Does Being Selfless Make You A Good Leader

A leader’s job is to show people the way they are supposed to go. This idea is shown by the very name they are called. The dictionary definition of lead is to “organize and direct” . Leaders show people the way, yet in our current world, that is not how leaders are portrayed. In a democracy, our representatives are supposed to represent the people. Our president is supposed to do what the American people tell him to. This makes the President a simple spokesperson for our country. It is a strange idea that the President is the most powerful person on the planet, but he must adhere to the wishes of his people, that seems to contradict itself. Are leaders simply spokesmen to their underlings, or do the underlings serve the leader. This is a big

Many times in modern literature these selfless heroes are portrayed against the most evil of people. These leaders are tyrants that cause absolute misery for those around them. They range from the Persian Empire to a machine race. In Mallory’s telling of Arthur the biggest threat to his kingdom comes from Mordred. The son of Arthur, who was conceived through incest, and is the reason that Lancelot, Arthur’s best knight, was forced to flee the kingdom. This character is seen as a sort of abomination that never should have been born. A character of pure evil intent. With such a villain as the antagonist, it is easy to see how Arthur could be seen as a perfect king. A king that serves its people rather than enslave them to his every will seems like the perfect opposite to such an evil, however it may not be so black and white. At the very beginning of the story, Arthur orders the death of many children. In this moment Arthur is so worried about the downfall of his kingdom that he forgets all of his rules, and decides that the only course of action is to kill every child in order to ensure the death of one. The one he is trying to kill is his own son Mordred. Here you can see why Mordred would harbor so much hate for Arthur. As a simple child, the good and all righteous king ordered his death. In fact, Arthur does not seem to show much regret over this decision over the course of the book. This event occurs, and in the end he

Arthur truly does not know what he should do. He tries his best to set up a world in which he can create equality, yet he lets so many actions slide. He lets Gawain get away with many acts such as promising to fight for a man, and then sleeping with his wife. He allows Lancelot to continue a lustful relationship with Guinevere his wife, simply because he likes him. The narrator says, “For the King had a deeming of it, but would not here thereof, for Sir Lancelot had done so much for him and the Queen so many times that” . Arthur knew of the affair, and refused to address the issue because it evolved to people he loved. The King of Camelot could not address a huge issue within is court, because he could not put his personal feelings aside. He even sleeps with a woman who he is not married to, who turns out to be his half-sister, yet the common people love him. He passes out money from the treasury of Camelot to the people, continuously amounts more lands, and he does it all for his people. His constant chivalry towards his peers and the common people, allows him to give the illusion of being a good king in battle and on the throne. This is not shown to be true as what brought Arthur down were his own people. His most loyal knight, his own wife, and his son are the people that cause his reign to end; yet the book still seems to portray Arthur as a good leader. The book even