ABSTRACT
[…] To the group-centered leader, a group exists for the realization of the purposes and goals of its members. These purposes and goals will vary from group to group and will vary from time to time within a single group, yet always the group is simply the means by which the members are enhanced through the achievement of their purposes. It is incompatible with the views and attitudes of the group-centered leader that a group should exist for the realization of the purposes and goals of the leader, apart from the group. It is also inconsistent with his philosophy that a group should exist for the accomplishment of the aims and objectives of someone outside the group. The group-centered leader, therefore, believes that responsibility should reside with the total group. It is the group, not the leader, who has the responsibility for setting its goals and defining its purposes; and consequently it is inconsistent with the values he holds to deny the group such responsibility. It is the group that should have the responsibility for making decisions on matters that will affect its members; and consequently the group-centered leader finds it incompatible with his values to make such decisions for the group. Finally, the group-centered leader believes that it should be the responsibility of the total group to set its own rules, its standards of member behavior, its laws and regulations, within the limits dictated by the external situation in which the group is operating.
