Generolo Jono Žemaičio Lietuvos karo akademija

Leadership competence is a unique set of qualities, skills, knowledge and abilities attributed to specific social and professional groups. Cultural circumstances mean that societies in different countries may have different views on the nature, development opportunities and scope of leadership competences. There are also more and more differences occurring in the views resulting from generational differences. In addition, existing stereotypes in societies are constantly fuelled by media messages, which determines how the image of different formations, including soldiers, is assessed. Bearing in mind the complexity of the nature of leadership, different views of both theoreticians, practitioners and laymen in terms of leadership competence, or even the natural attribution of leadership competence to soldiers and the essence of leadership in the military environment, the author of the article has made efforts to show what kind of leadership competence is held by the soldiers in Poland in the opinion of representatives of the youngest generation (generation Z). This article is based on an in-depth analysis of the source literature (Polish and foreign) and the results of empirical research. Ascertainments and conclusions presented in the article confirm the conviction about the complexity of the nature of leadership, leadership competences, as well as the functioning of stereotypes in the society, which in a certain natural way determine the ways of thinking and the course of cognitive processes.

The aim of the article was to determine the relationship between the occurrence of social pathologies (alcoholism, drug addiction, violence and aggression, poor financial standing, poverty, unemployment and crime) and the sense of security in local communities. The results of the research were put in the context of sustainable development. The article uses the method of diagnostic survey, with surveying as the technique and questionnaire as the tool for collecting empirical data. The survey covered 600 respondents in the following towns: Siedlce, Włocławek, Zamość, Piła, Ostrów Wielkopolski, Zgierz. The data obtained allowed to solve the research problem posed in the article and in an innovative way to demonstrate the relationship between the occurrence of basic social pathologies and their impact on the safety of the local community. The obtained results show that the respondents are aware of the occurrence of individual social pathologies in their local environment, as well as perceive their significant impact on functioning in the local community covered by the survey and have knowledge of the impact of negative phenomena on sustainable development. The article presents the author’s approach to the issue of finding out about social pathologies and indicating their influence on the sense of security in the local community, as well as their importance for sustainable development.