Leadership in a Long-Term Leaderless Women'S Group

Abstract

Leaderless groups are found in a variety of settintgs, from self-help organizations to peer-supervision groups. Relatively little has been written about leaderless group dynamics, and most of the literature that does exist is pessimistic about long-term viability. The author offers evidence that long-term leaderless groups can function very effectively if certain tasks typically performed by the leader are assumed by the group. Leadership functions connected wit/h the contract, such as structure, gatekeeping, group norms, and adherence to task are crucial for long-term leaderless group survival. This article describes ways in which contract-related leadership functions can be handled by a leaderless group and gives examples from a leaderless womenr s group that is in its 1 7th year of continuous e-xistence.