Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Thoughts on Leadership

Filling out the survey sent out, I felt like sharing some thoughts for the first question: Define Leadership. So here.

I would probably define Leadership differently on any given day. Usually when asked, I think of it as the ability of someone to motivate or empower others to accomplish some common goal or objective. But thinking a little deeper about the idea that Leadership paradigms have changed from the idea that leaders are "born" to the idea that leaders are "made," I'm thinking about a common characteristic of leaders -- whether you consider them born or made: confidence. What does it take to lead? Confidence in a cause. People will generally rally behind enthusiasm and an overall confidence in success regardless of whether the leader's confidence is ultimately going to "win" or if drive his cause into the ground.

What comes to mind are some words from George W. Bush's presidential nomination acceptance speech: "Give me the opportunity to lead this nation, and I will lead."

Recently, this clip was featured in the Daily Show on Comedy Central, and (regardless of what you think of that show) that's why it's particularly fresh in my mind. The Daily Show used the clip to demonstrate the typical vagueness of politicians in their promises in order to avoid breaking promises--specifically by not making them in the first place. They then showed many clips of President Obama, making extremely specific promises on things that he hasn't exactly followed through with or has since done quite the opposite of.

I'm digressing; this is definitely not a political discussion. I'm just trying to illustrate a point and those two leaders are great examples of individuals with totally different leadership styles, but who both exhibited huge amounts of confidence in their speeches and so forth, and, when trying to rally support for specific causes, were supported by huge movements of followers.

So, new possible definition of Leadership of the moment: Possessing sufficient confidence in an idea to inspire others to follow your plan.

Here's the clip from The Daily Show that relates to the political tactic of vagueness. Pretty entertaining at least!

Favorite part:
Jon: "This looks and sounds pretty bad for Obama."
Samantha: "Well, only if you're watching and listening, Jon."

Samantha: "This has been a real problem for the President."
Jon: "...Because he is now being held accountable for his promises!"
Samantha: "No, because he made promises he could be held accountable for."

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4 comments:

  1. BTBlair270January 12, 2010 at 5:48 PM

    Good point about the confidence thing - I think you definitely touch an important component of leadership. Be sure to mention this in class on Friday when we start talking about leadership.

    Also...I wonder if Samantha's last comment that you quoted (No, because he made promises he could be held accountable for) could be applied to Fraternity. I'm thinking back to our last UIFI chapter meeting.... what makes sororities and fraternities different from any other organization on campus? Why do we get all of this "negative" attention?

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  2. ZacJanuary 14, 2010 at 6:57 AM

    Thanks for the comments, Tyler!

    I think that idea can be applied to a lot in life in general -- I think it takes a brave person to make specific promises (as long as you're the type of person who feels responsible for the promises you make, anyway) because you're putting yourself on the line.

    In regard to the negative attention thing, that's funny that you mentioned that because the whole reason I just got on here was to post this link: http://uweekly.com/newsmag/01-13-2010/13317/changing-the-greek-stereotype

    Just ran across it; it's an article in uWeekly about Greek stereotypes.

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  3. Ashley CoolmanJanuary 14, 2010 at 11:54 AM

    I feel as though your "new definition of Leadership" is hitting the nail on the head. At least, I feel as though I connect with it more than the traditional definition. It isn't always about getting things done yourself. Sometimes, it's getting others to see what you see, and inspiring a change that wouldn't have been possible if you weren't there to lay the seed. That alone requires an abundance of confidence that the greatest of leaders have all seemed to possess. Kudos to your definition.

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  4. Clark SiddleJanuary 15, 2010 at 9:53 AM

    Great definition Zac! It's definitely a tough thing to define. I agree that selling people on ideas and implementing ideas are not one-in-the-same. That's why my fraternal motto is: JUST DO IT.

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