CHAPTER-III

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT OF SRI K.H. PATIL

In this chapter an attempt is made to analyze the following

theories in connection with the nature and development of

leadership. Trait theories, behavioural theory, and Hollander’s

idiosyncratic- credit theory are used in the analysis of Sri K.H.

Patil’s leadership. In other words, the leadership of Sri K.H. Patil

is examined in the light of the theoretical background after

theories are being explained.

Among the various theories about leadership, three theories

(Trait theory, Behavioural theory, and Hollander’s Idiosyncrasy

credit theory) have been selected to explain and analyze the

leadership of Sri K.H. Patil. They are selected because of their

wider dimension and universal relevance; further these theories

are more appropriate in explaining the leadership in the context

of the developing country like India.

Trait Theory of Leadership

According to the trait theory, the emergence of leadership

is the result of certain personal traits possessed by a leader. A

personality trait is one of the important determinants of

leadership development. This theory states that persons who

possess the traits of leadership are presumed to be

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psychologically better adjusted to display better judgment and

engage themselves in economic, political, and social activities.

Only those who have such traits would be considered potential

leaders. The vital question that this theoretical approach attempts

to answer is that these characteristics or traits make a person a

leader. Luthans writes “the earliest theories, which can be traced

back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, concluded that leaders

are born, not made.”1 Similarly, Desslar also found that, “some

leaders are characterized by certain traits; they were initially

inspired by a ‘great man’ concept of leadership.”2 The theory

states that certain individuals who are born to lead have been

labelled as the ‘great men’ as per theory of leadership. In other

words according to Worchel and Cooper this theory states that,

“there are five men in leadership positions, and these men

possess certain unique traits that qualify them for the leader’s

role.”3 Adair has listed certain inborn qualities “such as,

initiative, courage, and intelligence and which together

predestine a man to be a leader. By the exercise of will power,

itself seen as an important leadership trait, or by the rough

tutorship of experience, some of these qualities might be

developed.”4 But the essential pattern is given at birth. Early trait

researcher, Sir Francis Galton, also found that, “there was a wide

belief that leadership qualities were based on heredity. Galton

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saw these as genetic characteristics of a family. In fact, he found

that there were families where for generations a member was a

military leader or a jurist. But this was much a sign of the ‘right'

family ties as of genetic qualities. In a later time, there was a

greater possibility for getting ahead without such ties.”5

For example, Winston Charchill, Dwight Eisenhower, Joan

of Arc, Martin Luther King Jr, etc, were great leaders because

they were born with certain definable traits, which made them so.

If the same theory is applied to Sri K.H. Pati’s leadership, it

would be hypothesized that he led farmers’ movement against

exploitation by vested interest groups in the Hulkoti region in

particular and Gadag taluka in general. He differed also from the

second line leaders because of his special traits. As he had

inherited political genius from his family he was a born leader.

Krishnagouda Patil was born on March 16, 1925 at Hulkoti in

Gadag taluka (Now Gadag has become a district). Krishnagouda

Patil nourished his special traits of leadership from his early age.

He inherited courage, laudable tact, dexterity, firm

determination, enviable organizing capacity and will power by

his parents.

His family belonged to ‘Mulki Patil’ and ‘Police Patil’

rank. His father Sri Ranganagouda Patil was a man of discipline.

He was a powerful and dominating figure in his area. He was

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proud of his family status and he seems to be short-tempered. His

mother Ningamma was a religious and benevolent and generous

woman. Naturally Sri Krishnagouda Patil inherited both the

qualities of mother and father such as discipline, religious spirit,

generousity, and benevolence and also some amount of impetuous

temperament. “As he was the great son of a Gouda (head of a

village exercising the power of revenue collecting and of Police

Patil) he was getting reverence and regard from the public even

from his boyhood. As he grew up he earned the love and affection

of the people of the Hulkoti village.”6

“Sri Ranganagouda Patil, the father of Krishnagouda Patil,

was a patriot. He was a freedom fighter. He refused to undergo

PSI (Police Sub-Inspector) training at Naisk, and joined the

freedom movement. In 1942 he joined the Quit India Movement

and was jailed for sometime. He worked as the president of the

Congress Committee of Gadag taluka and was also a member of

the KPCC (Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee).”7 “He had

also rendered a great service to the co-operative field. He was

recognized as one of the chief promoters of Gadag Co-Operative

Cotton Sale Society Ltd, Gadag, Hulkoti Co-operative Education

Society Ltd, Hulkoti, Multipurpose Co-operative Credit Society

Ltd. Hulkoti, The Reddy Co-operative Bank of Dharwad district,

etc. He was a close friend of Vaikuntalal Mehta who was

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regarded as the father of Bombay State Co-operative

Movement.”8 Thus, the spirit of national movement and co­

operative movement, and dynamic qualities of his father in the

political field were inherited by Krishnagouda Patil. Besides

these qualities he inherited imperious, and domineering

characteristics of his great father.

Since his childhood Krishnagouda Patil was diligent in all

his activities. “He completed his primary education in 1938 at

Hulkoti. As he had inherited the good qualities of his great

family, he showed the leadership qualities. So he gained a circle

of good friends even during his primary education.”9 He had to

go to Gadag for his secondary education. “He joined the

Municiple High School at Gadag in June 1938.”10 He was

traveling from Hulkoti to Gadag by train. At this time he

enlarged his friends circle which helped him to acquire qualities

of leadership. “He used to participate in a debate in the

Municiple High School. His leadership qualities and organizing

capacity were noticed and observed by his class teacher, Sri R.N.

Joshi. This made him the secretary of debating association, and

he was empowered to select the subject of debate, which was

regularly conducted on every Friday.-He proved by his special

ability as the best secretary of the debating association.”11 He

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was a born orator. He made the students and the teachers spell

bond when he was rendering speech in the debate.

In 1942, the Quit India movement was intensified in this

region by the public. “So the students of Gadag were also

attracted by the force and arranged public agitation against the

British rule. Sri Krishnagouda Patil was one of the main leaders

who had arranged the procession of the agitation. As a result

many freedom fighter of Gadag taluka were arrested.

Krishnagouda Patil was also arrested and imprisoned for two

days.”12

The active participation in Quite India Movement made

Krishnagouda Patil a leader of students. He was inspired by the

freedom movement, which made a successful leader. He had

inherited qualities of leadership such as courage, and ability to

face the social as well as political difficulties. Therefore

Krishnagouda Patil was obviously proved himself as a born

leader. A large number of studies have provided evidence that

personality traits contribute to the emergence and maintenance of

leadership status. Some of the highlights of this work will

indicate the size and scope of the data on traits and leadership.

Worchel and Cooper briefly review the literature on traits

and leadership under three categories viz. physical attributes,

personality factors and acquired traits. “Firstly physical traits

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emphasize the size and strength of appearance of a leader.

Secondly, there are two traits related to personality that seem to

standout typifying the leader. The first is intelligence. The leader

in most groups is somewhat more intelligent than the followers.

Second trait that paves the road for individual’s rise to leadership

is oratory. Lastly, the acquired trait that seems to be very

important in determining who the leader is and it will be the

status. Most of the leaders in the world obtained their positions

partly as a result of being born into the right families.”13

Firstly, Worchel's and Cooper’s concept of physical,

personality and of acquired traits is quite applicable to the

leadership of Sri K.H. Patil. The physical traits (size, strength,

and appearance) are relevant in the analysis of Sri K.H. Patil’s

leadership. “He was a man of good physic with sturdy body and

his mental ability was very strong. Though he seemed to be stern

yet his facial gestures were quite graceful. A round and shining

face added his attractive personality. He was a born orator. When

he began to speak he had clear-cut ideas. His expression and

explanation touched the hearts of the audience. His words were

genuine mixed with humour. Some time his words were hard as a

true country man but his heart was soft.”14

Secondly, the personality traits (intelligence, oratory) are

also relevant in the analysis of Sri K.H. Patil’s leadership. The

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first intelligence is regarded as the most important determinant

factor in the leadership of Sri K.H. Patil. He was born intelligent.

“From his early age, he was provided a good education by his

father at home only. He enriched his knowledge by reading a

large number of English books of great men, which were supplied

at home by his father. Even in his high school days he was

attracted by the social service and that forced him into the public

life. So it was not possible for him to join the college for his

higher education. But his interest in the study was not curtailed

by his political life. When he got a leisure time he devoted

himself to the study of political science at the age of 53 to do

M.A. degree from Mysore University. He secured first class in

M.A. (Master of Arts) political science in 1979.”15 “So he was a

competent interpreter of the laws. He would come to a definite

conclusion about the genuineness of the laws by his intelligence.

He could frame the laws for the benefit of the public. He had

been contemplating about the problems of the people since his

childhood. By gaining a good knowledge by the vast study of

various books he was able to solve different problems. A problem

must be discussed widely and deeply by taking into consideration

of all aspects to arrive at the right conclusion.”16 “Sri K.H. Patil

was not a lawyer by profession but he was more than a popular

and experienced lawyer in justification of the laws.”17 He proved

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his ability when he “defended himself against Grower

Commission appointed by Janata government at centre.”18

Secondly, oratory was also one of the important traits of Sri K.H.

Patil’s leadership. As a good and effective orator his speech was

quite spontaneous with remarkable skill and mastery over the

language. “While he was speaking, the audience were impressed

by his patriotism, fearlessness, hard working and self thinking

traits of him.”19 “He proved to be a great orator at Oxford

University also in 1971.”20 In general elections Sri K.H. Patil

attracted thousands of people to hear his speeches. He was able

to make his audience to capture his ideas. He could hold the

attention of the public to his speech easily for a longer time. “For

instance in 1972 Sri K.H. Patil contested assembly election on

behalf of the Indira Gandhi Congress Party. A public function

was held in the presence of Smt Indira Gandhi in Gadag-Betgeri

for his election canvass. Then his political enemies began to

throw stones, eggs, and tomatoes, etc., to insult to Smt Indira

Gandhi and to make the function a failure. But Sri K.H. Patil, did

not loose his heart, he spoke courageously, thoughtfully and

impressively. In such a way the whole audience changed their

minds and they became his followers. Totally the function was a

great success.”21
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Lastly, the acquired traits of leadership (status) are also

relevant in the analysis of leadership trait of Sri K.H. Patil. He

was always having a good company of friends. These friends

were always ready to obey his orders, because they had great

confidence in their leader. “Indeed it was his friends who acted

mainly as an instrument in moulding Sri K.H. Patil into a good

leader. They were even ready to sacrifice the needs of their

family or relatives in order to make the leader advance in the

field. So it was the true wealth of Sri K.H. Patil. They fought

with Sri K.H. Patil against the exploitation by the vested interest

to achieve economic development through varied activities.”

Similarly, Stogdill found that' “the various researches

identified personality traits such as adaptability, aggressiveness,

keen vision, enthusiasm and self-confidence, some task-related

characteristics such as achievement drive, persistence, and

initiative, and social characteristics such as co-operativeness,

interpersonal skills and administrative ability that are essential

for the emergence of leadership.”23

Stogdill’s personality traits, task-related characteristics,

and social characteristics are also applied to analyze Sri K.H.

Patil’s leadership. Firstly, personality traits such as adaptability,

aggressiveness, enthusiasm, keen vision and self-confidence

which are also relevant in Sri K.H. Patil’s leadership analysis.

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The first is adaptability as a trait of leadership had a greater

influence on his leadership. “Sri K.H. Patil was adapting himself

to the ordinary life and very sensitive to the problems of the

ordinary people.”24 He undertook many of the developing

activities in co-operation with the second line leaders. He also

collected opinions and suggestions of the second line leaders and

the employees working in the institutions. He adjusted with all

kinds of people. Secondly, aggressiveness is also another trait of

Sri K.H. Patil’s leadership. He spoke always in high-pitch and

revolted against injustice. He was very frank in exposing the

injustice. In those days some powerful political and economic

organizations in Gadag like the Municipal Council of Gadag-

Betgeri, the Gadag Co-Operative Cotton Sale Society Ltd, Gadag,

and the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee were

controlled by a few people who were responsible for exploiting

the common folk; He revolted against this. As a result, he gained

much popularity as a leader. “Sri K.H. Patil was aggressive by

nature; though he was an ordinary member of the AICC (All India

Congress Committee) yet he defied daringly with the state level

political leader like Sri S. Nijalingappa. He also questioned the

activities of the contemporary chief minister Sri D. Devaraj Urs

when he was the president of KPCC, (Karnataka Pradesh

Congress Committee) and also revolted against the chief minister

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Sri S. Bangareppa when he was a minister in the government.”25

Because of his aggressive nature, a number of institutions in

favour of economic development were peddled in the Hulkoti

region. Success or failure in elections never disturbed his

equanimity. Thirdly enthusiasm was also another trait of his

leadership. He was very enthusiastic in all activities. He was

working for the welfare of the people. He never lagged behind in

any kind of work and never shirked from his responsibility. He

worked day and night when he was the Managing Director of the

Gadag Co-Operative Cotton Sale Society Ltd, Gadag, which

earned a large amount of profit and received a good reward from

the government of Mysore. He had established many institutions

in the region. He was encouraged by the second line leaders to

expand his activities. Fourthly, vision is also one of the

important traits of Sri K.H. Patil’s leadership. He was a man with

farsightedness. “He had the capacity to predict the personal pros

and cons. His predictions and assumptions were always to be

proved to be correct.” He wanted to make the poor farmers self-

reliant. According to him, the farmers should be free from

exploitation in any of the agricultural markets. He tried to

provide constant employment to the agricultural labourers. Since

1950 he wanted to realize this dream through co-operative

movement by getting the political power as an instrument for

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reformation. As a result he worked hard to establish control over

the different powerful institutions like the Gadag Co- Operative

Cotton Sale Society Ltd, Gadag, Muncipal Council of Gadag-

Betgeri and the APMC Gadag. He had been making efforts to

develop Hulkoti region economically through these institutions.

He fulfilled his promises given earlier soon after he was

elected to the Legislative Assembly. He setup various enterprises

like the spinning mill, handloom corporation, sericulture unit,

etc., as a tireless worker. Thus he created ample employment

opportunities to the people in his area. He undertook various

measures to uplift the people by providing the hygienic facilities

such as hospitals, nursing homes, bore wells, and also schools

and colleges for their education. He provided drinking water from

Tungabadra river to the people of Gadag. “Even in those days he

had a dream of making Gadag a district. When he was in power

he had brought in many of the district offices to his constituency.

His efforts in formation of Gadag as a district had born fruits on

August 15, 1997. Gadag became a district.”27 Lastly, self-

confidence is an important trait in moulding the leadership of Sri

K.H. Patil. He was not greedy in holding power. He never

stopped his efforts till he could reach his aim of life. It was

possible for him because he had complete confidence in his

capacity to take decisions and justify it successfully.

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Secondly, it is found the relevance of StogdilJ’s task related

characteristics such as the drive for achievement, persistence and

initiative which are quite present in Sri K.H. Patil. Firstly,

achievement drive is one of the peculiar traits of his leadership.

His will power was so strong that he could face the hindrances

and difficulties put forth by his opponents. He overcame all these

and reached his goal of success. Whether he was in political

power or not he tried his level best to achieve the economic

development of the Hulkoti region through different institutions.

He achieved not only the economic development but also made

considerate progress in social, cultural, political, educational,

and other economic fields. It was to his credit that he was an

active member of 102 varied organizations and worked in

different capacities in these organizations as director/ secretary/

chairman/ president. The list such organizations is given in

appendix-I. Apart from his achievement drive, his great interest

in various activities, dynamic leadership qualities and his

concern for various interest groups made him to involve himself

in the above mentioned organizations and to reach the goal of

achievement. Secondly, persistence was one of the inherited

traits of Sri K.H. Patil’s leadership. His persistence in getting the

work done successfully was so strong that he never depended

upon the calculations made by others but relied on his own

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calculations about the plan of work. So he was not comply with

others calculations. He did always according to his own

conscience. This brought him a great success. For example, “once

Sri K.H. Patil even revolted against the great political leader, Sri

S, Nijalingappa, against his adverse statement in the press report.

But this revolt report was not published in the leading

newspapers. Then Sri K.H. Patil himself started a Kannada daily

newspaper, Vishal Karnataka, at Keshwapur, in Hubli, ignoring

the discouragement by the elders. On 13th April 1964, a new noon

moon day, Sri Rambhapuri Jagadguru Prasanna Renuka

Veeragangadhar Shivacharya Mahaswamiji Balehonnur released

the newspaper, Vishal Kanrnataka, with his full blessings .”28

This newspaper became the best media to express his frank

political ideas. Actually he was using this as whip in his hand to

beat his rivals in the political field and it helped him to be an

effective political leader. This newspaper acted like a hand-

mirror in expressing his bold ideas. Thus he never lagged behind

in completing any of his tasks to achieve success. Secondly, “in

those days the electrical power was supplied by different private

companies to Gadag, Haveri, Belgaum and Dharwad. Sri K.H.

Patil resolved to oppose this and determined to take the power

through M.E.B. (Mysore Electric Board). The issue became a

strong issue in the general assembly elections of 1972 for him.

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However he won the election from the Congress party. He

became the cabinet minister in the government of Karnataka, he

was successful in bringing an amendment to the bill and

requested the power minister, Sri Channabasappa, and the central

minister Sarojini Mahishi to take great interest in the subject.

Thus he kept up his promise of transfer of electricity supply of

private companies to M.E.B. It carried so much impression among

the public that even his enemies admired this and came forward

to thank him and wish to accept his leadership.”29 Lastly, the

most important quality of Sri K.H. Patil’s leadership is an

instinct to take lead and initiative. He had a great capacity in

taking the good decisions on any important subjects. He had the

constructive ideas and had a great skill in implementing these

ideas in the different developmental works. Whenever people

suffered from injustice he was the first man to take the lead to

fight against this. He was courageous in such activities and dare

to face anything. His ability of creativity, imagination, a sense of

invention, courage and cheerfulness pome to his help. He also

took an active role in religious and cultural programmes. He

never tried to miss the opportunities to attend wedding

ceremonies and also funeral ceremonies. Thus he won the hearts

of the rural people.

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Thirdly, Stogdill’s social characteristics such as co­

operativeness, interpersonal skill, and administrative ability

which are also found in Sri K.H. Patil’s leadership. The first is

co-operativeness which is found in his personality. “In his

childhood he was not selfish. He selflessness continued in his

later life. He used to help the people for the good cause by taking

troubles. He started the farmer oriented co-operative movement.

This resulted in bringing a good deal of co-operation among the

farmers in the region. It helped in raising the economic status of

the farmers. He also struggled against the exploitation of the

farmers by the merchants of Gadag.”30 This also helped him to

become a political leader. He initiated many institutions for

economic prosperity in the life of the farmers. To achieve this

goal he formed an association of friends in the co-operative field.

Secondly, interpersonal skill was also one of the important

determinants of Sri K.H. Patil’s leadership. Sri K.H. Patil had the

organizing capacity to develop himself and initiated different co­

operative associations. If any one of the second line leaders

v^ould commit a mistake he would get angry immediately. But

soon he would cool down, study the mistake, correct him and

made him realize the mistake. Thus he would make him his true

friend. Whenever the people went to him with their problems, he

would deal with them with care and affection. He helped even his
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enemies in the political field with same interest. This made his

political enemies and opponents to be his good friends. Later on

such people supported him. He struggled for the success of his

idealism but he was not interested in keeping the personal enmity

with anybody. “Sri K.H. Patil had not only a good capacity of

initiating the co-operative societies but also strengthening the

political organizations. Thus he struggled to bring the democratic

principles through such organizations constantly. In 1974 when

he became the president of Karnataka Pradesh Congress

Committee he increased the membership of the party, organized

the training camps and rejuvenated the party. Hence organizing

capacity of Sri K.H. Patil was well appreciated by the elder

leader of the Congress Party, Sri Umashankar Dixit.”31 The

President of the Pradesh Congress Committee is active only

during the time of general elections. But Sri K.H. Patil was an

exception to this attitude. He was always engaged in creative

activities of the party. He was bold enough to take effective

measures in bring the unity among all the congressmen. Thirdly,

administrative ability was also one of the important traits of Sri

K.H. Patil’s leadership. He worked as the Sarapancha of Hulkoti

Gram Panchayat from 1952 to 1971. During this period he made

whole Hulkoti village as the centre for his plan of work to bring

his constructive ideas into practice towards the economic

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development of the village. He discharged the responsibilities of

various co-operative institutions from the grassroot level to the

international level. In 1956 he became the managing director of

Gadag Co-Operative Cotton Sale Society Ltd,. He continued in

the post till 1971 and proved as an efficient administrator. By

recognizing the remarkable activities of Gadag Co-Operative

Cotton Sale Society under the leadership of Sri K.H. Patil, the

government of Mysore awarded him silver meddle in 1959. In

March 1986 Sri K.H. Patil was unanimously elected as the

chairman of all India Co-Operative Spinning Mills. In recognition

of his yeoman service to the co-operative societies, he was

awarded the reward of the best co-operator of the nation by the

IFFCO (Indian Farmers and Fertilizers Co-Operative) institution.

In February 1988 an international conference on co-operation was

held in Paris. Sri K.H. Patil got a chance to participate in the

conference. He made an effective and resourceful speech on co­

operative movement. Subsequently he was elected chairman of

CICOPA (International Committee of Producers and Artision of

Co-operative) which had the membership of 100 counties. Sri

K.H. Patil acted as an efficient member of Legislative Assembly.

He rendered a good service as a member of different subject

committees, as a minister for Agriculture and Forest in 1972, and

a minister for Food and Civil Suppliers in 1977, and a minister

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for Revenue and Co-operation in 1991. He did unforgettable

service. His service as a minister for rural development and

Panchayat Raj was immemorial. Being the president of KPCC he

brought a good deal of improvement and discipline in the

Congress party which strengthened the government. “He was a

strong antagonist of corruption. So he brought down the

corruption to its maximum extent. He was also against

favouritism and nepotism. This caused fear in bureaucracy and

helped to root out bribery to the most extent.”32 Sri K.H. Patil

became successful in the administration because he gave more

importance to the administrative rules. “He maintained discipline

in observing the rules and regulations of the administration. In

this way he brought a great reformation in his administrative

areas. Even the IAS officers were afraid of him to go against his

orders because Sri K.H. Patil was attending the office before he

had studied thoroughly the topics of every matter.” Hence he

proved himself to be best the minister. He was regarded as a

successful administrator and efficient minister in the cabinet.

Behavioural Theory of Leadership

The emergence of leadership can also be studied on the

basis of behavioural patterns of leaders. This approach

emphasizes what the leader does and how he behaves in carrying

out his leadership work. According to the theory, an individual

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who displays an appropriate behaviour will emerge as the leader

in whatever group situation he is. Thus McGinnies summarized

that “leadership is the result of effective role behaviour and it is

shown by a person more by his acts and behaviour than by his

traits.” McGinnies’s behavioural theory of leadership is

•relevant in Sri K.H. Patil’s leadership study. Sri K.H. Patil had a

cordial relationship with second line leaders as well as with the __

masses. He humbly behaved with the individuals of all the

communities. He had the ability to inspire and control the minds

of the masses. His behaviour was a model to others. He took

active part in all the rural activities. Whenever he felt injustice to

the rural people he immediately raised his voice against it. He

also participated in fairs, processions, and in various functions

with great interest. He was regarded as a man of the masses.

According to Tannenbaum, “the behavioural approach

emphasizes what the leader does in leading. An important

contribution of this theory is that a leader neither behaves in the

same way nor does he takes identical actions for every situation

he faces. One is flexible to a degree, because one feels that one

must take most appropriate action for handling a particular

problem.”35 Tannenbaum leadership theory of behaviour is also

relevant in the analysis of Sri K.H. Patil’s leadership. As a

remedial measure Sri K.H. Patil gave freedom to his followers for
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the settlement of some problems. If the second line leaders failed

in solving the problems he would alone tackle the problems and

came up with proper solutions. When he was faced with a

peculiar situation he would face them directly and would find the

solutions himself. In 1967 Sri K.H. Patil was elected against the

Congress candidate in the assembly election. The political

opponents, who were in power, caused a lot of disturbance to the

established institutions of Sri K.H. Patil by posing many

problems. It was due to the professional jealousy of the political

opponents. As a result of this the Karnataka government took a

step to seize the Gadag Co-Operative Cotton Sale Society Ltd,

Gadag but without a success. Sri K.H. Patil handled this situation

alone and he took it as a challenge not to surrender the society to

the government. Secondly, when Sri K.H. Patil was the APMC

chairman he decided to observe the Platinum (Silver) Jubilee

Celebration. The government made a big fuss of this. The

government did not grant the necessary funds for the APMC

function. Not a single minister came to preside over the function.

Despite of this, the Platinum Jubilee Celebration was celebrated

without any problems with the presidentship of Sri B.D. Jatti who

inaugurated the function. Sri S. Siddaveerappa released the

souvenir. The function was great success with appreciation by the

mass. He got a good deal of co-operation and co-ordination from

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the second line leaders and public in particular. He used to take

decisions in accordance with the nature of the problems and the

situation.

A number of researchers have concentrated primarily on the

assumption that ability to lead and willingness to follow are

based on leadership style. These typical leadership styles have

been studied and analyzed as follows.

A) Structuring and Considerate

Leadership Style

The leadership studies initiated by Ohio State University

identified two leadership styles- Initiating Structure and

Consideration. Halpin found that “initiating and directing refers

to the leader’s behaviour in delineating the relationship between

himself and subordinates of the work group and in endeavoring to

establish well-defined patterns of organization, channels of

communication, and methods of procedure. The second called

consideration refers to behaviour indicative of friendship, mutual

trust, respect, and warmth in the relationship between the leader

and his subordinates.” Essentially, consideration behaviour is

member oriented while initiating and directing behaviour is task

oriented. Structuring and considerate leadership styles which

were identified by Ohio State University study of leadership are

applied to analyze the styles of Sri K.H. Patil’s leadership.

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Structuring styles of leadership is relevant in Sri K.H. Patil’s

leadership analysis. “He had chosen followers in all fields. He

used to put his scheme or plan before the followers and the issue

was to be discussed, and opinions Were sought. It was to be

decided who would execute the plan. Such was the planning

which the second line leaders were expected to execute Sri K.H.

Patil’s methodology of work was something different. He used to

say, ‘It is a work you ought to do within the stipulated time.’ He

was frank in his remark. There was no question of failure in his

path. His followers were competent persons.” Secondly,

considerate style of leadership behaviour is also relevant in Sri

K.H. Patil’s leadership analysis. He had a close contact with

second line leaders and with the mass. “When the assigned work

was not done by his followers, he used to guide and motivate

them without a tinge of threatening. He believed in ‘friend in

need is a friend in deed’. Man is flexible. If somebody expressed

‘sorry’, It would touch his heart and made him to embrace them

with great compassion.” He was not a reserved and serious man

and shared with the feelings of the second line leaders. He

tackled the personal problems of his followers. He was a friend,

guide and philosopher to the second line leaders.

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B) Production Centred and Subordinate Centred

(Supportive) Leadership Styles

The University of Michigan researchers, Likert and his

associates, have carried out many studies to determine which

leadership style appears most effective and they identified two

leadership styles viz, subordinate centred leadership, production-

centred leadership,. Likert found that, “subordinate centred

leadership treats subordinates as human beings and accepts their

individuality and personal needs. It encourages the subordinates

to put in best of their efforts and involves them in a goal setting.

On the other hand, the product orientation emphasizes production

and technical aspects of the job and reflects on the assumption

that subordinates are simply means to an end.”39 Lastly, they

have claimed that the subordinate-centred leader is the most

effective one, even their own data cast some doubt about this

conclusion.

Terry found that, “subordinate-centred style or supportive-

style is termed as participative style by some. This follows due to

the leader encouraging followers to participate in the concerned

decisions to be made; others call it democratic style of

leadership; while it does have democratic aspects, it neither

implies rule by the majority or by vote. Qn the other hand, in the

supportive-style the leader considers subordinates as social

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equals and has respect for their knowledge and ideas.”40 Likert

and his associates’ subordinate-centred leadership style is applied

to analyze Sri K.H. Patil’s leadership. He was like a friend to the

second line leaders in the Hulkoti region. In his institutions

employees and workers were treated with humanity. In other

words he was like a friend sharing in their feelings. He never

threatened the working class. He tackled their personal problems,

and he was rightly called the protector of working community. It

is because of his familiarity, the working class felt as if it was

their own institution. He fulfilled their mental and physical needs

and encouraged them to work with cheerful mood. Therefore, the

institutions managed by Sri K.H. Patil were a great success and

gained profit. Hence, there was no question of lockouts in his

institutions as he was giving a proper guidance. He never made

the workers to work by his order. Instead he poured love and

affection which made the workers to work hard themselves. He

used to fix the aims and targets of his institutions in the minds of

his workers and then he used to ask them to achieve those aims

and targets. In his institutions the appointments were made

looking to the intelligence and aptitudes of the workers. At the

time of selection he used to motivate them to accept the job with

love, eagerness and zeal. This resulted in getting sincere work by

the workers of his institutions. Above all he was always keeping

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good relation with them. Because of this special ability he could

get a large amount of work from the workers. Hence there was no

surprise in amazing increase in production of his well-established

units. Farsighted vision and sincere efforts of Sri K.H. Patil made

Hulkoti region a model and living example in the developmental

activities. Therefore, the Hulkoti region was turned into the land

of prosperity and it proved in the modern world that a faith was

to be redefined. Because actually he had created the atmosphere

of faith among his followers and workers which had immensely

encouraged the workers to work with honesty and interest.

C) Close and General Styles

of Leadership

According to Day and Hamblin “close supervision was

conceptualized as one end of a continum that describes the degree

to which a supervisor specifies the role of the subordinates and

y checks up to see that they comply with the specifications.”41 The

Laisscz faire leader, who takes completely hands off policy with

his subordinates, would be at the other extreme, with the general

leader somewhere in the middle of the continuum.

Laissez faire leadership is closely associated with close and

general style of leadership. This Laissez faire style of leadership

describes a supervisor who gives complete freedom in the

formulation of plans and policies and in the decision making to

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his subordinates. Dessler found that, “most evidence indicates

that laissez faire leadership results in lower performance than do

styles such as close, general, autocratic, or participative, but

occasionally in higher satisfaction than is the case with closer

styles of leadership.”42 This theory is not applicable to Sri K.H.

Patil’s leadership.

D) Authoritarian and Democratic

(Participative! Leadership Style

Authoritarian style of leadership behaviour is based on the

concern for task, while the democratic style of leadership

behaviour is based on the concern for relationships. It was

accepted that generally leaders influence their followers in two

ways. Firstly, they tell their followers what to do and what not to

do. This is the authoritarian style of leader behaviour and it

emphasizes task concerns. Secondly, leaders share their

leadership responsibilities with their followers by taking them in

the planning and execution of the task. This is a democratic style

of leader’s behaviour and it emphasizes the concern for human

relationships.

A number of writers distinguish between authoritarian and

democratic style of leadership. According to Desseler

“authoritarian leader wields a high degree of authority over the

work group and unilaterally makes most decisions, while the

 154

democratic leader delegates much authority to the work group and

permits subordinates a good deal of latitude in making their own

decisions.”43 Similarly, Hersy and Blenchard also felt the

difference between these two styles of leader’s behaviour as for

as the source of power or authority and human nature are

concerned. “The authoritarian style of leader behaviour is often

based on the assumption that the power of leaders is derived from

the position they occupy and that people are innately lazy and

unreliable. The democratic style assumes that the power of

leaders is granted by the group they are to lead and that people

can be basically self-directed and creative at work if properly

motivated. As a result, in the authoritarian style, all policies are

determined by the leader, in the democratic style, policies are

open for group discussion and decision.” 44

Authoritarian and democratic styles of leadership are

relevant in Sri K.H. Patil’s leadership analysis. Democratic

theory is more applicable than the authoritarian theory in

analyzing the leadership qualities of Sri K.H. Patil. But we can

see that he was not free from authoritarianism and he could use

wisely this style in the exercise of power in the democratic

institutions.

He distributed the work among the second line leaders and

fixed the responsibilities in respect of each institution in the

 155

interest of the units. It was clear when the time demanded he used

to give strict orders for what to do and in what manner to do to

the workers.

One could see that he adhered to the above styles even

when he was a minister. He was always keeping close contact

through telephone in playing the role of director. He never gave a

room for the second line leaders from escaping from their duties.

They had no guts to refuse his work. There was no scope for them

to look down upon his orders. In such a way he was running his

established institutions in the region. He had immense power and

a close supervision in looking after the working conditions of his

institutions. When he felt and was convinced that his second line

leaders went wrong he could circulate the strong orders to the

leaders. In this way he could exercise his authoritative style for

the welfare of the people. Some times this made the workers to

feel the temperament quality of Sri K.H. Patil.

Sri K.H. Patil was a born fighter. He had clear ideas for his

goals and the targets he had a fixed in respect of his institutions.

He would try to achieve his goal and achieve the target in

different directions. He had the capacity to face any obstacles

posed by any person in his path of success.

He was a democratic leader. He used to pass the orders only

after the oral discussions with the second line leaders. He would
 156

execute his orders finally after the second line leaders accepted

the views. In the discussions he never condemned the views of

the followers if he could find them improper. He would never

miss any opportunity to praise the worthy views of his followers.

Sri K.H. Patil had a strong belief in the teamwork. He felt that

the teamwork was the pillar of success. So he did not neglect the

views of the team and did not take one-sided decisions.

Hollander’s Idiosyncrasy Credit Theory

According to this theory “before an individual can lead he

must confirm to the norms of the group and also must be a force

for innovation. It is done through the achievement of status. For

this he must be alert and conscious. He must have a specific

knowledge about his area.”45 Apart from this a leader must have

thorough knowledge about his group. Normally, a leader of the

group is positively evaluated in both task competence and status.

It is status, which is purely an external form to the group. Status

is the basic element without which idiosyncrasy credit is

impossible.

“Hollander’s idiosyncrasy credit theory is a collection of

positively released impressions. These impressions should be

relevant to others. This system is permitted in certain dimensions

before group sanctions are applied.”46 Gibb pointed out that “this

system controls a deviant behaviour in the group. A set of

 157

qualifications for him is as follows. He does not negate the

perceptions of himself: He must have a sense of understanding.

Otherwise a healthy relationship with others is highly impossible.

He is the main spring of task competency. He must have the

capacity to mobilize or to motivate his group in an effective

manner. Loyalty is the hallmark of his personality. If so then

only he can challenge the situation or enjoys sufficient credit to

challenge. This all happens in the social patterns.”47

But Hollander straightforwardly explains that “in attaining

this level, the particular expectancies applicable to him will have

undergone change,”48 so there is no guarantee that it will be

appropriate or possible for him to continue in innovation; in fact,

the converse is more likely to obtain. If the leader fulfills the

expectancies of his group, then only the system works. If there is

no link between what the leader assures and what he does, he may

lose credit among his followers and maybe replaced by one of

them. If he fulfills the expectancies of his followers* undoubtedly

he will become an eternal leader to his group or groups till his

death.

Hollander’s idiosyncrasy credit theory is applied to analyze

Sri K.H. Patil’s leadership. He was born in the farmer’s family.

Hence it was easy for him to understand the needs and problems

of the farmers. When he was confronted with difficulties in

 158

solving the problems of the farmers some remarkable projects

were taken up by him in relation to the economic conditions of

the farmers. This helped him to bring a new era in the life of the

farmers. In order to achieve this goal he was always alert in

bringing innovation and above all, he had the intrinsic values

which could solve any problem.

Such inborn qualities of the leadership strengthened the

personality of Sri K.H. Patil and made him to found many

institutions or societies in the Hulkoti region. These

institutions/societies were many folded and covered the most of

the fields of economic development. To list some of them he

founded the Agricultural Science Foundation, Hulkoti, Krishi

Vignana Kendra (Recognized by ICAR), Krishna Krushi Hulkoti,

Crop Development Co-Operative Society, Hulkoti, Pesticide

Formulation unit, Hulkoti, the Gadag Co-Operative Textile Mill

Ltd, Hulkoti, the Farmer’s Co-Operative Spinning Mill, Ltd,

Hulkoti., the Farmers Co-Operative Oils Mill, Ltd, Binkadakatti

the Co-Operative Oils Mill, Ltd, Gadag, Hulkoti Co-Operative

Cattle Feed Processing Society Ltd, Hulkoti, The Rayth Textiles

and Oils (P) Ltd, Hulkoti, the Gadag Co-Operative Industrial

Estate Ltd, Gadag, Aravind Enterprises (P) Ltd, Hulkoti, Veman

Printers (P) Ltd, Hulkoti, Ginning and Pressing Unit, Gadag, Dal

Mill Hombal, the Hulkoti Co-Operative Education Society Ltd,

 159

Gadag, Rural Technical Education Society Ltd, Hulkoti,

Ramakrishraasharma Hulkoti, Rajeshwari Vidyaniketan, Hulkoti,

Rural Medical Service Society Ltd, Hulkoti, Arogya Seva

Sahakari Sangh, Hulkoti, the Hulkoti Co-Operative Housing

Society Ltd, Hulkoti, Hulkoti Education Societies Employees and

Members Co-Operative Housing Society Ltd, Hulkoti, Khadi

Gramodyoga Sahakari Sangha, Hulkoti, the Gadag-Betageri

Central Co-Operative Wholesale Stores Ltd, Gadag-Betageri,

Karnataka Co-Operative Export Society Ltd, Hulkoti, Hulkoti Co-

Operative Auto Service, Hulkoti, etc.

He established these institutions with the co-operation of

various sections of society at different times. It was obvious that

the immense capacity that Sri K.H. Patil possessed made these

institutions an instrument to implement his plans and programmes

in the Hulkoti region with perfectness and clarity. He had

constructive ideas and had capacity to translate them into action.

These are the qualities of a successful leader and many of

such qualities are found in Sri K.H. Patil. The leadership

qualities of Sri K.H. Patil are stated and analyzed in the light of

three leadership theories. It is found the relevance of these

theories to great extent with reference to Sri K.H. Patil. As Sri

K.H. Patil was a dynamic leader with multi-dimensional

personality, three theories of leadership were picked up to

 160

analyze such personality of Sri K.H. Patil who has left a unique

contribution to the rural development and whose leadership image

continues to influence and inspire the second line leaders and the

masses in the Hulkoti region in particular and Gadag taluk in

general.
 161

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 163

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 165

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 166

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 167

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