Outline the social worker's role as a leader throughout the lifespan of a group.​

Answers may vary. A leader's role shifts and changes with the evolution of the group. The leader's role is a primary one at the outset of the group in that he or she recruits members and determines the group's purpose, structure, location, and duration, brings structure to the group, plans its content and function, and negotiates reciprocal contracts with each prospective member. As the group gets started, the leader initiates and directs group discussion, encourages participation, and begins blending the individual contracts with members into a mutual group contract. In single-session groups, the social worker's role will continue in this fashion as each session is, in reality, a new group.​
In ongoing groups, when the group evolves to new levels of connectedness, the leader intentionally steps back from the central location and primary role, and the members begin to supplant some of what the worker has been doing. In the vernacular of cinematography, the worker fades out as the group system comes up. However, because the group's internal and external systems are not yet stabilized at full functioning capacity, the worker needs to let the process run at its own speed and sometimes needs to move back in to help keep the system afloat. This is why the worker's role is referred to as variable, and the worker's location as pivotal (Henry, 1992, p. 34).
The leader's variable role and pivotal location continue in the group during the conflict or disequilibrium stage (Stage 2). When the group enters its maintenance or working phases (Stages 3 and 4), the leader assumes a facilitative role and occupies a peripheral location. Inasmuch as the group has achieved full capacity to govern itself, the leader fulfills a resource role instead of a central role. As the group moves into its separation or termination phase (Stage 5), the leader once again returns to a primary role and central location to support the divesting of members, who are launching their own independent journeys. The leader aids the group in working through any regression to earlier stages of development to assure the successful ending of the group.