The Contribution of Personal Resources and Community Variables to Community Leaders' Competence

Abstract

 The study aimed to identify personal resources and community variables  that contribute to the development of leadership competence among Israeli community activists who engage in volunteer activity and maintain professional relationships with macro social workers.

The conceptual framework for the present study was ecological theory. The literature on macro-practice relates to the process of building a community, in which development of local leadership is the main strategy. Less attention has been devoted to the contribution of personal and environmental resources to the process to leadership ability from an ecological perspective.

The research sample consisted of 409 community activists. Participants completed questionnaires relating to personal resources and other variables. To examine which of the research variables contributed to explaining the variance in community leadership competence and the contribution of these variables, hierarchical regression analyses were conducted. The findings revealed that two main clusters of variables contributed to the development of leadership competence: personal resources, and community variables. All of the personal resources examined in the study contributed significantly to explaining the variance in leadership competence: the more personal resources the activists had, the higher the level of their leadership competence. In the second step of the regression, when community variables were added, all of the variables contributed significantly to leadership competence: the more the activists reported high levels of community involvement and community activity, the higher their level of leadership competence. In the second step, the contribution of sense of mastery was not significant.

Regarding the theoretical and practical contribution of the study, a review of the literature indicates that there is a lack of research on perceptions of community leadership among community activists in Israel and other countries, even though development of community leadership is one of the basic components of professional intervention in macro social work. Thus, the present study provides a multidimensional, system-based perspective of individuals and their communities that can contribute to the development of community leadership and add to existing knowledge on macro social work.

With regard to the practical contribution of the study, the findings provide a basis for promoting the activities of social workers who engage in interventions aimed at developing leadership. Specifically, the research findings enable these social workers not only to impart knowledge but also to involve activists in the field and strengthen their sense of representation and involvement. In addition, it is important to invest in developing the personal resources of these activists, and especially to develop their sense of self-esteem. The findings of this study are consistent with approaches which advocate an integrative, supplementary perspective that focuses on strengthening individuals and their resources, as well as on empowering the environment of the individual. This perspective takes into account the intrapersonal aspect as well as community dimensions. Macro social workers can accomplish this through continuous work with community workers in group settings and at the individual level.