Leadership , is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to " lead ", influence, or guide other individuals, teams , or organizations .
117-480: [REDACTED] Look up organizer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Organizer may refer to: Job descriptions [ edit ] Community organizer , an advocate leading or seeking to lead or influence a community seeking changes in government, corporations and/or other institutions Event manager , a person who organizes an event Party organizer ,
234-457: A Divine plan . Compare this with servant leadership . For a more general view on leadership in politics , compare the concept of the statesperson . Anecdotal and incidental observations aside, the serious discipline of theorising leadership began in the 19th century. The search for the characteristics or traits of leaders has continued for centuries. Philosophical writings from Plato 's Republic to Plutarch's Lives have explored
351-461: A Gamaliel Foundation FBCO organization in Chicago. Marshall Ganz , former lieutenant of César Chávez , adapted techniques from community organizing for Obama's 2008 presidential election. At the 2008 Republican National Convention , former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani questioned Obama's role as a community organizer, asking the crowd "What does a community organizer actually do?", and
468-407: A "community-building approach," which emphasizes raising consciousness to support the community's empowerment. Grassroots organizing is distinctive for its bottom-up approach to organizing. Grassroots organizers build community groups from scratch, developing new leadership where none existed and organizing the unorganized. This type of organizing uses a process where people collectively act in
585-444: A Democratic Society ) tried their hand at community organizing. They were critical of what they conceived of as Alinsky's "dead-end local activism". But the dispiriting reality was that however much they might talk about "transforming the system," "building alternative institutions," and "revolutionary potential", their credibility on the doorstep rested on their ability to secure concessions from, and therefore to develop relations with,
702-409: A business setting. Assume praise is a positive reinforcer for a particular employee. This employee does not show up to work on time every day. The manager decides to praise the employee for showing up on time every day the employee actually shows up to work on time. As a result, the employee comes to work on time more often because the employee likes to be praised. In this example, praise (the stimulus)
819-463: A centralized national agenda and exerts some centralized control over local organizations. Because ACORN USA was a 501(c)4 organization under the tax code, it was able to participate directly in election activities, but contributions to it were not tax-exempt. Grassroots organizing is vulnerable, being dependent on the support of more powerful people; its goals can be easily thwarted. Because grassroots organizing focuses on building relationships within
936-564: A common "language" about organizing while seeking to expand the skills of organizers. Many of the most notable leaders in community organizing today emerged from the National Welfare Rights Organization . John Calkins of DART , Wade Rathke of ACORN , John Dodds of Philadelphia Unemployment Project and Mark Splain of the AFL–CIO , among others. There have been many other notable community organizers through
1053-627: A drastically different view of the driving forces behind leadership. In reviewing the extant literature, Stogdill and Mann found that while some traits were common across a number of studies, the overall evidence suggested that people who are leaders in one situation may not necessarily be leaders in other situations. Subsequently, leadership was no longer characterized as an enduring individual trait—situational approaches (see alternative leadership theories below) posited that individuals can be effective in certain situations, but not others. The focus then shifted away from traits of leaders to an investigation of
1170-419: A fair exchange whereby the leader provides certain benefits such as task guidance, advice, support, and/or significant rewards and the followers reciprocate by giving the leader respect, cooperation, commitment to the task and good performance. However, LMX recognizes that leaders and individual followers will vary in the type of exchange that develops between them. LMX theorizes that the type of exchanges between
1287-403: A group vision. The transactional leader is given power to perform certain tasks and reward or punish for the team's performance. It gives the opportunity to the manager to lead the group and the group agrees to follow his lead to accomplish a predetermined goal in exchange for something else. Power is given to the leader to evaluate, correct, and train subordinates when productivity is not up to
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#17327657636891404-658: A leader performs when promoting organization's effectiveness. These functions include environmental monitoring, organizing subordinate activities, teaching and coaching subordinates, motivating others, and intervening actively in the group's work. Various leadership behaviors facilitate these functions. In initial work identifying leader behavior, Fleishman observed that subordinates perceived their supervisors' behavior in terms of two broad categories referred to as consideration and initiating structure . Consideration includes behavior involved in fostering effective relationships. Examples of such behavior would include showing concern for
1521-517: A new element – the need for leaders to develop their leadership presence, attitude toward others, and behavioral flexibility by practicing psychological mastery. It also offers a foundation for leaders wanting to apply the philosophies of servant leadership and authentic leadership . Integrated psychological theory began to attract attention after the publication of James Scouller's Three Levels of Leadership model (2011). Scouller argued that older theories offered only limited assistance in developing
1638-404: A new model of the human psyche and outlined the principles and techniques of self-mastery, which include the practice of mindfulness meditation . Bernard Bass and colleagues developed the idea of two different types of leadership: transactional which involves exchange of labor for rewards, and transformational which is based on concern for employees, intellectual stimulation, and providing
1755-552: A new paradigm with which to characterize elected politicians and job-granting employers—thus the development and theorizing of the idea of "leadership". The functional relationship between leaders and followers may remain, but acceptable (perhaps euphemistic) terminology has changed. Starting in the 19th century, the elaboration of anarchist thought called the whole concept of leadership into question. One response to this denial of élitism came with Leninism — Lenin (1870–1924) demanded an élite group of disciplined cadres to act as
1872-421: A normative decision model in which leadership styles were connected to situational variables, defining which approach was more suitable to which situation. This approach supported the idea that a manager could rely on different group decision making approaches depending on the attributes of each situation. This model was later referred to as situational contingency theory. The path-goal theory of leadership
1989-484: A person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common and ethical task ". In other words, leadership is an influential power -relationship in which the power of one party (the "leader") promotes movement/change in others (the "followers"). Some have challenged the more traditional managerial views of leadership (which portray leadership as something possessed or owned by one individual due to their role or authority ), and instead advocate
2106-724: A person's ability to lead effectively. He pointed out, for example, that: Scouller's model aims to summarize what leaders have to do, not only to bring leadership to their group or organization, but also to develop themselves technically and psychologically as leaders. The three levels in his model are public, private, and personal leadership: Scouller argued that self-mastery is the key to growing one's leadership presence, building trusting relationships with followers, and dissolving one's limiting beliefs and habits. This enables behavioral flexibility as circumstances change, while staying connected to one's core values (that is, while remaining authentic). To support leaders' development, he introduced
2223-412: A political party official Professional organizer , a person who helps others get organized Union organizer , a trade union official Arts and media [ edit ] Organiser (newspaper) , an Indian newspaper launched in 1947 The Organizer , a 1963 film co-written and directed by Mario Monicelli The Organizer (album) Other uses [ edit ] Personal organizer ,
2340-492: A relatively small number of organizers that generally are better paid and more professionalized than those in "door-knocking" groups like ACORN. FBCOs focus on the long-term development of a culture and common language of organizing and on the development of relational ties between members. They are more stable during fallow periods than grassroots groups because of the continuing existence of member churches. FBCOs are 501(c)3 organizations. Contributions to them are tax exempt. As
2457-1262: A result, while they can conduct campaigns over "issues" they cannot promote the election of specific individuals. The way in which faith based communities FBCOs organize has undergone a dramatic change with the introduction of digital technology. In ' ' authors Earl and Kimport (2011) provide valuable insights into this shift – namely how decreased costs associated with 'Taking Action on the Cheap' have opened up greater opportunities for involvement in religious initiatives or movements. Digital tools allow faith based groups to spread their message further, better coordinate collective actions across distances and mobilize supporters in unprecedented ways – greatly democratizing this kind of organizing effort. However, this transition to digital also poses complex challenges that must be addressed on topics such as community identity and collective action – as noted by Earl and Kimport themselves in their book ( [1] , 2011, p.95-97). Broad-based organizations intentionally recruit member institutions that are both secular and religious. Congregations, synagogues, temples and mosques are joined by public schools, non-profits, and labor and professional associations. Organizations of
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#17327657636892574-436: A sense of interconnectedness and trust among community members which is important in the community organizing process. The shift to community building was also caused by external forces, rather than just feminist organizer's motivations. During 1980s, the rising neoliberal agenda caused many community organizers to shift to the community-building approach. Some feminists argue that feminist community organizing can disregard
2691-434: A starting point for a general practice model, a model that defines community organizing as its own field of practice. However, this model depends on existing practice models adapted by the different types of community organizing. For example, FBCOs and many grassroots organizing models use the "social action approach" built on the work of Saul Alinsky from the 1930s into the 1970s. By contrast, feminist organizing follows
2808-492: A study which investigated observable behaviors portrayed by effective leaders. They identified particular behaviors that were reflective of leadership effectiveness. They narrowed their findings to two dimensions. The first dimension, "initiating structure", described how a leader clearly and accurately communicates with the followers, defines goals, and determines how tasks are performed. These are considered "task oriented" behaviors. The second dimension, "consideration", indicates
2925-509: A subordinate or acting in a supportive manner towards others. Initiating structure involves the actions of the leader focused specifically on task accomplishment. This could include role clarification, setting performance standards, and holding subordinates accountable to those standards. The Integrated Psychological Theory of leadership attempts to integrate the strengths of the older theories (i.e. traits, behavioral/styles, situational and functional) while addressing their limitations, introducing
3042-462: A type of diary Electronic organizer , an electronic version of an organizer Open Programming Language , initially called Organiser Programming Language Spemann-Mangold organizer , also called embryonic induction , a cell or tissue which sends signals to other cells to instruct the fate of these cells Organizer box See also [ edit ] Organization (disambiguation) Organizing (disambiguation) Topics referred to by
3159-453: A variety of situations and tasks. Additionally, during the 1980s statistical advances allowed researchers to conduct meta-analyses , in which they could quantitatively analyze and summarize the findings from a wide array of studies. This advent allowed trait theorists to create a comprehensive picture of previous leadership research rather than rely on the qualitative reviews of the past. Equipped with new methods, leadership researchers revealed
3276-508: A variety ways. There are different approaches to community organizing. These include: Because of its focus on "local" issues and relationships between members, individual groups generally prioritize relatively local community interests by focusing on local issues. There has been an attempt to build a general community organizing practice model that ties the different types of community organizing together despite their differences. Scholars Shane R. Brady and Mary Katherine O'Connor construct
3393-465: Is a positive reinforcer for this employee because the employee arrives at work on time (the behavior) more frequently after being praised for showing up to work on time. Positive reinforcement is a successful technique used by leaders to motivate and attain desired behaviors from subordinates. Organizations such as Frito-Lay, 3M, Goodrich, Michigan Bell, and Emery Air Freight have all used reinforcement to increase productivity. Empirical research covering
3510-421: Is community organizing with a feminist motivation. The goals of feminist organizing include: increasing women's employment opportunities; improving women's physical and mental well-being; and, raising consciousness. Organizers prioritize raising consciousness for women to understand how their personal struggles are interconnected with societal inequalities. While women have participated in grassroots organizing,
3627-538: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Community organizing Community organizing is a process where people who live in proximity to each other or share some common problem come together into an organization that acts in their shared self-interest. Unlike those who promote more-consensual community building , community organizers generally assume that social change necessarily involves conflict and social struggle in order to generate collective power for
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3744-595: Is generally drawn from the mainline denominations. ACORN tended to stress the importance of constant action in order to maintain the commitment of a less rooted group of participants. ACORN and other neighborhood-based groups like the Organization for a Better Austin had a reputation of being more forceful than faith-based (FBCO) groups, in part because they needed to continually act to keep their non-institutionalized members engaged, and there are indications that their local groups were more staff (organizer) directed than
3861-511: Is imperative to consider employee emotional responses to organizational leaders. Emotional intelligence—the ability to understand and manage moods and emotions in the self and others—contributes to effective leadership within organizations. The neo-emergent leadership theory (from the Oxford Strategic Leadership Programme ) sees leadership as an impression formed through the communication of information by
3978-564: Is largely low- or middle- income, so they are generally unable to support themselves through dues. In search of resources, some organizing groups have accepted funding for direct service activities in the past. As noted below, this has frequently led these groups to drop their conflictual organizing activities, in part because these threatened funding for their "service" arms. Recent studies have shown, however, that funding for community organizing can produce large returns on investment ($ 512 in community benefits to $ 1 of Needmor funding, according to
4095-637: Is only one aspect of the activity of organizing groups. To the extent that groups' actions generate a sense in the larger community that they have "power," they are often able to engage with and influence powerful groups through dialogue, backed up by a history of successful protest-based campaigns. Similar to the way unions gain recognition as the representatives of workers for a particular business, community organizing groups can gain recognition as key representatives of particular communities. In this way, representatives of community organizing groups are often able to bring key government officials or corporate leaders to
4212-468: Is specifically popular among marginalized communities of color. "Door-knocking" grassroots organizations like ACORN organize poor and working-class members recruiting members one by one in the community. Because they go door-to-door , they are able to reach beyond established organizations and the "churched" to bring together a wide range of less privileged people. FBCOs have tended to organize more middle-class people, because their institutional membership
4329-416: Is the opposite of the social action (Alinsky) approach (where the focus is on challenging social and political inequalities that impact the community). The community-building approach depends on the participation and collaboration of both community organizers and community members. This eliminates the power difference between an organizer and participants. Therefore, the community-building approach supports
4446-466: The Fiedler contingency model , the path-goal model states that the four leadership behaviors are fluid, and that leaders can adopt any of the four depending on what the situation demands. The path-goal model can be classified both as a contingency theory , as it depends on the circumstances, and as a transactional leadership theory , as the theory emphasizes the reciprocity behavior between the leader and
4563-564: The Industrial Areas Foundation are explicitly broad-based and dues-based. Dues-based membership allows IAF organizations to maintain their independence; organizations are politically non-partisan and do not pursue or accept government funding. Broad-based organizations aim to teach institutional leaders how to build relationships of trust across racial, faith, economic and geographic lines through individual, face-to-face meetings. Other goals include internally strengthening
4680-565: The Napoleonic marshals profiting from careers open to talent . In the autocratic / paternalistic strain of thought, traditionalists recall the role of leadership of the Roman pater familias . Feminist thinking, on the other hand, may object to such models as patriarchal and posit against them "emotionally attuned, responsive, and consensual empathetic guidance, which is sometimes associated with matriarchies ". Comparable to
4797-580: The University of Oxford ) that further developed such characteristics. International networks of such leaders could help to promote international understanding and help "render war impossible". This vision of leadership underlay the creation of the Rhodes Scholarships , which have helped to shape notions of leadership since their creation in 1903. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, a series of qualitative reviews prompted researchers to take
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4914-489: The vanguard of a socialist revolution, which was to bring into existence the dictatorship of the proletariat . Other historical views of leadership have addressed the seeming contrasts between secular and religious leadership. The doctrines of Caesaro-papism have recurred and had their detractors over several centuries. Christian thinking on leadership has often emphasized stewardship of divinely-provided resources—human and material—and their deployment in accordance with
5031-492: The 1980s, as organizing groups rooted themselves in one of the few remaining broad-based community institutions. This shift also led to an increased focus on relationships among religion, faith, and social struggle. A collection of training and support organizations for national coalitions of mostly locally governed and mostly FBCO community organizing groups were founded in the Alinsky tradition. The Industrial Areas Foundation
5148-471: The 19th century, the concept of leadership had less relevance than today—society expected and obtained traditional deference and obedience to lords, kings, master-craftsmen, and slave-masters. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the word "leadership" in English only as far back as 1821, when the term referred to the position or office of a designated leader. The abstract notion of "leadership" as embodying
5265-567: The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF.org) in Pennsylvania, beginning in 2002. Community groups are organized to influence municipal governments to enact local ordinances. These ordinances challenge preemptive state and federal laws that forbid local governments from prohibiting corporate activities deemed harmful by community residents. The ordinances are drafted specifically to assert
5382-519: The Fiedler contingency model, the Vroom-Yetton decision model, and the path-goal theory. The Fiedler contingency model bases the leader's effectiveness on what Fred Fiedler called situational contingency . This results from the interaction of leadership style and situational favorability (later called situational control ). The theory defines two types of leader: those who tend to accomplish
5499-648: The Needmor Fund Study, $ 157 to 1 in New Mexico and $ 89 to 1 in North Carolina according to National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy studies) through legislation and agreements with corporations, among other sources, not including non-fiscal accomplishments. Understanding what community organizing is can be aided by understanding what it is not from the perspective of community organizers. Robert Fisher and Peter Romanofsky have grouped
5616-448: The Roman tradition, the views of Confucianism on 'right living' relate very much to the ideal of the (male) scholar-leader and his benevolent rule, buttressed by a tradition of filial piety. Leadership is a matter of intelligence, trustworthiness, humaneness, courage, and discipline... Reliance on intelligence alone results in rebelliousness. Exercise of humaneness alone results in weakness. Fixation on trust results in folly. Dependence on
5733-764: The US as well as in South Africa, England, Germany, and other nations. Local FBCO organizations are often linked through organizing networks such as the Industrial Areas Foundation , Gamaliel Foundation , PICO National Network , and Direct Action and Research Training Center (DART). In the United States starting in 2001, the Bush administration launched a department to promote community organizing that included faith-based organizing as well other community groups. FBCOs tend to have mostly middle-class participants because
5850-604: The belief that power rests in the community and community empowerment is the process of building that power. Scholars Catherine P. Bradshaw et al. states that feminist organizers believe power is not quantifiable, and that power is created, rather than distributed. The hierarchical relationship between organizer and participant is broken down also by facilitating decision-making among community members rather than just by community leaders. To build relationships among community members, feminist organizers encourage sharing personal experiences. Feminist organizers believe that this forms
5967-487: The capabilities limitation. Though feminist organizers' intentions are to recognize women's diversity through unity, some are concerned that the vision of unity eclipses a diverse reality. There are studies that speculate that these limitations are caused by feminism's emergence from a Eurocentric perspective. Historically, European American feminists delegitimize the racial difference of women. In addition, European American feminists delegitimize women who do not follow
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#17327657636896084-428: The characteristics of feminism distinguish feminist organizing from other forms of grassroots organizing. Feminists want to break down racial and gendered boundaries and promote unity among women. Feminist organizing focuses on building relationships within the community, seeing such relationships as a prerequisite for raising consciousness. This type of organizing is called the community-building approach, which
6201-483: The community's right to make governing decisions on issues with harmful and direct local impact. The first rights-based municipal laws prohibited corporations from monopolizing horticulture (factory farming), and banned corporate waste dumping within municipal jurisdictions. More recent rights-based organizing, in Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Maine, Virginia and California has prohibited corporate mining, large-scale water withdrawals and chemical trespass. A similar attempt
6318-479: The community, scholars note that grassroots community organizing can be passive and depoliticizing. This approach to building community empowerment does not aim for a specific political or social goal. In other words, building relationships do not always directly confront institutions, though it might challenge an individual's views through one-on-one conversations with other individuals in the community. Feminist organizing, also known as women's community organizing,
6435-492: The complex nature of leadership which is found at all levels of institutions, both within formal and informal roles. Studies of leadership have produced theories involving (for example) traits , situational interaction, function, behavior , power , vision , values , charisma , and intelligence , among others. The Chinese doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven postulated the need for rulers to govern justly, and
6552-793: The congregations involved are generally mainline Protestant and Catholic (although "middle-class" can mean different things in white communities and communities of color, which can lead to class tensions within these organizations). Holiness, Pentecostal, and other related denominations (often "storefront") churches with mostly poor and working-class members tend not to join FBCOs because of their focus on "faith" over "works," among other issues. FBCOs have increasingly expanded outside impoverished areas into churches where middle-class professionals predominate in an effort to expand their power to contest inequality. Because of their "organization of organizations" approach, FBCOs can organize large numbers of members with
6669-664: The decades: Mark Andersen , Ella Baker , Heather Booth , César Chávez , Lois Gibbs , Mother Jones , Martin Luther King Jr. , Ralph Nader , Huey P. Newton , Barack Obama , and Paul Wellstone . More recently has come the emergence of youth organizing groups around the country. These groups use neo-Alinsky strategies while also usually providing social and sometimes material support to less-privileged youth. Most of these groups are created by and directed by youth or former youth organizers. Prior to his entry into politics, President Barack Obama worked as an organizer for
6786-482: The democratic leadership style is more adequate in situations that require consensus building; finally, the laissez-faire leadership style is appreciated for the degree of freedom it provides, but as the leaders do not "take charge", they can be perceived as a failure in protracted or thorny organizational problems. Theorists defined the style of leadership as contingent to the situation; this is sometimes called contingency theory . Three contingency leadership theories are
6903-512: The depression era, such as that of Dorothy Day . Most organizations had a national orientation because the economic problems the nation faced did not seem possible to change at the neighborhood levels. Saul Alinsky , based in Chicago , is credited with originating the term community organizer during this time period. Alinsky wrote Reveille for Radicals , published in 1946, and Rules for Radicals , published in 1971. With these books, Alinsky
7020-406: The desired level, and reward effectiveness when expected outcome is reached. Leader–member exchange (LMX) theory addresses a specific aspect of the leadership process, which evolved from an earlier theory called the vertical dyad linkage model. Both of these models focus on the interaction between leaders and individual followers. Similar to the transactional approach, this interaction is viewed as
7137-514: The development of campaigns. A central goal of organizing is the development of a robust, organized, local democracy bringing community members together across differences to fight together for the interests of the community. Community organizers attempt to influence government, corporations, and institutions, increase direct representation within decision-making bodies, and foster general social reform more generally. Where negotiations fail, these organizations quickly seek to inform others outside of
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#17327657636897254-500: The early criticisms of the trait approach, theorists began to research leadership as a set of behaviors by evaluating the behavior of successful leaders, determining a behavior taxonomy, and identifying broad leadership styles. David McClelland , for example, posited that leadership requires a strong personality with a well-developed positive ego. To lead, self-confidence and high self-esteem are useful, perhaps even essential. Kurt Lewin , Ronald Lipitt, and Ralph White developed in 1939
7371-720: The emergence of an ongoing process of white flight , the ability of middle-class white Americans to move out of majority Black areas, and the professionalization of community organizations into 501(c)3 nonprofits, among other issues, increasingly dissolved the tight ethnic and racial communities that had been so prevalent in urban areas during the first part of the century. As a result, community organizers began to move away from efforts to mobilize existing communities and towards efforts to create community, fostering relationships between community members. While community organizers like Alinsky had long worked with churches, these trends led to an increasing focus on congregational organizing during
7488-543: The follower responds well, the leader rewards him/her with extra coaching, favorable job assignments, and developmental experiences. If the follower shows high commitment and effort followed by additional rewards, both parties develop mutual trust, influence, and support of one another. Research shows the in-group members usually receive higher performance evaluations from the leader, higher satisfaction, and faster promotions than out-group members. In-group members are also likely to build stronger bonds with their leaders by sharing
7605-411: The followers to participate in group decision making and encouraged subordinate input. This entails avoiding controlling types of leadership and allows more personal interactions between leaders and their subordinates. The managerial grid model is also based on a behavioral theory. The model was developed by Robert Blake and Jane Mouton in 1964. It suggests five different leadership styles, based on
7722-643: The followers. Functional leadership theory addresses specific leader behaviors that contribute to organizational or unit effectiveness. This theory argues that the leader's main job is to see that whatever is necessary to group needs is taken care of; thus, a leader can be said to have done their job well when they have contributed to group effectiveness and cohesion. While functional leadership theory has most often been applied to team leadership, it has also been effectively applied to broader organizational leadership as well. In summarizing literature on functional leadership, researchers observed five broad functions
7839-473: The following: While the trait theory of leadership has certainly regained popularity, its reemergence has not been accompanied by a corresponding increase in sophisticated conceptual frameworks. Specifically, Stephen Zaccaro noted that trait theories still: Considering the criticisms of the trait theory outlined above, several researchers adopted a different perspective of leader individual differences—the leader-attribute-pattern approach. In contrast to
7956-417: The general health of a specific interest group, rather than the community as a whole. In addition, community organizing seeks to broadly empower community members,through mobilizing efforts, with the end goal of "distributing" power and resources more equally between the community members and external political and social figures of power. When adapting the goal of community empowerment, organizers recognize
8073-406: The history of "community organizing" (also known as "social agitation") in the United States into four rough periods: People sought to meet the pressures of rapid immigration and industrialization by organizing immigrant neighborhoods in urban centers. Since the emphasis of the reformers was mostly on building community through settlement houses and other service mechanisms, the dominant approach
8190-616: The interest of their communities and the common good. According to scholar Brian D. Christens, grassroots organizing focuses on building and maintaining interpersonal relationships between their community members. Building social relationships allow community members to build collaborative skills, deliberative skills to handle conflict, and strengthen civil engagement. Some networks of community organizations that employ this method and support local organizing groups include National People's Action and ACORN . Although efforts in grassroots organizing are significant in marginalized communities, it
8307-493: The last 20 years suggests that applying reinforcement theory leads to a 17 percent increase in performance. Additionally, many reinforcement techniques such as the use of praise are inexpensive, providing higher performance for lower costs. Situational theory is another reaction to the trait theory of leadership. Social scientists argued that history was more than the result of intervention of great men as Carlyle suggested. Herbert Spencer (1884) (and Karl Marx ) said that
8424-419: The leader (local volunteer) directed. (However, the same can be said for many forms of organizing, including FBCOs.) The "door-knocking" approach is more time-intensive than the "organization of organizations" approach of FBCOs and requires more organizers who, partly as a result, can be lower paid with more turnover. Unlike the existing FBCO national "umbrella" and other grassroots organizations, ACORN maintains
8541-477: The leader and specific followers can lead to the creation of in-groups and out-groups . In-group members are said to have high-quality exchanges with the leader, while out-group members have low-quality exchanges with the leader. In-group members are perceived by the leader as being more experienced, competent, and willing to assume responsibility than other followers. The leader begins to rely on these individuals to help with especially challenging tasks. If
8658-485: The leader behaviors that were effective. This approach dominated much of the leadership theory and research for the next few decades. New methods and measurements were developed after these influential reviews that would ultimately reestablish trait theory as a viable approach to the study of leadership. For example, improvements in researchers' use of the round-robin research design methodology allowed researchers to see that individuals can and do emerge as leaders across
8775-516: The leader or by other stakeholders, not through the actions of the leader. In other words, the reproduction of information or stories form the basis of the perception of leadership by the majority. It is well known by historians that the naval hero Lord Nelson often wrote his own versions of battles he was involved in, so that when he arrived home in England, he would receive a true hero's welcome. In modern society, various media outlets, including
8892-412: The leader tends to emphasize his/her formal authority to obtain compliance to leader requests. Research shows that out-group members are less satisfied with their job and organization, receive lower performance evaluations from the leader, see their leader as less fair, and are more likely to file grievances or leave the organization. Leadership can be an emotion-laden process, with emotions entwined with
9009-607: The leader's ability to build an interpersonal relationship with their followers, and to establish a form of mutual trust. These are considered "social oriented" behaviors. The Michigan State Studies, which were conducted in the 1950s, made further investigations and findings that positively correlated behaviors and leadership effectiveness. Although they had similar findings as the Ohio State studies, they also contributed an additional behavior identified in leaders: participative behavior (also called "servant leadership"), or allowing
9126-418: The leaders' concern for people and their concern for goal achievement. B. F. Skinner is the father of behavior modification and developed the concept of positive reinforcement . Positive reinforcement occurs when a positive stimulus is presented in response to a behavior, which increases the likelihood of that behavior in the future. The following is an example of how positive reinforcement can be used in
9243-611: The local power structures. Community organizing appeared to trap the radical activists in "a politics of adjustment". By the beginning of the 1970s most of the New Left groups had vacated their store-front offices. Nonetheless, the Civil Rights Movement , anti-war protest, ethnic mobilizations, women's liberation , and the struggle for gay rights all influenced, and were influenced by, ideas of neighborhood organizing. Experience with federal anti-poverty programs and
9360-447: The member institutions by developing the skills and capacities of their leaders and creating a vehicle for ordinary families to participate in the political process. The Industrial Areas Foundation sees itself as a "university of public life" teaching citizens the democratic process in the fullest sense. While community organizing groups often engage in protest actions designed to force powerful groups to respond to their demands, protest
9477-420: The misuse of governing authority to benefit corporations. As such, the adoption of rights-based municipal ordinances is not a legal strategy, but an organizing strategy. Courts predictably deny the legal authority of municipalities to legislate in defiance of state and federal law. Corporations and government agencies that initiate legal actions to overturn these ordinances have been forced to argue in opposition to
9594-540: The national community organizing network was to partner with religious congregations and civic organizations to build "broad-based organizations" that could train up local leadership and promote trust across community divides. After Alinsky died in 1972, Edward T. Chambers became the IAF's executive director. Hundreds of professional community and labor organizers and thousands of community and labor leaders have been trained at its workshops. Fred Ross , who worked for Alinsky,
9711-400: The numbers of eminent relatives dropped off when his focus moved from first-degree to second-degree relatives, Galton concluded that leadership was inherited. Cecil Rhodes (1853–1902) believed that public-spirited leadership could be nurtured by identifying young people with "moral force of character and instincts to lead", and educating them in contexts (such as the collegiate environment of
9828-569: The organization of the issues being addressed and expose or pressure the decision-makers through a variety of means, including picketing, boycotting , sit-ins , petitioning, and electoral politics. Organizing groups often seek out issues they know will generate controversy and conflict. This allows them to draw in and educate participants, build commitment, and establish a reputation for advancing local justice. Community organizers generally seek to build groups that are democratic in governance, open and accessible to community members, and concerned with
9945-451: The powerless. Community organizing has as a core goal the generation of durable power for an organization representing the community , allowing it to influence key decision-makers on a range of issues over time. In the ideal, for example, this can get community-organizing groups a place at the table before important decisions are made. Community organizers work with and develop new local leaders , facilitating coalitions and assisting in
10062-565: The president's legislative agenda and played an important role in building grassroots support for The Affordable Health Care Act. Leader "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the concept, sometimes contrasting Eastern and Western approaches to leadership, and also (within the West) North American versus European approaches. Some U.S. academic environments define leadership as "a process of social influence in which
10179-468: The press and blogs, present their own interpretations of leaders. These depictions can stem from actual circumstances, but they might also arise from political influences, monetary incentives, or the personal agendas of the author, media, or leader. Consequently, the impression of leaders is often constructed and may not accurately mirror their genuine leadership attributes. This highlights the historical role of concepts like royal lineage , which once stood as
10296-404: The qualities and behaviors associated with leaders and influencers developed only later during the 19th and 20th centuries - possibly traceable from 1870 onwards. Historically, industrialization , opposition to the ancien regime , and the phasing out of chattel slavery meant that some newly developing organizations ( nation-state republics , commercial corporations ) evolved a need for
10413-407: The question "What qualities distinguish an individual as a leader?" Underlying this search was the early recognition of the importance of leadership and the assumption that leadership is rooted in the characteristics that certain individuals possess. This idea that leadership is based on individual attributes is known as the " trait theory of leadership ". A number of works in the 19th century – when
10530-413: The racial and capability diversity among women. In the process of pushing for unity among women, feminist organizers are inclined to disregard the benefits of diversity. Economist Marilyn Power uses the term "homogenous category" to highlight the problem of masking racial diversity, while sociologist Akwugo Emejulu uses the concept of essentialism (reducing women to their gender stereotypes) to highlight
10647-542: The reaction against community organizing in the 2008 US presidential election by Republicans and conservatives both online and offline. Organizing groups often struggle to find resources. They rarely receive funding from government since their activities often seek to contest government policies. Foundations and others who usually fund service activities generally don't understand what organizing groups do or how they do it, or shy away from their contentious approaches. The constituency of progressive and centrist organizing groups
10764-495: The right of subordinates to overthrow emperors who appeared to lack divine sanction. Pro- aristocracy thinkers have postulated that leadership depends on one's "blue blood" or genes . Monarchy takes an extreme view of the same idea, and may prop up its assertions against the claims of mere aristocrats by invoking divine sanction (see the divine right of kings ). On the other hand, more democratically inclined theorists have pointed to examples of meritocratic leaders, such as
10881-465: The rights of "human and natural communities," and include provisions that deny the legal concepts of "corporate personhood," and "corporate rights." Since 2006 they have been drafted to include the recognition of legally enforceable rights for "natural communities and ecosystems." Although this type of community organizing focuses on the adoption of local laws, the intent is to demonstrate the use of governing authority to protect community rights and expose
10998-455: The same social backgrounds and interests. Out-group members often receive less time and more distant exchanges than their in-group counterparts. With out-group members, leaders expect no more than adequate job performance , good attendance, reasonable respect, and adherence to the job description in exchange for a fair wage and standard benefits. The leader spends less time with out-group members, they have fewer developmental experiences, and
11115-415: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Organizer . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Organizer&oldid=1131509456 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
11232-625: The scope of gender norms. This negatively impacts women empowerment because it is the diversity that motivates women to mobilize. Faith-based community organizing (FBCO), also known as Congregation-based Community Organizing , is a methodology for developing power and relationships throughout a community of institutions: today mostly congregations, but these can also include unions, neighborhood associations, and other groups. Progressive and centrist FBCO organizations unite around basic values derived from common aspects of their faith instead of around strict dogmas. There are now at least 180 FBCOs in
11349-500: The seminal work on the influence of leadership styles and performance. The researchers evaluated the performance of groups of eleven-year-old boys under different types of work climate. In each, the leader exercised his influence regarding the type of group decision making , praise and criticism ( feedback ), and the management of the group tasks ( project management ) according to three styles: authoritarian , democratic , and laissez-faire . In 1945, Ohio State University conducted
11466-423: The situation is considered a "favorable situation". Fiedler found that task-oriented leaders are more effective in extremely favorable or unfavorable situations, whereas relationship-oriented leaders perform best in situations with intermediate favorability. Victor Vroom , in collaboration with Phillip Yetton and later with Arthur Jago, developed a taxonomy for describing leadership situations. They used this in
11583-668: The social influence process. A leader's mood affects his/her group. These effects can be described in three levels: In research about client service, it was found that expressions of positive mood by the leader improve the performance of the group, although in other sectors there were other findings. Beyond the leader's mood, her/his behavior is a source for employee positive and negative emotions at work. The leader's behavior creates situations and events that lead to emotional response, for example by giving feedback, allocating tasks, and distributing resources. Since employee behavior and productivity are affected by their emotional states, it
11700-466: The strength of courage results in violence. Excessive discipline and sternness in command result in cruelty. When one has all five virtues together, each appropriate to its function, then one can be a leader. Machiavelli's The Prince , written in the early-16th century, provided a manual for rulers ("princes" or "tyrants" in Machiavelli's terminology) to gain and keep political power . Prior to
11817-424: The table without engaging in "actions" because of their reputation. As Alinsky said, "the first rule of power tactics" is that "power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have." The development of durable "power" and influence is a key aim of community organizing. "Rights-based" community organizing, in which municipal governments are used to exercise community power, was first experimented with by
11934-443: The task by developing good relationships with the group (relationship-oriented), and those who have as their prime concern carrying out the task itself (task-oriented). According to Fiedler, there is no ideal leader. Both task-oriented and relationship-oriented leaders can be effective if their leadership orientation fits the situation. When there is a good leader-member relation, a highly structured task, and high leader position power,
12051-403: The times produce the person and not the other way around. This theory assumes that different situations call for different characteristics: no single optimal psychographic profile of a leader exists. According to the theory, "what an individual actually does when acting as a leader is in large part dependent upon characteristics of the situation in which he functions." Some theorists synthesized
12168-609: The traditional approach, the leader-attribute-pattern approach is based on theorists' arguments that the influence of individual characteristics on outcomes is best understood by considering the person as an integrated totality rather than a summation of individual variables. In other words, the leader-attribute-pattern approach argues that integrated constellations or combinations of individual differences may explain substantial variance in both leader emergence and leader effectiveness beyond that explained by single attributes, or by additive combinations of multiple attributes. In response to
12285-433: The traditional authority of monarchs, lords, and bishops had begun to wane – explored the trait theory at length: especially the writings of Thomas Carlyle and of Francis Galton . In Heroes and Hero Worship (1841), Carlyle identified the talents, skills, and physical characteristics of men who rose to power. Galton's Hereditary Genius (1869) examined leadership qualities in the families of powerful men. After showing that
12402-450: The traditional gender norms influenced by white domestic middle class womanhood. Currently, feminist organizing focuses on addressing gender inequalities, which means only the problems of women who follow and are impacted by gender norms will be addressed. Feminist organizing becomes counterproductive for those who do follow gender norms. Psychologist Lorraine Gutierrez claims that feminist organizing disregards problems that are larger than
12519-405: The trait and situational approaches. Building upon the research of Lewin et al., academics normalized the descriptive models of leadership climates, defining three leadership styles and identifying which situations each style works better in. The authoritarian leadership style, for example, is approved in periods of crisis but fails to win the "hearts and minds" of followers in day-to-day management;
12636-406: The uneven distribution of material and social resources within society as the root cause of the community's issues. The process of creating empowerment starts with admitting that power gaps and resource inequalities exist in society and affects an individual's personal life. Though community organizers share the goal of community empowerment, community organizing itself is defined and understood in
12753-413: The upheavals in the cities produced a thoughtful response among activists and theorists in the early 1970s that has informed activities, organizations, strategies and movements through the end of the century. Less dramatically, civic association and neighborhood block clubs were formed all across the country to foster community spirit and civic duty, as well as provide a social outlet. During these decades,
12870-580: Was a community organizer, Pontius Pilate was a governor", a phrase produced on bumper stickers and elsewhere. Pontius Pilate was the Roman Prefect who ordered the execution of Jesus. After Obama's election in 2008, the campaign organization " Obama for America ," became " Organizing for America ," and has been placed under the auspices of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Organizing for America sought to advance
12987-423: Was answered with resounding applause. This was seconded by the vice presidential nominee, Alaska governor Sarah Palin , who stated that her experience as the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska was "sort of like being a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities." In response, some progressives, such as Congressman Steve Cohen ( D - TN ) and liberal pundit Donna Brazile , started saying that " Jesus
13104-557: Was developed by Robert House and was based on the expectancy theory of Victor Vroom . According to House, "leaders, to be effective, engage in behaviors that complement subordinates' environments and abilities in a manner that compensates for deficiencies and is instrumental to subordinate satisfaction and individual and work unit performance". The theory identifies four leader behaviors, achievement-oriented , directive , participative , and supportive , that are contingent to environment factors and follower characteristics. In contrast to
13221-544: Was made by Denton, Texas to restrict fracking was initially successful, but then overturned and further legislation passed to prevent Texas communities from enacting similar bans. Community organizing is not solely the domain of progressive politics, as dozens of fundamentalist organizations are in operation, such as the Christian Coalition . However, the term "community organizing" generally refers to more progressive organizations, as evidenced, for example, by
13338-488: Was the first person in America to codify key strategies and aims of community organizing. The following excerpts from Reveille for Radicals give a sense of Alinsky's organizing philosophy and of his style of public engagement: In 1940, with the support of Roman Catholic Bishop Bernard James Sheil and Chicago Sun-Times publisher Marshall Field , Alinsky founded the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF). The mandate of
13455-596: Was the first, created by Alinsky himself in 1940. The other key organizations include ACORN , PICO National Network , Direct Action and Research Training Center , and the Gamaliel Foundation . The role of the organizer in these organizations was "professionalized" to some extent and resources were sought so that being an organizer could be more of a long-term career than a relatively brief, mostly unfunded interlude. The training provided by these national "umbrella" organizations helps local volunteer leaders learn
13572-527: Was the principal mentor for Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta . Other organizations following in the tradition of the Congregation-based Community Organizing pioneered by IAF include PICO National Network , Gamaliel Foundation , Brooklyn Ecumenical Cooperatives, founded by former IAF trainer, Richard Harmon and Direct Action and Research Training Center (DART). In the 1960s the New Left (beginning with Students for
13689-659: Was what Fisher calls social work . During this period the Newsboys Strike of 1899 provided an early model of youth-led organizing . During this period, much of community organizing methodology was generated in Schools of Social Work, with a particular methodological focus grounded in the philosophy of John Dewey , which focused on experience, education, and other sociological concepts. This period saw much energy coming from those critical of capitalist doctrines as well. Studs Terkel documented community organizing in
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