Leadership by Example - Transformational Leadership
Posted: Thursday, June 11, 2009
by Rose-Marie Chaperon
Chaperon Consulting, LLC
"The genius of a good leader is to leave behind him a situation which common sense, without the grace of genius, can deal with successfully" (Walter Lippman). This article attempts to define leadership by example. When you understand the definition of leadership, you will understand why leadership is everything. You will become familiar as to why I chose to use Martin Luther King Jr. as a person who led by example. Let's begin with the simplest definition of leadership. So, what is leadership? Leadership is the ability to command acceptance by a group of people and thus, get them to do what the leader wants (Buchanan, 2006) . The person providing this direction and commanding acceptance is called the leader. Depending on whom you ask, many people, will have a different definition of leadership. My definition is that leadership is the ability to provide direction to a group of people and influence those people to follow the direction and act accordingly. The word 'example' suggests that the leader motivates people to follow his direction. Example can also be replaced with influence which can also be defined as the ability of an individual or group of individuals to get others to conform to their expectations or requirements. Either way, it implies willing acceptance to follow the instructions or directions of the leader for whatever reason the individuals decide to do so.
The transformational leader encourages followers by acting as a role model, motivating through inspiration, stimulating intellectually, and giving individualized consideration for needs and goals. Transformational leaders are always visible and will stand up to be counted rather than hide behind their troops. They build trust and strengthen relationships. They stand firm against the winds of resistance and give their followers the courage to continue the quest. They show by their attitudes and actions how everyone else should behave. They also make continued efforts to motivate and rally their followers, constantly doing the rounds, listening, soothing and enthusing (Kotelnikov, 2001) .
Philip Ernest Schoenberg, Ph.D., synopsis of Abraham Lincoln - Imagine becoming the CEO of a corporation but you never had a college education? Fighting a stock holder's revolt? Marketing an old but unique product in new form? Not bad for a man who had less than a year of formal education or who had supervised only a clerk in his law office before becoming president of the United States (Philip Ernest Schoenberg, 2000) .
Lincoln had a "Share a Vision". - William Herndon, Lincoln's law partner, described the sixteenth president as "a little engine of ambition." Lincoln had the vision to make something of him. He may have started out as a farmer but he did not intend to stay one for the rest of his life. Lincoln studied surveying and the law to get ahead (Philip Ernest Schoenberg, 2000) .
Lincoln became a "Great Communicator". - Abraham Lincoln knew how to communicate his core beliefs to his audience through humor, speeches, and letters to newspaper editors. He was a lifelong learner - Leaders are readers. Be a self learner. Grow yourself. Abraham Lincoln had less than a year of formal schooling but he learned how to learn on his own for the rest of his life. (Philip Ernest Schoenberg, 2000)
"Demand Excellence" for himself - Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was not a last minute improvised speech that he hurriedly cobbled together on an envelope in the train. Lincoln gave himself enough time to do an excellent job despite a hectic schedule at the White House in the midst of the Civil War.
He learned from failure. - Lincoln failed in business at age 22; defeated for Illinois State Assembly at age 23; failed again in business at age 24; suffered a nervous breakdown at age 27; defeated again for Speaker of the Illinois State Assembly at age 29; defeated again for presidential elector at age 31; defeated again for US Congress at age 34; defeated again for US Congress at age 39; defeated again for US Senate at age 46; defeated again for Vice president of the newly formed Republican party at age 47; defeated again for the US Senate when he ran against Stephen A. Douglas at age 49; elected President of the United States at age 51. Lincoln was willing to risk failure, in order to experience success. He was not a case of overnight success (Philip Ernest Schoenberg, 2000) .
He became a role model. - Lincoln taught by example. For example, he was well known for his sense of compassion. Even Lincoln's children got into the act. His two youngest sons, Willie and Tad, sentenced one of their toy soldiers to death for sleeping on guard duty. Lincoln, who had a way with children, wrote out a full parson which he gravely signed as "A. Lincoln.
Believe in Yourself When No One Else Does by Having the Courage of Your Convictions. - People asked Lincoln why he was confident about what he did. He answered, "I desire to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end, when I come to lay down the reigns of power, I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside me."
If I am not for myself, who will be? - Abraham Lincoln published his own version of the 1858 Lincoln Douglas debates. He distributed this nationally to promote his political career. He also wrote follow up letters to key political leaders to enhance his availability as a presidential candidate.
Became a decision maker and a team leader- Lincoln reflected and led public opinion at the same time. Although Lincoln wanted to eventually abolish slavery, he could not be too far ahead of public opinion. A politician out of office cannot do any good. Lincoln issued Emancipation Proclamation when he educated public opinion to be in favor of it. Lincoln knew how to create a team. Every member of Lincoln's cabinet thought they should have been president instead of him! Together, they won the Civil War (Philip Ernest Schoenberg, 2000) .
Doing the little things lead to the big things. - Abraham Lincoln also started by doing little assignments to the best of his ability. During his childhood, he honed his skills at storytelling and joke telling. His brief stint as captain of a militia company, his first elective office, gave him confidence in his leadership ability. All these experiences served him well when he began his political career (Philip Ernest Schoenberg, 2000) .
Show Compassion - We know Lincoln to be a great leader, a great visionary, and a great speaker. But his greatest strength was that he was a man of great compassion. Lincoln in his Second Inaugural Address reached the height of his compassion, when he declared: "With malice toward none; with charity for all." Theodore Roosevelt observed, Lincoln offered the hand of compassion to the fallen South instead of the kick of revenge. Lincoln's legacy of compassion healed the breach between the north and the south.
Why does Lincoln live on in the nation's memory? Lincoln knew how to inspire people to do their best. Lincoln knew how to learn from his mistakes so that he could go on. Lincoln had an inner vision of himself that could not be shaken by the nay saying. His leadership and his ideals remain timeless.
Christopher Koch speaks of Rudy Giuliani's leadership skills - No matter what you may think of Rudy Giuliani's accomplishments as mayor of New York City, no one disputes that he stepped up to the challenge of leading the city in the aftermath of Sept. 11. Now on the lecture circuit, Giuliani gave the following leadership tips at a user conference given by software vendor i2 last May 15 in Las Vegas (Koch, 2002) .
Have a set of beliefs. "You can't still be wondering who you are and where you're going," he says, "because you'll get confused and go in all kinds of directions. Ronald Reagan was the same Ronald Reagan he was as governor, as president and when he left office. You may not have agreed with him, but you knew what his beliefs were." (Koch, 2002)
Become an expert. "When people come to you to ask for advice and information because you know more about a subject than they do, that's a sign of great leadership," Giuliani says. Be respectful. "People know when you're talking down to them, and they will not respect you," he says. Be forceful and honest but plain-spoken and respectful, he adds.
Discourage yes-men. Create a team that complements your strengths and weaknesses rather than mimicking them, he says. Understand good leaders, not good leadership. "Read biographies of leaders you admire," he says. "That will tell you more about leadership than any leadership book (Koch, 2002) .
Perhaps the most important characteristic that transformational users possess is their ability to create a vision that binds people to each other. Dr. Martin Luther King's famous "I have a Dream" speech galvanized a generation to support the civil rights movement in the United States. But transformational leaders must have more than just a vision, "They also have to know which path to follow in order to attain it." The followers are attracted to the vision and the leader has to have the plan to energize them to reach it.
Vision plays a crucial role and leaders who are totally committed to their vision and course of action are often called charismatic. Charismatic leaders have an unshakable belief in their mission, are confident for their success and have the ability/talent to convey these certain ties to their followers. They are in turn, awarded with unquestioned loyalty and obedience.
In our society, we carry a common notion of the leader as a person with the vision, who then gets people to buy in, to align themselves with that vision. This notion is bankrupt and dangerous, because the leaders who have done well for their communities and organizations are not the ones who came up with the vision. If we picture them as the conductor of the orchestra, they are good at embodying the soul of the music. These leaders are good at articulating the transcendent values of the organization or the community. A leader's vision has to have accuracy and not just appeal and imagination. Articulating a vision for an organization or community has to start with an awful lot of listening, a lot of stimulating of debate and conversation, to distill, to capture the values. It has to start, as well, with carefully diagnosing the current problematic environment to which one needs to adapt.
For example Less than forty years ago, our modern, advancing world was more backward than many people would like to admit. In the face of hatred, violence and racist authorities, Martin Luther King spoke out boldly and became the most powerful black man in history. Born in Georgia, USA, in 1929, he became pastor of a church in Alabama by the age of twenty-four. He was soon to come face to face with the segregation laws of America when Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on the bus for a white passenger. King led the resulting bus boycott which was hailed as huge success (Hughes, 2007) .
Jessica McElrath speaks of Martin Luther King Jr. - Intelligent, dedicated, charismatic, and religious, Martin Luther King Jr. had what it took to inspire the conscience of the American public. He appealed to the moral sense of Americans, and after years of leading civil rights activists in nonviolent protest and direct action, his leadership helped to desegregate the South (McElrath, 2000) .
With his house bombed and King arrested, things may have seemed bleak, but he maintained his non-violent approach to changing American segregation laws. By the late 1950s and early 1960s, he was instrumental in organizing protest marches, rallies and speeches against the racist laws in his country.
To the surprise of many, his strategy worked. Hatred doesn't have to be met with violence to get a reaction, as was proven by Gandhi decades before on the other side of the world. Laws were gradually changed as the non-violent movement gathered support and the silent majority suddenly began to show their power.
On 4th April 1968, James Earl Ray shot and killed Martin Luther King as he took some air on his hotel balcony in Tennessee before addressing a rally of striking black employees. Four Years before he was killed, King became the youngest person ever to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. But despite dying, his legacy lives on.
Nearly forty years later his work is still taught in schools. He is known by millions around the world for the example of equality he set by his policy of non-violent protest. In 1986, he became only the third person to have a US holiday named after him. His last major speech, "I have a dream" is known by millions of people who are able to quote or paraphrase those famous lines of King's black children being able to play with white children; and it was heard by an audience of around 250,000 people at the time (Hughes, 2007) .
This man was truly a magnificent role-model for all generations and proves that religion isn't about irrelevant stories in ancient lands but is active and works in the world we live in today. May the legend of the Christian, Martin Luther King, live on for us all.
It is a testament to the greatness of Martin Luther King Jr. that nearly every major city in the U.S. has a street or school named after him. It is a measure of how sorely his achievements are misunderstood that most of them are located in black neighborhoods. The movement that King led swept all that away. Its victory was so complete that even though those outrages took place within the living memory of the baby boomers, they seem like ancient history. And though this revolution was the product of two centuries of agitation by thousands upon thousands of courageous men and women, King was its culmination. It is impossible to think of the movement unfolding as it did without him at its helm. He was, as the clich has it, the right man at the right time (White, 1998) .
When changes in the environment occur slowly, usually managers fail to recognize them as threats to their organizations. To become aware of environmental changes, transformational leaders have to frame their vision by providing employees with a new purpose for working. Framing is a process through which leaders define the group's purpose in highly meaningful terms. In organizations, framing often involves identifying the core values and purpose that should guide employees.
Transformational leaders are more effective when the company is new or when its survival is threatened. The poorly structured problems that these organizations face call for leaders with vision, confidence, and determination. Such leaders must influence others to join enthusiastically in tem efforts and arouse their feelings about what they are attempting to do.
Leaders are truly transformational when they increase awareness of what is right, good, important, and beautiful, when they help to elevate followers' needs for achievement and self-actualization, when they foster in followers higher moral maturity, and when they move followers to go beyond their self-interests for the good of their group, organization, or society.
People are much more likely to follow a leader when they believe in that leader. Unfortunately, what leaders often have to say to their followers can directly conflict with their followers' beliefs and long standing habits? The results are chaos, arguing, and poor performance. Whenever that happens, your best bet is to step back and lead through example, like Martin Luther King did in the above story (Sager, 2008) .
Leadership through example requires a sense of humor, a great deal of patience, and a basic understanding of human nature. Instead of complaining that people don't listen, a leader through example creates situations that compel attention. Instead of complaining that people don't follow through, a leader by example discovers ways to make people want to follow through. Instead of complaining about the closed minds of others, a leader by example designs and asks questions that expand a person's mind (Sager, 2008) .
What makes a good leader? Leadership is rarely just about leading. It's about identifying potential in an individual, company or group and then helping them to unlock that potential. Leadership isn't telling people what to do; it's about showing the way and inspiring people to follow. The term being a good leader means that you inspire others to follow your example. You are leading people to success and you are responsible for the actions that are taken to do this. So just what does it take to achieve this? It simply takes quality. So with that being said - They know themselves, they go the extra mile, they know their limits, they are visionaries, they adapt easily to change. And finally, Good leaders will help employ the right staff based not just on their skill set but also their attitude. Having the right team behind your company, with fully motivated staff and great leadership qualities can only enhance your company's reputation and productivity.
REFERENCES
Buchanan, K. (2006, 09 30). Transformational Leadership. Retrieved 05 19, 2009, from e-zine articles: http://ezinearticles.com/?Transformational-Leadership & id=314423
Hughes, B. (2007, 03 31). Martin Luther King - How Anti-Violence Changed the World. Retrieved 05 11, 2009, from Suite 101.com: http://religiousintolerance.suite101.com/article.cfm/martin_luther_king
Koch, C. (2002, 07 15). Real-Life Leadership Lessons from Rudy Giuliani. Retrieved 30 2009, 04, from:CIO.com: http://www.cio.com/article/31228/Real_Life_Leadership_Lessons_from_Rudy_Giuliani
Kotelnikov, V. (2001, 11 30). Leading by Example. Retrieved 04 18, 2009, from e-coach.com: http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/crosscuttings/leadership_by_example.html
McElrath, J. (2000, 01 31). Martin Luther King Jr. Retrieved 04 17, 2009, from About.com:http://afroamhistory.about.com/cs/martinlutherking/a/bio_mlk.htm
Philip Ernest Schoenberg, P. (2000). Abraham Lincoln on Leadership. Retrieved 04 22, 2009, from The Presidential Expert: http://www.presidentialexpert.com/leadership_abraham_lincoln.html
Sager, L. M. (2008, 04 15). Leading By Example - Two Examples of What Leadership Through Example Actually Means and Entails. Retrieved 05 30, 2009, from Ezine Articles: http://ezinearticles.com/?Leading-By-Example---Two-Examples-of-What-Leadership-Through-Example-Actually-Means-and-Entails & id=1112557
White, J. E. (1998, o4 13). Leaders and Revolutionarries - Martin Luther King. Retrieved 06 01, 2009, from: Time.com: http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/king.html
This Article has been viewed 7,415 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)Ms. ChaperonI find this article to be very well writen and inspiring. You did a great job! I will use this for my class project.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.