Lao Village Chiefs and Thai Village Headmen work at the community level with responsibilities ranging from poverty reduction and economic development to maintaining peace and order. This research poses questions seldom asked about leading and being a leader in rural villages. A Leadership-As-Practice perspective suggests that leading emerges from the kind of activities they engage in while Implicit Leadership Theory focuses on their ideas about it. Findings are based on interviews of 15 Village Chiefs and Assistant Chiefs in Laos and 14 Village Headmen in Thailand. We ask what defines a “leader”, what makes a leader effective, where their ideas come from, and what advice they have for others. Results show close similarities and strong differences. What is learned about their views of leading will be particularly germane if Chiefs and Headmen are given greater authority and responsibilities, which we contend is possible in each case. We also point out why this research is relevant beyond these settings.
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