Native leader loses head (8)
I believe the answer is:
resident
'native' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'leader loses head' is the wordplay.
'leader' becomes 'president' (type of leader).
'loses head' means to remove the first letter.
'president' with its initial letter taken off is 'RESIDENT'.
(Other definitions for resident that I've seen before include "Local" , "Inmate" , "Citizen" , "Inserted by permanent inhabitant" , "Person living in" .)