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Leadership - Section 5
The Nature of Leadership

Leadership

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Leadership is found first in the interactions of the many different parts of us,

which make us whole, which make us human.  

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Leadership is dynamic.  Over time leadership has changed and yet at some level,

some things have remained the same. 

One thing is certain.

It always has been and always will be, that leadership must be moral. 

A leader must be working in the best interest of followers. 

Leadership, as it manifests in the world, is varied and complex. 

There is only one element which must always be present in order to have leadership,

which is that there must be followers, at a minimum, one person who follows.

We are all followers and leaders at various times

in the dynamic social exchange between and among people. 

Following is much more prevalent than active leadership.

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You or I, anyone, could be a leading someone without our direct knowledge of it. 

It is important to note that very often you are leading others. 

We are always observing each other, interacting with each other, and leading and following.

That is why being ethical is critical to your and my, all people’s, actions and words. 

If someone is observing what you are doing, and following your lead,

are you setting a good example?

You are also at times following others. 

This can happen whether or not you are aware of it. 

You and I, we all, lead and follow others, often without being consciously aware of it. 

It is our nature as social animals. 

We create the moral world together by leading and following each other's behavior. 

To create and have a good, flourishing world for all, we need to be moral.     

Of course, there are many times we are aware of our leading and following. 

It can be when we are in a classroom, at work, in a religious service,

or just in line in traffic or at a retail establishment. 

We also may be aware that we are the popular or cool person in our social group,

the trend setter, or person who sets the tone for the group. 

Sometimes we are placed in formal leadership roles,

as team captain, band leader, manager, instructor, squad leader,

or any of the many positions we create in our society and culture.

Leaders

Over the course of your life, you have already encountered many leaders, 

some directly in leadership roles, such as parents, teachers or managers,

others indirectly through experience in a variety of social encounters. 

Some leaders you have encountered may be role models to you. 

Role models are powerful influences in our lives, and in that regard, serve as important leaders. 

Usually, they are someone who is, or was, ethical, a good, moral person. 

None are perfect, and many are not only aware of their flaws,

but admit them, talk about them, and work on improving themselves. 

A role model is someone who sets a good example,

thinking of the best interest of their followers,

who practices what they preached, and lives by high standards.

In many of the autobiographies of great leaders of the past and present,

they talk about role models in their lives,

people who influenced their life in a powerful and positive manner. 

Exercise

Think about, talk to someone about, or write about

a local, national or historic leader whom you would consider a role model.

(As in the other exercises, I would encourage you to answer the questions out loud,

or even to tell someone you know.   

If you are so inclined, you can write some of the answers.)

It can be someone you know or knew personally,

like a teacher or manager,

or a public figure you look up to.

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What is it about them that qualifies that person as an exemplary leader?

Why do you look up to them?

Why do you think this person is a leader to model?

What values does he or she possess that you admire?

What practices does he or she live by?

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​​​​​​​​​​Leadership Theories

Some of the general ideas below, on theories,

are from the book I used in the course I taught, Exploring Leadership. 

The authors discuss several leadership theories. 

These are ideas about how individuals rise to power and leadership positions. 

Keep in mind as we explore these theories,

they are about how people obtain power over others. 

They look at those who have historically gained power

and try to explain why and how that happened. 

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To be in a leadership position, having power over followers,

is different from being a leader.  

Leadership must be ethical and done in the best interests of the followers. 

If followers had full knowledge of where they were being led

they would willingly follow.

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This difference is similar to that between laws and ethical principles.

A law is valid if the person or group can enforce it,

if they can coerce or force the people, under their authority, to follow the law. 

Most often this is done with fines or imprisonment for people who break the law. 

A moral principle is valid if it is based on logic and reasoning,

grounded in the love of self and others, and the equal value of every human life. 

Leading and leadership can be similarly compared. 

There are a variety of ways a person can get into a role

where they are the leader of a group of people or have power over them. 

The rise to power can be ruthless, as sometimes seen in dictatorships of old. 

A rise to power and leading a group of people can also be done through deception,

tricking people into believing they are being led to a good place. 

This deception, or fraud, can come in many forms. 

It can be done in a democracy or a dictatorship. 

When a person exercises leadership,

their followers follow them

because they believe the person is leading them somewhere they would want to go,

toward happiness and flourishing.  

The leader is making an honest effort to lead their followers to a good place.   

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For much of history people were thought to be born leaders. 

This is seen in the many monarchies that were passed down from generation to generation. 

It can still be observed in the relatively modern notion of aristocracy

which existed over the past few centuries. 

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Somewhat related to this theory is the notion that leaders possess certain character traits. 

A leader has character traits, qualities or simply a natural ability to lead. 

Leaders are charismatic, can sway people to follow them,

or otherwise have the ability to manipulate events to allow them to rise to power. 

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In both of these notions, to varying degrees

is the idea that the leaders are superior to the followers, 

it is somehow their destiny to lead

or that God choose them as the leader. 

Imbedded in these ideas is also the implication that there is one way to lead,

and if you know how to do it, or how to act, you will emerge as a leader.

However, these historical models of leadership,

and many other theories like them,

rather simplistically interchange power and leadership, without considering the difference.   

The authors present their own model. 

They make the case that leadership is an ethical, inclusive, empowering, purposeful process. 

It is a very good way of approaching the dynamics of leadership.

We have discussed at length that leadership must be ethical,

based on the universal shared values of human life, in the human community. 

Leaders must do the right thing,

what is in the best interest of their followers, and lead by example.

Another way of looking at how leaders do what is in the best interest of followers

is to look at your leadership as being inclusive of everyone in the group, as best possible. 

Leaders must listen, try to understand all the members of the group,

value their input and engage them in the process. 

It is challenging to consider the diversity within a group, but it is critical. 

Communication and inclusive language are very important.

One way of doing this is captured in the notion of empowering

which can be extended to the act of delegation. 

It is very important, and can sometimes be very challenging,

for one leader to understand and fully engage and involve all of the followers. 

Delegating leadership responsibility to members of the group

is a method of organizing the leadership effort. 

It is also important to provide a sense of ownership to all members of the group,

to help them feel comfortable expressing where they want to be lead. 

To obtain good input, it is important to understand the dynamics of the group.

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The notion of leadership being purposeful

encompasses the idea of trying to synthesize the input of the group into a shared vision. 

It is important to find common ground

and help the whole group move in a positive direction together. 

Leadership is a process, with the leader being a part of a group,

and helping accomplish the goals of the group together. 

As best as possible, everyone in the group should be aware of the process

and have an idea of the direction they are being led. 

As events unfold, and communication takes place between leader and follower,

the dynamic process of leadership unfolds, and changes and modifications are made. 

The process is dynamic, between leader and follower. 

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Leaders

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In this part of the course, rather than me telling you who I think are leaders,

you are going to think about who you look to as leaders.

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First, to get you started,

you need to think about people whom you believe are morally good leaders

and people you think are morally bad leaders.

The Leadership book I have been referencing uses a metaphor,

developed by C.E. Johnson,

of casting light and casting shadow. 

An ethical leader casts a light on followers,

and an unethical leader casts a shadow over the followers. 

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Exercise

Think about, talk to someone about, or write about a leader,

a specific person, that you know, or knew, personally

whom you believe is a very good, ethical leader. 

Why do you believe they are ethical?

What skills, behaviors, attitudes or characteristics does that person exhibit? 

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Think about, talk to someone about, or write about

a local, national or historic person whom you believe is, or was, a very good, ethical leader.

Why do you believe they are ethical?

What skills, behaviors, attitudes or characteristics does that person exhibit?

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Think about, talk to someone about, or write about a leader

a specific person that you know, or knew, personally

whom you believe is a very bad, unethical leader. 

Why do you believe they are unethical?

What skills, behaviors, attitudes or characteristics does that person exhibit? 

Think about, talk to someone about, or write about 

a local, national or historic person whom you believe is, or was, a bad, unethical leader.   

Why do you believe they are unethical?

What skills, behaviors, attitudes or characteristics does that person exhibit?

Good and Bad Leaders

Hopefully you thought of good and bad leaders you encountered and those you know about. 

You may have experienced some challenges 

in the use of the words ‘good’ or ‘bad’ in relation to leaders. 

If you had some difficulty with these notions, you are not alone.

The terms good and bad can refer to the ability of a person to get others to follow them

and also refer to a person’s moral actions and character. 

Can the word “good” be used in any way to describe a person

who can gather a lot of followers to start a war or massacre an innocent group of people. 

For example, in the modern era, can we call Hitler a good leader? 

He got a lot of people to follow him.  History is full of similar people and situations. 

Many different terms have been used to describe morally bad people 

who were able to gather large followings.

some writers use the phrase toxic leader, others con artist or fraud.  

I tend to prefer the term deceiver,

and sometimes they even deceive themselves into thinking what they are doing is right.    

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As I have stated, the term leader can only exist, or be applied to a person, if there are followers. 

A person cannot be a leader without a willing follower or group of willing followers. 

So, to define a leader, the focus must be on the follower. 

It is obvious that a person would not knowingly

follow a person who is leading them to pain, suffering or death. 

But what of a person who is gathering people who agree with them,

and willing want to, and plan to, do bad things together as a group. 

This discussion becomes interesting when you consider

if an unethical person would follow an unethical person. 

Obviously, a person, who gathers a large following to do bad things,

is rarely alone in their efforts. 

There are others who join the unethical person and follow.

However, an unethical person or people following someone unethical,

planning to do bad things together,

are doing it for their own gain or happiness,

usually at the expense, pain or suffering of other people.

So, the definition of leadership still stands.

People would not follow someone who was leading them to suffering, pain or death.

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In the example of Hitler,

people would not have followed him,

if they were to be the ones to be put in concentration camps, gas chambers

or be attacked and killed in war.   

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In one sense, this is a paradox created by the limit of our language.  What is bad is good. 

In a more truthful sense, in the way the world exists,

all humans are equal, need others to survive and flourish

and so those following an unethical person

are being deceived into thinking their personal gain,

at the expense of other's pain, suffering and death

is a good thing.  

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It is never ethical to deliberately inflict pain, suffering or death on another person

for your own, or your group's, personal happiness and flourishing.

It is never a good thing.  

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Sometimes people are tricked into believing that what is bad is good. 

There are people who do very bad things because they think they are good for them. 

They believe that if they gain power, getting others to follow them,

they themselves will be happy. 

This is not leadership, but selfish deception, and they convince others,

those who follow them, that the bad things they do are good for them. 

The deception of a person getting a group of people to follow them can be passed onto others,

and then the group does the same. 

But ultimately it gets to a level where the deception creates power over others,

or even those following them are being coerced. 

This discussion tends to go in circles. 

This is where the definitions of ethics and leadership come together. 

A leader is by definition, morally good,

one who leads ethically, in the best interest of followers

and the best interests of humanity or the greater good.

A leader must be ethical. 

To be called a leader, a person must do what is right and good for their followers,

take them to a place where the followers would want to go,

based on and grounded in logic,

based on the belief that the self and every other person is considered of equal value,

and based on a love of the life of self and every other human. 

The best place to end the discussion of people

who deceive others into following them to do bad things to others,

is with the greater good. 

Every human is of equal value. 

Every human has an equal right to live and flourish. 

This is the very foundation of our universe.    

As you ponder the notions of leadership,

I want you to turn now to a more in-depth analysis of leaders.

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Two Great Leaders - Exercise

In this exercise, think about, talk to someone about, or write about

two specific people you believe are great leaders.

One is a public individual, in any walk of life,

such as political, business, civic, sports, medicine, the military,

the arts or other leaders, past or present,

known to the general public or historical figures of interest to you.

If you haven’t already read some things about this leader,

I would recommend, for the best result for this course and your leadership experience,

that you do some research. Look at least two sources.

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One is a private individual 

who you have encountered in your life,

or who you have had the opportunity to observe firsthand in their leadership roles.

Your thoughts, analysis or report about these leaders 

should, at a minimum, contain the following:

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Some background information about the person.

            Where were they born,

what did they do in life,

how did they end up in a leadership role.

Explain why you selected him or her as a leader.

Based on your concept of what makes them a leader,

informed by the course and your life.

Comment on his or her leadership style or their approach to leadership

Based on some of the theories or your thoughts.

Comment on his or her significance to your life.

What have you learned from this person or how have they touched your life?

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Role Models

I hope you will be inspired to look for more role models,

and to realize that you are never too young or old to change the world. 

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Try to think of 8 more people,

four you know personally and four public figures,

who you look up to as role models.

I hope that as you think about the leadership of those you know,

you see that they have many things in common

with the public, or big-name leaders you know about.

It is important to always keep in mind that

the challenges in life can sometimes present the greatest opportunities. 

Many great leaders overcame hardship. 

Many of the well-known great leaders just happened to be in the right place at the right time. 

If you look around you, you will find lots of good, moral leaders in many walks of life.

One of my favorite stories is that of Malala.

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If you don’t know the story of Malala it is worth reading about a little.

From the challenge of getting an education,

to the struggle to survive a gunshot in the face,

to becoming a face of change in the world

and being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

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Organizational Leadership

Good leaders can create good organizations. 

Leadership is critical in every group setting,

from your group of friends and peers,

to the local level, to the global level. 

In almost every setting where people are interacting together

there is some form of leadership and following occurring. 

Throughout this course,

I have discussed leadership at the personal level in leading your own life,

in the social interactions we have with each other such as being a role model

or following role models or peer pressure

and observing and learning from the example of others.

Leadership is most obvious in formal group settings,

and in your interactions with others in those settings. 

In this section, I want to briefly discuss how group roles affect relationships and leadership.
 

You are a member of many different groups,

some of which are by choice, and some you are born into.

Exercise

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In this exercise, think about, talk to someone about, or write about

a community of which you are a part not by choice,

such as race, ethnicity, gender, country of birth or another group you were born into.

Are you able to communicate with other people in that group? 

How does being a part of that group affect how you relate to others in a different group?

How are you able to communicate or connect with other people in other groups?

Communication

As a good, moral leader, you will need to deal with others. 

One of the great challenges is to be able to understand the needs of others. 

Another important ability is to learn to help people to get along. 

I thought I might provide a song about communication which demonstrates the power of words,

something to consider when thinking of how we get along with each other in the world,

how important our words are to others.

This ties back to our discussion of how we constitute the world

and how our moral and ethical actions matter.​​​​