Try to Define “Leader”
August 29, 2024
This is a double-duty post. I’m teaching a themed writing course examining ethics in leadership. The students’ first task was to write ONE sentence with what the qualities and attributes they think defines a leader. (One student wrote TWO sentences, so they need to RTFD!) I’m taking what they wrote to craft a working definition of the term.
§ Set a good example and be positive
§ Patience, knowledge, kindness, and experience in the activity or thing
§ Gains respect from followers and uses their own value and tools to guide and direct
§ Sets a good example through actions and morals and takes command and give direction when needed
§ Good personal qualities, motives, and is in good standing
§ Can inspire confidence and push others as well as guide and influence
§ Can easily see other’s perspectives and use those to bring the group together
§ Someone who [sic] you look up to and respect and has good qualities
§ Makes the right judgments, has good morals, and can improvise and stay calm in stressful situations
§ Selfless, sets a good example, and prioritizes the well-being of the people around them
§ Accountable, selfless, good decision making
§ Integrity
§ Taking accountability regardless of winning or losing
§ Influences/motivates others through example and virtue
NOUNS: patience, knowledge, kindness, experience, values, tools, actions, morals, command, qualities, motives, confidence, perspectives, group, respect, judgment, integrity, decision making, accountability, example, virtue
VERBS: sets, gains, uses, takes, gives, inspires, pushes, guides, directs, takes command, give direction, brings, look up to, respects, influences, sees, makes, improvises, prioritizes, motivates
ADJECTIVES: good, positive, right, calm, selfless, accountable
Now I have many questions:
§ What knowledge?
§ What kinds of experiences?
§ What values?
§ What tools?
§ What actions?
§ Whose morals?
§ How to take command and give direction?
§ Which qualities?
§ What motives?
§ Which perspectives?
§ Which groups?
§ What kind of respect? Judgment? Integrity? Decision making?
§ Accountable to whom?
§ What examples?
§ Whose virtues?
This should be a fun class as we explore all those questions, especially in an election year. Just in compiling those questions, I think about the upcoming election, and I can answer each question differently for each presidential and vice-presidential candidate. What will be fun is when we begin applying ethics to the questions! How do we answer them if we want to focus on utilitarianism? On rights? On justice?
I asked students not to mention individual people or leaders, but we all have an image in our heads when asked to imagine a leader. Two decades ago, when I asked students to close their eyes and imagine a leader, that person was almost always a white male in a suit. Ten years ago, some, envisioning Barack Obama, said a black man. (And ten years ago yesterday, a black man in a tan suit!) I’ve never had a male student say a female. Maybe that’s about to change in the next few months. We’ll see!
