History\'s Great Leaders Great Leaders

History's Great Leaders

Great Leaders in History

Throughout history, there have been many great leaders. Some of these individuals have been involved in politics, some in religion, some in the business world, and some in other endeavors. However, they have all had certain traits in common that are very important to individuals that are working to lead others down the correct path, or the path that the leader feels is the correct one. This can be true of a person leading an individual, a group of individuals, or an entire country, but specific traits appear to be necessary for this leadership to take place and for a following to grow.

In the following pages, great leaders from the more distant past and more recent past will be discussed, and it will be shown what makes them great, what kind of leadership styles they had, the impact that they had or are having on leaders today, and the kinds of leadership tools that many of them used. These issues will all be discussed for the leaders that are talked about, followed by a brief literature review that addresses leadership and why it is so very important to have good, strong leaders in this world today. Many people do not really think that much about leaders until they do something wrong and are criticized. However, there are countless decisions that leaders make every day that are the right decisions and no one seems to notice because nothing happens on a large scale.

This is not only good in many instances when nothing happens on a large scale, but it can be very important to individuals that need good leadership for them to understand that a smoothly running business, life, or country usually does not experience large-scale happenings, although sometimes they are necessary when they are for the greater good, as will be seen. Those that crave excitement, danger, and risk-taking all of the time are not generally good candidates for most kinds of leadership because they try to change too many things too quickly and this stops them from stopping and thinking long-term about what it is that they might be affecting by their actions. Good leaders, however, have to be willing to 'make a fuss' when the need arises or when they see something that must be changed and cannot be changed through any other means.

While leaders from the more distant past are important and will be discussed, the writer would like to keep the focus on leaders that are either still around today or that have not been gone that long. One of these individuals who is/was a great leader and who will still be regarded as such as time moves on is Colin Powell, the other leader that will be discussed here is Martin Luther King and what he did for racial equality.

General Colin Powell does not see himself as a hero, but many people view him that way. He prefers to be seen more as a role model for what African-Americans, and individuals in general, can accomplish. He is an ROTC graduate, and has been in the Army for over thirty years. In those thirty years, he spent two tours in Vietnam and received a Bronze Star for rescuing four other soldiers from a downed and burning helicopter. After various different commands and duties, he became the national security adviser at the White House.

In 1989, he became head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It was not long after that before he had dealings with Manuel Noriega and Saddam Hussein. Victory was very important for America, but it was also very important for Powell. He was the nation's youngest Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the first African-American ever to hold the position. It is not as though he believed he had something to prove, but only that he wanted to do the job he was given in the best way that he could.

Because Powell is African-American, he is able to encourage others of his race and make certain that they understand that they can do whatever they want to do, and accomplish whatever they put their hearts and minds to. He makes sure that everyone who asks him about his race understands that he never let being African-American get in the way of what he wanted to do. He never felt that it was a problem for him, and it was only a problem at all if others made it a problem for themselves. Despite all he has done for the military and for this country, Powell's greatest contribution has likely been the fact that he has helped many others to realize their dreams.

Colin Powell's career really began when he got back from Vietnam. When he returned, antiwar protests and civil rights were big issues. He got married and got involved with the MBA program at George Washington University and that the National War College, which was a graduate school for military officers. He wanted to make a difference in the military, and was especially interested in the planning phase, since it was something that he found desperately lacking in his Vietnam experience (CNN, 2003).

He rose quickly through the ranks and each successive president made sure to keep him close by. It was easy to see why. Powell took what he did very seriously, and no matter what was asked of him he got the job done. He worked his way up from a fellow's program under the Ford administration to a military assistant, and then to Secretary of Defense. Following that, the Reagan administration named him Deputy National Security Adviser, and then eventually National Security Adviser. He was the first African-American to hold this job. He became Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff when George Bush became president. Eventually, he was named Secretary of State (CNN, 2003).

Powell lives by 18 lessons of leadership (Career, 2003). Because they are so important to him, and they give a good understanding of who he is and why he lives his life the way he does, the list is worthy of being reproduced here.

Good leaders sometimes make people unhappy.

The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of a relationship.

Don't be buffaloed by experts and elites. Experts often possess more data than judgment. Elites can become so inbred that they produce hemophiliacs who bleed to death as soon as they are nicked by the real world.

Don't be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their own backyard.

Never neglect details. When everyone's mind is dulled or distracted, the leader must be doubly vigilant.

You don't know what you can get away with until you try.

Keep looking below surface appearances. Don't shrink from doing so (just) because you might not like what you find.

Organization doesn't really accomplish anything. Plans don't accomplish anything, either. Theories of management don't much matter. Endeavors succeed or fail because of the people involved. Only by attracting the best people will you accomplish great deeds

Organization charts and fancy titles count for next to nothing.

Never let your ego get so close to your position that when your position goes, your ego goes with it.

Fit no stereotypes. Don't chase the latest management fads. The situation dictates which approach best accomplishes the team's mission.

Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.

Look for intelligence and judgment and, most critically, a capacity to anticipate, to see around corners. Also look for loyalty, integrity, a high energy drive, a balanced ego and the drive to get things done.

Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand.

Use the formula P=40 to 70, in which P. stands for the probability of success and the numbers indicate the percentage of information acquired. Once the information is in the 40 to 70 range, go with your gut.

The commander in the field is always right and the rear echelon is wrong, unless proven otherwise.

Have fun in your command. Don't always run at a breakneck pace. Take leave when you've earned it: Spend time with your families. Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard and play hard.

Command is lonely.

These 18 rules give great insight into the way Colin Powell lives his life and the way he uses the position he has attained and the abilities that he has to help mold and shape this country into something better. It is through his beliefs that he is able to show others what they can accomplish, but at the same time he wants to impress upon people that they have to have beliefs and goals. They cannot just go around blindly wanting to change the world. They have to determine what needs changing, and then figure out how they are going to change it. Only then can they really accomplish something of importance and worth.

While Powell is clearly involved in military issues, and protecting and defending his country, he is concerned about other issues as well. Education is one of the issues that he sees as important, and he is also interested in helping those in this country who are poor and in need of assistance. Another issue he is concerned about is what he calls 'inclusiveness.' In other words, everyone in this country should be included in what this country does (Ferullo, 2000).

Because of his childhood and some of the segregation that he had to deal with growing up and in the early years of his career, Powell realizes the difficulties that minorities in this country face today. If one is not white, American, and male, there are problems in obtaining high quality jobs and education. It is not always obvious, and it does not always happen, but the potential for discrimination is always there. Even though it is not supposed to be legal, there are ways around that.

In addition to all of the military and humanitarian work that Powell has done, when he retired from his 35 years in the military he wrote a best-selling autobiography and began working as a public speaker. He spoke to audiences all of the country and overseas as well. He also works with a group that is attempting to help out the youth of the nation, and make sure that they do not fall into many of the traps that teenagers and young people often become involved in (International, n.d.).

His interest n helping the youth of the nation is also evidenced by the Elliot Richardson Public Service Prize that he won in 2002. The prize was for increasing interest in public service in the youth of the nation, and for embodying characteristics such as integrity and imaginative leadership (Council, 2002).

Colin Powell is certainly not the only individual in history to realize the significance of the problems that are being faced and the leadership that is needed. Around 1955, Dr. Martin Luther King became involved in the civil rights fight when he arranged a year-long boycott of Montgomery, Alabama's public transit system. This came about due to the arrest of Rosa Parks who took a seat near the front of a public bus when she wanted to go home after work instead of moving to the back to sit in what was considered the colored section (the Evolution, 2005). Ms. Parks was not deliberately trying to be defiant, she was simply tired and wished to sit down. She was also likely tired of being pushed around and treated improperly based on her race. Apparently, what she did made a strong difference rather rapidly because a federal court in 1956 issued an injunction stopping buses from exercising any kind of segregation in Montgomery (the Evolution, 2005).

Dr. Martin Luther King also remained active in the civil rights movement and lead demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. Many members of the press at that time documented demonstrators being very peaceful as they were brutalized by fire hoses, cattle products, and police dogs (the Evolution, 2005). Dr. King was jailed and wrote a letter from the Birmingham jail regarding nonviolent civil disobedience as a way to help force change in many laws that were considered to be unjust (the Evolution, 2005). It was also in 1963 that Dr. King led a large demonstration in Washington D.C. And gave his famous "I have a dream" speech in front of approximately 200,000 people (the Evolution, 2005).

While court cases, the civil rights acts, Rosa Parks, and Dr. Martin Luther King did not change the world overnight, all of these things worked together to change many of the beliefs and opinions that individuals had regarding the differences between individuals of various races. There is still some prejudice in this country and it likely will remain. However, civil rights have changed a great deal throughout American history, and politics have both affected this and been affected by it. Because of some of these changes and what he contributed to them, Dr. Martin Luther King is both loved and hated depending on who is asked. There are those that will make racial slurs against him and his color and say that he did nothing but stir up trouble and cause problems for white people, while others see what King was trying to accomplish and how hard he worked to ensure that everyone is treated fairly.

Contrary to the belief of many, King was not 'against' white people or any other race - he simply wanted to see everyone being treated equally and based on who they were as people, not based on the color of their skin. There are many people of all races that are good, and many that are bad, and race or color does not make someone into a specific 'type' of person. Circumstances and other issues may do that, but the color of skin that someone is born with does not predispose them to be a good person or to be a bad person. King was trying to show this to everyone and lead the country in a revolution that would have completely changed everything. While he was only partially successful, his perseverance and determination are very important qualities that the leaders of today could learn from.

Had he not been willing to continue to push for equality and justice, many of the people that received it would not have done so, and the problems that were seen with racial inequality might still be much stronger than they are today. Had this been the case, Colin Powell would not have been able to rise up through the government as far as he did and much of what he taught to others would never have come to pass, which would have been another unfortunate consequence of a lack of civil rights and respect for others, regardless of what the color of their skin might have been.