Implicit Ideas of Leading Held by Village Chiefs in Laos

Abstract

Village Chiefs in Laos work at the community level in urban and rural villages. Officially they “administer” rather than “govern” in meeting their responsibilities to maintain peace and order and “lead the people toward development.” This research explores ideas of leading held by 15 Village Chiefs and Vice Chiefs in rural areas outside of Vientiane. We argue their work takes place within a system that creates an “entrenched ambiguity” about their role and use implicit leadership theory as a framework for understanding their everyday ideas of leadership. The research explores the meaning they give to “leading” as well as a constellation of issues that fill in their ideas about leading in this ambiguous context. These include how they understand “success”; the motivation to take on responsibilities of Village Chief; what they view as the primary challenges as well as the keys to effectiveness; where their ideas about leader and leading originate; why someone in this setting would want, or not want, to be in a leadership role; how they view the performance of others filling roles similar to theirs; and what advice they offer about leading. We maintain that how they see these issues is consequential for poverty reduction and economic development if villages move from being “implementation units” to “development units”.