The Essence of Leadership

By Mike Santa Rita
Posted: January 13, 2010

What makes a great leader?

It’s a question thousands of management consultants, politicians, historians and authors ask themselves daily, leaving reams of books and no doubt boring Powerpoint presentations on the subject.

Being a low man on the totem pole here at Patuxent Publishing, it is a question I seldom give much thought to. But I had the opportunity this week to talk to three Maryland leaders in the realms of military, law and academic life on their philosophies of leadership and came away trying to determine the essence of a good leader. The men I spoke with were Attorney General Doug Gansler, UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski and Naval Academy Commandant Matthew Klunder. I was particularly impressed with Klunder’s philosophy of leadership, which I’ll get to in a moment.

First, I’d like to get to my definition of what makes a great leader. There are many qualities — from the ability to negotiate, to being able to identify with your followers, to becoming the embodiment of a people’s hopes and aspirations. The last quality is one you see frequently in third-world politics; for example, where the hopes and dreams of a people are realized in the Mandelas, Perons, and Chavezes of the world.

But when you chisel it all away, what are the essential qualities that make a good leader? To me it comes down to four — three that can be learned and a fourth which cannot. My four are: Courage, language, caring and charisma.

Courage is the most essential part. Winston Churchill said, “Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all others.”

This statement from one of the world’s greatest leaders is echoed in both ancient and modern literature. As Christopher Sten, a former college professor of mine, has noted, all ancient epics esteem courage because, “While courage may not be the only significant attitude one can hold toward life, man can achieve nothing until he has first achieved courage.”

The second quality is language. A leader has to be able to communicate. He has to be able persuade them and convince them of his vision. Think of Churchill’s great speeches during World War II, explaining to the British people why they were fighting, what the cost would be and the real menace of Hitler. Or think of Lincoln’s Gettysburg address or his Second Inaugural, where he explained carefully in precise language what the Civil War was about and why it had to be won from a moral and political perspective. As a native South African, I was reminded of Nelson Mandela’s ability to relate to others in watching Clint Eastwood’s new movie “Invictus,”  in which Mandela addresses his white, Afrikaans staff in their native language saying “Wat is verby is verby,” which loosely translated means, “What is past is past.”

To me the first two qualities are best embodied by Churchill. He was a man of courage in that he was one of the few men in Europe who was genuinely not afraid of Hitler. He was also a prolific author and master of the English language who was able to communicate the necessary fight effectively to his followers.

The third quality is caring. Former Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, Desmond Tutu says in his book on that nation’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, “The true leader must at some point or other convince her or his followers that she or he is in this whole business not for self-aggrandizement but for the sake of others.” Back to literature for a second. Captain Ahab, in “Moby Dick,” has all the other qualities: Tremendous courage, powerful rhetoric, fantastic charisma. But he puts his own ego and need for revenge above the needs of his crew and, as a result, the whole ship perishes. In my interview with Capt. Klunder, of the Naval Academy, he espoused what is essentially a philosophy of caring. His said he learned his leadership values from his family — “the values you expect when you sit down at the table.” He learned to give his students the tools necessary to do the job, to learn about their situations and needs from a human perspective. As he said, “Do I know what’s going on at home?” Klunder also said he needs to take care of his students morally and, for those who believe, spiritually. Most of all, he said, you have to set a good example. A man who cheats on his wife loses his legitimacy in the family, he said. Similarly, a man who lies to his followers loses their trust.

The final quality is the one that cannot be learned. It has to be innate. That is charisma. It’s the somewhat mysterious magnetic force that draws followers to a person. There is just something about this person that is special we followers say. We don’t know what it is — the enigma of greatness.

Combine those four: courage, language, caring and charisma and you have a great leader. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the matter.

Comment on this entry • View all 2 responses

user viciousprimate says...

I don't disagree with any of your criteria for what makes a good leader, though I think you missed one critical element that should be added to your alliterative trio: conviction. Though I think you can be a highly successful leader without conviction, you will almost definitely be relegated to the status of a demagogue instead of achieving the status of a truly great leader. Courage is only useful if it has something to protect. A great leader must have a core set of principles that act as the weights on their internal scales when they evaluate the likely consequences of difficult decisions. Without this they will be unpredictable, unprincipled, and dangerous, even if they succeed in inspiring the loyalty of the many.

Posted 1:09 PM, 01.19.10 | Permalink

user citizentaxpayerjane says...

Wow. Who are you? Tell us more.

Posted 1:42 PM, 01.19.10 | Permalink