The Required Qualities for a Good Leader of Society

1502 Words4 Pages

The Required Qualities for a Good Leader of Society

“Leadership is influence. It is the ability to obtain followers. When

the leader lacks confidence, the followers have no commitment. A

leader is great not because of his power, but because of his ability

to empower others” – John Maxwell.

This quote summarises what a good leader of society should be. It is

all well and good to have a leader who is influential, but to have a

leader, who is not able to stand in front of a crowd of people and

cameras during a press conference, is pointless. A good leader,

therefore, needs to be a mixture of the following: charismatic,

trustworthy, honest, decisive, popular, powerful, approachable,

sociable, charitable, competent, reliable, and confident. Clearly no

single person could possibly possess all of these qualities

simultaneously.

Throughout the history of recorded human existence there has been

leaders, both good and bad, and it is the qualities they possess that

are responsible for their popularity or success. Such leaders may not

be acknowledged for fair or honourable character, but it is how and

what they do to accomplish what they planned to do, and the

consequences of their actions, that truly matters.

A perfect example of this kind of leader is Adolf Hitler, the dictator

of Germany between 1933 and 1945, who was responsible for the genocide

of the majority of the Jewish population in Germany and the

surrounding Nazi-dominated countries, contributed to the outbreak of

the Second World War and was directly responsible for the deaths of

more than 30 million people all in all. Despite the appalling crimes

against humanity...

... middle of paper ...

...itler

definitely deserves admiration. On the other hand, King had a vision

of a nation where black people were accepted as equals, and where

people of both races were able to co-exist peacefully in ‘one nation,

under God.’ He did this by promoting the idea of non-violence, as he

believed violence would lead to the spiritual self-destruction of the

perpetrators and would invoke the collapse of the tolerance of all

white people across the country. King, therefore, must be acknowledged

as a dignified revolutionist, with his honourable approach to the gain

of racial equality. Personally I am completely against both Adolf

Hitler and the entirety of Nazism but I do believe that he was a

remarkable leader of society. However, I am largely inclined to

harbour a greater deal of respect and admiration for Martin Luther

King.

Open Document