Leaders have abilities that make them effective (Northouse, 2010. P. 43) Nestor Kirchner was an Argentinean lawyer and president of Argentina from 2003 to 2007 (Nestor, 2013). He went from being a little-known Peronist – from Peronism: the principles or polices of Ju�n Per�n (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/peronism?s=t) – to become “the most popular outgoing president in modern Argentine history” (Levitsky, 2008).
By listening at his speeches, I found him to be very charismatic. He gained the hearts of Argentineans in no time (Barrionuevo). Research has shown that charismatic leaders have other pertinent skills, among them motivation to attain social power (Northouse, 2010, p. 20). If we look at his presidential record and achievements, these are all qualities Nestor Kirchner seemed to have. His public policies made him a popular leader. He promoted unions’ collective bargaining and increased minimum wage on several occasions. He also extended unemployment benefits and he funded public education and scientific research.
Kirtchner also knew how to influence others, a leadership characteristic that Stogdill found typical of good leaders (Northouse, 2010, p, 21). Under his leadership, six Supreme Court Judges who were considered corrupt (from a previous government) were forced to resign or were impeached (Levitsky, 2008). Human skills are required to lead (Northouse, 2010, p. 44). Without his ability to deal with other people in a conciliatory way, what he did for Argentina would be unimaginable. He “led his country out of a crippling economic crisis” (Barrionuevo).
He was very conceptual, a quality Katz classified within his Three Skills Model (Penn State 2012). He was a good processor and organizer. According to Northouse, conceptual skills give us the ability to work well with concepts and ideas (2010). This kind of skill makes us suitable for visualizing strategic plans of organization (Northouse, 2010). Nestor Kirtchner brought a devastated economy of uncertainty to a 9 percent growth rate per year during his presidency (Levitsky, 2008). As a political science professor from Rice University said “In a very unstable situation he took absolute control”, according to an article in the New York Times (Barrionuevo).
By learning how he lifted the country not only economically but also motivationally and led all his compatriots to achieve his goals (Levitsky, 2008), we can say he was driven by responsibility and task completion. And he certainly had readiness to absorb interpersonal stress, all characteristics from Stogdill’s survey that define successful leadership (Northouse, 2010, p. 21). His leadership skills even went as far as to be able to identify that his health was not strong enough to confront another term. He did it even at the verge of a potential stunning and massive victory (Levitsky, 2008) that would have been difficult to reject by any other individual with an ego bigger than his leadership abilities or love for his country; instead, he passes his power to his wife – the current president of Argentina – who won the election with ease (Levitsky, 2008) and continues leading the country in the same direction (Barrionuevo).
Reference:
Barrionuevo, A. (n.d.). Néstor Kirchner, Ex-Leader of Argentina, Is Dead at 60 – NYTimes.com. The New York Times – Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. Retrieved May 20, 2013, from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/28/world/americas/28argentina.html?ref=nestorkirchner&_r=0
Levitsky, S., & Murillo, M. V. (2008). Argentina: From Kirchner to Kirchner. Journal of Democracy, 19(2), 16-30.
Nestor Kirchner (president of Argentina) — Encyclopedia Britannica. (n.d.). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved May 20, 2013, from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/
Northouse, P. G. (2010). Leadership: Theory and Practice (5th edition). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.
Penn State World Campus (2012). PSYCH 485 Lesson 1: Introduction to Leadership. Retrieved on August 30, 2012, from https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/fa12/psych485/002/content/01_lesson.html.