Introduction. The article justifies the relevance of development and identification of leadership potential in the student groups; the study overviews the basic ideas suggested by modern foreign scholars on the subject of leadership, translated by the author into Russian. The purpose of the article is to determine the relationship between the socio-psychological characteristics of the leader and the socio-psychological aspects of the climate among first-year students in the context of the modern socio-cultural situation.

Materials and methods. The main research methods involve analysis of scientific literature on the problem of leadership, as well as diagnostic methods, including the psychodiagnostic technique of “shipwrecked” in the modification of T. V. Bendas and the scheme of Biles-Schneier, diagnosis of business, creative and moral climate in the team.

Results. The results of empirical research of social and psychological characteristics of leadership among first-year students of the Russian University of transport are presented. The ratio of perceptive, hidden, task-oriented, relationship-oriented leaders is revealed. The interrelation between personal qualities of the leader and climate in student groups is analyzed.

Discussion. The organization of work on the development of leadership potential can be implemented in the higher education system. It is emphasized that the choice of a leader is associated with the tasks that need to be addressed by the group, based on its stage of development.

Conclusion. The study states the high relevance of the problem of development of leadership potential in educational institutions in modern socio-cultural conditions.

• the article is a thematic systematization and analysis of contemporary leadership theories;

• in this article it is described the factors promoting the development of leadership potential in higher education institutions;

• the study revealed perceptual, hidden, task-oriented, relationship-oriented leaders among first-year students group.

• The paper presents outcomes of a research on the on social psychological characteristics in the students group

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