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indiscipline who's only irresponsible attitude. An officer who does not bother for the punctuality of
his staff or wastage of office stationery is only irresponsible. So much so that if you do not cast
your vote during any election, you can be termed as irresponsible exactly like a lazy housewife
who ignores her involvement in maintenance of household. SOR thus, has a very wide
implication. Sense of Responsibility implies two things i.e. Sense of Duty and Discipline.
Sense of Duty—It refers to faithful and firm actions taken in pursuit of orders from superiors not
expecting any reward or recognitions. Happiness is derived out of the results of one’s actions in favour
of the organisation. Sense of Duty contains all elements of ‘attitudes’ i.e. information, emotion and
action in psychological sense. Sense of duty is enhanced with role clarity. It is expected that an officer
will keep himself informed with all aspects of his duties, acquaint himself with all rules, regulations and
sharpen the skills needed to perform his job well.
Discipline—It refers to a trained sense of acting strictly in accordance with rules, regulations and
conventions. Because of this, self-control is developed that helps a person remain within the bounds of
social and normal standards. Discipline can best be judged when a person is not under direct
observation of his superiors.
In short, Sense of Responsibility means a thorough understanding of the
values of duty, social standards and what is required of an individual. Also, it
includes doing one’s best, carrying out even unspecified and probably unforeseen
duties and obligations rather than faithfully carrying out what one is told.
Social Effectiveness—This factor is directly related with the function of leadership and contains
qualities that are helpful in discharging leadership function well. Authority for leadership in the officer
cadre is vested in the position indicated by the rank. The hierarchical structure of the Armed Forces
gives authority to every person holding a higher rank to command the junior. But rank or authority
alone cannot make an officer a successful leader. One must possess those tools in terms of qualities that
add quality to leadership. Though all functions of leadership are performed by the officers, situation of
war provides the best opportunity to test the effectiveness of leadership.
Nowhere else perhaps, the factor of morale plays as much a decisive role as in the combat
situation. Morale is a direct outcome of leadership. Let us not forget that combat is the source of
extreme physical and mental stress and troops have to fight stress and enemy both
simultaneously. Enemy has perhaps killed lesser number of troops than the stress in the combat
situation. A high quality of leadership keeps the morale of the troops high that results in higher
rates of success in each mission. The opposite is also truth. A well-trained and well-equipped
Army may suffer humiliating defeat because of poor leadership.

Lesson 8
Leadership Qualities

According to the Defence Institute of Psychological Research (DIPR) there are five qualities that
are associated with the function of leadership mentioned as following :—
1 2 3

Initiative Self-confidence Speed of Decision

5
4
Liveliness
Ability to Influence Others