied beyond any doubt. This creates a favorable environment for peace and advancement on both sides. The second skill is to never be the first to come up with an offer. This is to avert a situation where the other side has an upper hand and to allow the other side to set their own limits. The other skill is to apply a high emotional intelligence. The fourth skill is to be flexible in communication. In this skill, it is important to know the person on the side of the negotiation pretty well and thus be able to predict their reactions.
The fifth skill is asking for more than the other side expects to give. This allows room for lowering the bar to a level that is favorable to both sides. The sixth skill is stopping negotiation once the deal is closed. This drives a point to the other side. It also gives the other side the chance to say what they want to say and let their point know. The seventh skill is always making it personal. Having a connection with their people and relating well with them helps to push the civil society’s mandate to fruition. Sharing goals and values helps them advance the interests of the society and push them to negotiate in favor of the civil society.
The civil society leadership also plays the role of facilitating the activities of the civil society (Lewis et al., 2018). It does this by setting rules and regulations to ensure that the team is focused on attaining the society’s vision even in high-stress situations such as working in conflict-prone regions characterized by gun violence and internal conflicts. It is very easy for the civil society members to lose focus in such situations. The leadership’s role is to maintain the members’ focus even in these turbulent circumstances in the event that the team unanimously agrees on a weak decision, the leadership encourages the team members to constructively criticize it and come up with better decisions. The leadership also guides the society members to carry out their duties within the society's budget. The leadership ensures the civil society's effectiveness.
References
Edwards Jr, D. B., Brehm, W. C., &Storen, I. (2018). The national politics of educational advocacy in the context of global governance: International funding and support for civil society engagement in Cambodia. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education , 48 (2), 171-188.
El-Banna, H., &Heuser, M. (2018). “Our Challenge is to Change the Climate of Humanitarian Work”–The Future Role of NGOs in Civil Societies. In Strategisches Management humanitärer NGOs (pp. 3-13). Springer Gabler, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Huda, M., Mat Teh, K. S., Nor Muhamad, N. H., &Mohd Nasir, B. (2018). Transmitting leadership based civic responsibility: insights from service learning. International Journal of Ethics and Systems , 34 (1), 20-31.
Lewis, E. (2018). Making the case for the study of young women's leadership in civil society organisations.
