The American Revolution Produced the Greatest Leaders
Civilization has ever known. It has been said, that events do not make the
leader, but the leader emerges from the challenges of the event. At the time of
the Revolution, America was blessed by the great leaders who emerged.
I hope you enjoy this extract on Leadership from: The
Founding Fathers on Leadership by Donald T. Phillips
While it was clear that the American people were ready
to fight for their freedom, it was equally clear that the British government seemed
intent on taking over the reins of authority and power. In the process, America’s
prosperous economy was in danger of being destroyed; its citizens, persecuted
and taxed to death; and the people’s individual rights, persona; property, and
colonial territories taken from them.
What were they to do?
The Americans were David against the Mighty Goliath of
Great Britain- whose empire was the strongest economic power on earth with the
largest and most powerful navy and army. The Americans had no army, no navy, no
kings or queens to look to for leadership. And there were no precedents for a
colony breading away from its parent country to form a new and independent
nation. It simply had never before been done. How ere the Americans to overcome
such overwhelming odds?
Clearly, the American people needed leadership. But new
leaders would have to rise from within their own ranks-which is exactly what
happened. As a matter of fact, history regards the crisis of the American
Revolution as having produced some of the greatest captains of true leadership
that civilization has ever known.
Well, that begs a fundamental question: Just what
exactly is true leadership, anyway? And how does it differ from ,say,
management or dictatorship?
In his landmark book Leadership, James MacGregor Burns offered a simple and clear definition
that, with slight modification, is an excellent starting point.
Leadership
is leaders acting-as well as caring, inspiring and persuading others to act-for
certain shared goals that represent the values-the wants and needs, the
aspirations and expectations-of themselves and the people they represent. And
the genius of leadership lies in the manner which leaders care about,
visualize, and act on their own and their followers’ values and motivations.
There are three key points to remember about this
definition. First, leadership omits the use of coercive power. Leaders, rather,
move others by caring, by inspiring, and by persuading. While tyranny and
dictatorship are not only contradictory to the rights of human nature, they are
contradictory to leadership itself.
Second, leaders have a bias for action that is centered
around shared goals. And third, leaders act with respect to the values of the
people they represent-which are in concert with their own personal convictions.
True leadership, then is very different from many
theories of modern management that are centered around a command and control hierarchy.
Furthermore, compromise , consensus, and teamwork (so-called soft management
techniques) vault to the forefront. Why? Because if leaders are to act for the
people they represent, they must first listen, establish trust, discuss,
debate, understand, and learn. Effective communication also becomes critical
because it is the only way to inspire and persuade others.
There has always been difficulty in understanding and
practicing real leadership. That’s because it is more of an art than a process.
There seem to be no set rules for leaders to follow-only guidelines and
concepts, perceptions and ideas, abstractions and generalities.
So how do we learn to be effective leaders? We learn by
observing successful individuals, by studying those who have demonstrated their
abilities with tangible, visceral results. When studying great leaders of the
past, consistent patters begin to emerge; common skills become readily
apparent; and certain personal traits appear and reappear time after time-from
leader to leader, from century to century.
By careful observation, it becomes apparent that
effective leadership requires specific skills and abilities. For example, good
leaders are visionary and decisive. They are able to effectively communicate
both their vision and their decisions to a wide array of people, in a variety
of venues with multiple methods. Effective leaders have an intuitive
understanding of human nature that combines with the ability to work in teams,
which, in turn, leads to exceptional skills in fashioning consensus,
compromising when necessary, and valuing diversity of thought, ability and
culture. Also, the best leaders have the know-how to successfully create and
manage change.
