In an article published on the Industry Leaders Magazine web site in April 2012, Patrick Alain wrote an article of who the ten great leaders in history are. I cannot say that I agree completely with is selection from a moral point of view, but strictly from a judgement as to whether these individuals where able to be leaders from the definitions that we have studied so far in our PSYCH 485 class, I would have to agree his choices. I am not going to go through all of his choices, but only the first four. It is an interesting article and I recommend it.
The first person is Mahatma Gandhi who was able to lead his country to freedom in 1947 with the use of civil disobedience and and non-violence protests; he not only taught how to do this but lead by example (Alain, 2012). I would have to agree that this was a leader for what his end result was. He showed leadership qualities similar to the Psychodynamic Approach in that he was able to understand what his followers needed from their leader to reach the end goal (Northouse, 2013).
The next leader is George Washington who is considered the founding father of the United States as well as being the first President (Alain, 2012). I feel that Washington was a great leader due to what we learned in the Skills Approach. I pick this approach since this approach is used in more military settings and Washington was a leader in the Revolutionary War and this approach is someone that is good at problem-solving, can work around environmental issues, and has great social judgment skills (Northouse, 2013). I feel Washington had all of these skills and through the years was able to learn more so as to become even better at those skills.
His next choice is Abraham Lincoln, who I feel would fall under the same categories that Washington came under, so I will move on to the next person.
Next is Adolf Hitler who was able to build one of the “greatest economic and military expansions” (Alain, 2012). I do agree with this and it shows that one does not have to be a good person with good morals to be a great leader. I do however believe that his leadership style of fear and control was what made him a great leader but in the end was also his decline as a leader.
This is a short look at some of the selection of great leaders as written by Patric Alain in an article published on Industry Leaders Magazine web page. I did not agree with his choices at first glance, but I do understand why he made the selections that he did and in the end, agree with his choices for great leaders even if I did not always agree with what the leader did. I recommend the full article, it is an interesting look at some of the ten great leaders in history.
Reference:
Alain, P. (2012, April 15). Leadership and 10 Great Leaders from History. Retrieved September 17, 2014, from http://www.industryleadersmagazine.com/leadership-and-10-great-leaders-from-history/
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.