Traits that make great leaders

¶ … traits did the leaders have that made them great leaders? Please compare and contrast two of the respective leadership styles of two of your choice.

While still a young schoolteacher in 1918, Thomas Granville Pullen Jr. willingly enlisted in the Marine Corps. He was inspired by reports of several notable successes by the Marines in the popular press. During basic training he befriended Lewis "Chesty" Puller and while the men did not see action together, they became fast friends. Puller remained in the Marines and had a distinguished career serving in Haiti; Pullen returned to his work as a schoolteacher and showed leadership as an educator and eventually in many educational leadership capacities. By 1943, Puller had received his third Navy Cross.[footnoteRef:1] Despite their very different career trajectories, both men respected one another and kept in contact with each other throughout their lives. Pullen would later go on to write a biography of his old comrade, as well as become the recipient of many honors and degrees as an academic. [1: David Hugel, "The teacher and the warrior: A story of two young Virginians who met as marine recruits," Leatherneck, 93 ( Feb 2010) 2: 21]

The careers of both men were marked by a commitment to service. They put the welfare of others before their own. Pullen as a teacher served in virtually every capacity imaginable in the modern school system, including as a university president and as the State Superintendent of Education. He made a particularly notable commitment as head of the University of Baltimore to expand opportunities for lower-income students who had to work during the day so they could take classes at night.[footnoteRef:2] He also took the time to write a biography of his old friend whose military career he admired. [2: Hugel, 21]