Seven Le Tour de France titles; one Olympic gold medal; countless championship wins mean nothing after admitting to using performance enhancing drugs. Lance Armstrong was portrayed as a leader in cycling and society after winning cycling’s hardest events. Then he also was a cancer survivor and started Livestrong. People started to look up to him and follow his lead. Mr. Armstrong had referent, expert, and coercive power over his employees, teammates, other cyclists, and his followers. (Northouse, 2013)
He was liked because he was good at what he did (bicycle). He supported people with cancer to give them the motivation to survive. He was an expert at cycling and he had the sponsors and the support to start Livestrong to help other people with cancer.
He had coercive power because he expected his team mates and support personnel to fall in line with what he was doing. When Mike Anderson noticed a box labeled “Androstenedione” and other events that he did not agree with, Mr. Armstrong eventually terminated Anderson’s employment. (ESPN.com News Services, 2013)
According to Kirkpatrick and Locke, Mr. Armstrong does have traits that define leadership. He has the “drive, desire to lead, self-confidence, cognitive ability, and the knowledge of the business.”(PSU, L. 2, p. 3) However, he did not have the integrity that society requires of leaders. Honesty and integrity are important traits to have in society. The public does not like being lied to.
Lance Armstrong was a good cyclist and has done good things with Livestrong. However, doing drugs, being a bully, and a liar are not good traits for a leader to have.
References
ESPN.com News Services. (2013, January). Former Lance employee: I’m OK, now. Retrieved January 2013, from ESPN: http://espn.go.com/sports/endurance/story/_/id/8860572/former-employee-says-lance-armstrong-made-life-very-very-unpleasant
Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice [Kindle version] (Sixth ed.). California: Sage Publications. Retrieved from Amazon.com
Pennsylvania State University World Campus. (2011). Lesson 2: Trait Approach. Retrieved January 2013, from PSYCH485: Leadership in Work Settings: https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/sp13/psych485/002/content/02_lesson/printlesson.html
RUTH CAROL MCCUTCHAN says
I enjoyed your article “A fall off the podium.” Society put Lance Armstrong on a pedestal because of his exceptional athletic abilities. The world loves a hero. It gives us someone to look up to. Sadly, we may never know actually how talented an athlete Armstrong really is because we could have been deceived from the very beginning of his professional career. When someone lies to us, it is very difficult to trust that person again. Only time will tell if Mr. Armstrong will be able to redeem himself and regain our trust.
Northouse states that people who adhere to a strong set of principles and take responsibility for their actions exhibit integrity (2013). Armstrong deceived the public for many years; however, he is now taking responsibility for his actions. Will society ever trust him? I believe society will in time. Former President Clinton repeatedly lied to the American public concerning his sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky. He eventually confessed and has been forgiven. In fact, I believe he is more popular now than when he was in office. Does taking responsibility for one’s actions redeem someone in the public eye? Unfortunately Ms. Lewinsky is not as fortunate as former President Clinton. She is having a very difficult time in playing down her scandalous affair. Ms. Lewinsky was never considered a hero, but Armstrong certainly was and President Clinton was a respected United States President.
Do we as a society tend to forgive our heroes, and are we less forgiving of ordinary people? Northouse states that society is demanding greater integrity of character in its leaders (2013). Does that not apply to “heroes?”
Reference:
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.