James Week 12: Mark of a Leader
Leadership positions appear powerful, as they seem to give people the influence to create change. However, those positions are not inherently powerful. Leaders themselves do not create change—rather, they influence others to create change on their behalf.
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| Leaders are not all-powerful—they require supporters (CGP Grey). |
Likewise, leaders by themselves do not have power—they can only take action if they are supported by the people under them. With this viewpoint, positions of leadership can be seen as having two purposes. The first is organizational—leaders must consolidate different opinions to drive collective action. The second is inspirational—leaders must convince their followers to work together to carry out these actions, which is where rhetoric enters the picture.
In regards to actions, leaders are limited by what their followers support. However, leadership positions offer people something even more important than power—a pulpit. Positions of leadership are prominent, allowing people in those positions to speak to and influence a wide audience. In this way, leaders shape public opinion and inspire change—so the power of a leader can be measured by the extent to which they inspire others.
Positions of leadership offer leaders “bully pulpits” from which they can project their ideas to the world, so a leader can be measured by how effectively they utilize their position to inspire change for the better. Abraham Lincoln was not a great president because he personally freed millions of former slaves—he was great because he inspired others through speeches like the Gettysburg Address. Theodore Roosevelt was not a great president because he was morally upstanding—he was a great president because he inspired the public to fight corruption and greed.
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| "The power of a king is not to act, but to get others to act on their behalf" (CGP Grey). |
The power of a leader lies not in their individual capabilities, but rather in the way they inspire others, whether it be by oration or by example. The greatest leaders are great not because of their actions, but because they inspire collective action to bring change to the world.
Hi James. Your blog reminded me of something a person once told me, “A leader does not do…instead they tell others what to do.” I can not say that I disagreed with them because I felt like a lot of the leaders I know do not really do anything. But when I read your blog, I realized that leaders should at least get credit for consolidating power, as consolidating power is really hard. And the bigger and bigger the population size for the group is, the harder and harder it is to consolidate power. However, I do still believe that it is unfair as modern leaders do not have to worry as much about consolidating power as protection and the power of enforcement is simply just handed to them, not that there should be any violence. What I do agree with is that the measurement of a truly good leader would not lie in what they do, but what they inspire others to do. And I like how you used Abraham Lincoln as an example. Even though he signed the Emancipation Proclamation, people treat him as the sole reason for why slavery ended. But in reality, many more people were involved ranging from former slaves to white abolitionists. Overall, I liked how informative this blog was.
ReplyDeleteHey James! This is such a cool way of looking at leadership, and I totally agree that leaders aren’t actually powerful on their own; they’re only as strong as the people who support them. It’s intriguing how leadership is often seen as this all-powerful thing when in reality, it’s more about influence than control. I like your point about how leaders need to inspire people to act rather than just making decisions. It makes me think about how some of the most impactful leaders weren’t the ones who did everything themselves but the ones who convinced others to believe in their vision. It’s truly a reminder that leadership is much more than holding a title but also knowing how to move people.
ReplyDeleteHi James! I loved your blog this week and I completely agree with the idea that leaders must have a strong ability to inspire collective confidence within a diverse group of people, each with different backgrounds, upbringings, and thought processes. I loved how you exemplified Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address because it truly shows how an articulate call to action that employs words of affirmation and hope can change the course of history. It brings me to question other examples of leaders who have brought about significant change, simply through their sheer talent of proving the action’s attainability and attractiveness. The most apparent example I can think of is Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal in the reconstruction era after the Great Depression. His transparency through the Fireside Chats and high-reaching goals in terms of economic reconstruction successfully inspired the nation to commit towards the contributing efforts of the New Deal. I remember talking about this in our Argument Essay about artifice, discussing the power of demonstrating and a confident, self-assured front, which automatically inspires the audience to follow in their footsteps. I loved reading your blog this week, great job!
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