Leadership Styles

In a few short weeks, we will observe the inauguration of a new President. I thought it might be instructive to reflect on what types of leaders we have seen over the last several decades, and which category or categories President-elect Obama might belong to in that respect. The following is a paper I wrote a few months ago on leadership styles.

From Quiet to Charismatic
Leadership Styles and How They Influence Our World

At various times in my life, I have found myself in positions of leadership. In fact, reflecting on leadership for me traces back to childhood and adolescence. I was class president in the fifth grade. A few years later I was the quarterback of my eighth grade football team. In high school I became sports editor of the newspaper. Each time, the leadership mantle found me, as opposed to my seeking it. It is my experience that often the responsibility of leadership is thrust upon the natural leader; they simply have to be prepared when the opportunity arises.

During my ten year stint with an educational publisher, I worked my way up to International Sales Manager. It was in this job that I had the massive fortune to work under a remarkable leader. Ed had served in the Marines in Vietnam; was at the forefront of Procter and Gamble’s brand management theory; managed a radio station in California; and was an actor on stage and screen. Perhaps his biggest strength, besides genuine caring for his co-workers and subordinates, was his time management skills. He combined both of these strengths in what I refer to as his “coffee time in the bullpen.” His first order of business each morning was to take his coffee into our customer service area and visit with the entire team. He would talk with them about work-related and non work-related issues. It was a time to bond, to evaluate, to ease concerns. This is where I discovered how effective great leadership skills can be, and how those with conspicuous gifts to lead, influence and reflect the direction of a society.

“A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves. “ -Lao Tzu

More than at any time in recent memory, this year’s presidential election has me thinking about leaders and styles of leadership. No reasonable person could look at the current situation in the United States and not conclude that there has been a clear lack of leadership in recent years. However, of those competing to lead the nation out of this period of uncertainty and crisis of confidence, what types of leaders do we have to choose from? I wish to analyze four types of leaders here, and will attempt to link various leaders of the past and present to each leadership style, or multiples styles if applicable.

Thoughts and actions, as opposed to strength of personality, characterize the methods of the Quiet Leader. This leader takes great care to be inclusive and evaluate all ideas and opinions, and creates an atmosphere of warmth and sincerity while steadfastly adhering to the task at hand. They will often deflect attention and praise away from themselves, and strongly encourage others to come up with their own ideas. In many instances, no one knows that this person is an organizational leader. Joseph Badarraco, professor of Business Ethics at Harvard Business School, remarks of the Quiet Leader, “If you look behind lots of great heroic leaders, you find them doing lots of quiet, patient work themselves.” For me, two words best describe the Quiet Leader – encouraging and modest. It is difficult to find a Quiet Leader among the most prominent of recent memory, but I submit that President Jimmy Carter is probably closest to the aforementioned description. Watching his Fireside Address of February 2, 1977, I am impressed by his informal posture and style of dress (his sweater was unfairly ridiculed), signaling his desire to make citizens feel that he was at once hopeful, serious, and perhaps, one of them.

Transformational or Visionary Leadership starts with the development of a vision, a view of the future that will electrify and convert followers. This vision may be developed by the leader or a team, but the leader’s charge is to champion the idea. This requires a strong commitment to sell the vision. Very often, new ideas take time to be embraced, as they are often radical, or appear to be, before careful analysis is undertaken. A Visionary Leader is often taking a risk in placing their ideas into the public forum for scrutiny and debate. They must be prepared not only to sell their vision, but also to defend it. Perhaps the last American leader as visionary was John F. Kennedy. In viewing and listening to several of Kennedy’s speeches, one thing is obvious – this was a leader with clear ideas of what he wanted to see the country accomplish and courage of his convictions. Virtually every speech he gave contained the language of hope, renewal, sacrifice and a positive vision for the future. This was established from the outset in his inaugural address, when he remarked, “Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts and commerce.” Or better still, in his address at Rice University on the nation’s space efforts, he said “We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” He also acknowledged that space exploration “is an act of faith and vision” and that “it will be done before the end of this decade” and of course it was. Most would agree that this man was a visionary.

One word usually comes to mind first when we think of Charismatic Leaders – charm. Undeniably bold and dynamic personalities dominate the ranks of this brand of chieftain. They project their image forcefully and display unbridled passion for their cause and their followers. These leaders are expert at sizing up an individual or the mood of their audience. At times, however, these individuals can believe more in themselves than their followers. This is where a Cult of Personality may develop. Defined as “arising when a country’s leader uses mass media to create a heroic public image through unquestioning flattery and praise.” I would place George W. Bush and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in this category, among current world leaders, both as charismatic and in creating a personality cult. Chavez is greatly admired in his country and region for his populist, anti-capitalist message. Foreign journalists complain of the “ubiquitousness” of Chavez; murals and posters of the President everywhere and frequent appearances on television capturing the attention and imagination of the people. Since Chavez is a democratically elected leader, one could argue that his is a benevolent personality cult, unlike the one created by Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union, which has been characterized as a fascist dictatorship.

Characteristics of a Servant leader include personal growth through serving others, transformative power, collaborative effort and a nurturing spirit. This last trait, nurturing, evokes the great teachers of the world, from Jesus to Gandhi. When the teacher encourages, they observe personal growth in others. Robert Greenleaf coined the phrase “servant leadership” in his 1970 essay “The Servant as Leader” and observed “the servant leader is servant-first…it begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead.” Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain could be considered servant leaders; Obama for his community organizing and teaching constitutional law, and McCain for his military service.
In reviewing my choices of leadership types on which to focus, something definitive was fleshed out in my research; it is that all of the leaders mentioned here could fit into any of the categories (though one could vociferously argue that a few of them are purely one-dimensional). Another interesting finding is that some categories overlap or complement each other. I discovered that leaders who could be identified as quiet could also be labeled as servants. However, the most obvious connection is that of the visionary and the charismatic; with few exceptions, this seems to hold true throughout the ages.

John F. Kennedy said “For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life.” Nearly 50 years later, today’s leaders have these truths at their mercy. Regardless of who wins the coming election, the new leader’s traits, strengths and weaknesses will influence the direction the country, and indeed the world, takes for years to come.

References
Badarraco, J. (2002) The Quiet Leader – and how to be one, Retrieved October 20, 2008 from http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/2766.html
Carroll, R. (2007, December 21), Continent just gets in a word edgeways. The Guardian UK, pp.8
Carter, J., Jimmy Carter Library and Museum, Retrieved October 20, 2008 from http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.org/documents/
Definition of Cult of Personality, Encyclopedia Britannica online, Retrieved October 21, 2008 from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/146119/cult-of-personality
Greenleaf, R., The Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, Retrieved October 21, 2008 from http://www.greenleaf.org/whatissl/index.html
Kennedy, J., Speeches of John F. Kennedy. Retrieved October 19, 2008 from http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Archives/Reference+Desk/Speeches/