Social Architecture (7) Leaders of Tens

Each Household or Ten had a person or a couple as their leader, usually the most senior person in the family. However, another member of the family might be recognised as leader, if they showed greater wisdom. Leaders of Tens have very little power and authority, because participation in a Ten is voluntary. If the families making up the Ten do not like what the leader is doing, they could leave and start a new household.

A key role of the leader is to represent the interests of his Ten in dealing with other tens. The leader will be responsible for negotiating with other tens to form a Fifty or Hundred for a common purpose.

A leader must act as a servant of the Ten, or they will lose their respect. The members of the Ten will trust their leader because they have watched out for them in the past. If the leader agrees to something that is not supported by the rest of the Ten, they will ignore their leader.

Leading a Ten would not bring much financial reward. The leader serves the others because the see the need and they understand they are safer in a Ten than standing alone.