LEADERSHIP It is an abomination for kings to commit wicked acts, for a throne is established on righteousness. Proverbs 16:12 A leader is a person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country. Being a leader is something everyone wants to accomplish across the world and throughout our history. Leadership has existed from the creation of our universe. If it 's from your religious belief (In the beginning God created heaven and earth. Genesis 1:1) or your scientific beliefs. We are surrounded by leaders; from presidents to just simply plays and movies. A prodigious example of a play that shows an abundant amount of leadership physiognomies would be Sophocles ' tragedy, Greek play Oedipus, although it also consists of different acts …show more content…
Society desires a leader that its admirers can be able to grasp no matter the occurrence. A leader should furthermore inspire people to be superior or to ambition for higher goals. An astonishing example of an approachable and inspiring leader would be in the Greek play Oedipus when Oedipus had been proclaimed king there was a plague in Thebes. The people of Thebes were demanding to reach out to the king, so Oedipus said “I would not have you speak through messengers, and therefore I have come myself to hear you”. Oedipus endangered himself to get the epidemic by going to his people and trying to figure out what was triggering the outbreak. Oedipus was approachable he did not let messengers aware him of the circumstances in his society, instead he departed out there himself to attempt to see what he could do. Oedipus was also inspiring before he was declared king. Oedipus had traveled to Thebes and the sphinx (Head of a woman, body of a lion, wings of an eagle) was tormenting the people of Thebes and no one could unravel the response to the sphinx riddle (four legs, two legs, three legs) but Oedipus did. The individuals of Thebes were inspired by Oedipus and since the monarch of Thebes had been murdered they proclaimed Oedipus King of Thebes. Oedipus showed great leadership characteristic, he inspired the people of Thebes in a tremendous way. A leader should …show more content…
A leader should let their group/team know what is going to take place and how they are going to accomplish it. An example of a leader showing clear direction would be in the movie The Perfect Strom when the captain Billy Tyne tells his crew that they are going back in the sea and they are going to go in further in then they usually did. He established demand and told them clearly what there was to expect. Another example of clear direction was in the play Oedipus when Oedipus said he was going to find the assassin of the anterior king, and undeniably he did discover the massacre of the King. Although in Billy’s circumstance they all deceased because of his clear direction and in the Oedipus situation he found out he murdered his own father and was married to his mother, they both showed clear direction just the direction was not too clear for
Leaders should also possess confidence or faith, in themselves and in others. Odysseus is a great example of a confident leader because he never gives up on himself or his men. “More fearsome is it now, than when the Cyclops penned us in a cave?...Did i not keep my nerve, and use my wits to find a way out for us?” Odysseus inspires and gives his men a boost of confidence in themselves whenever they lost their oars at sea.
Throughout Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, the reader or viewer has the opportunity to see the story’s main protagonist make leadership decisions, and take actions, that range from critical to minor in terms of importance. But the fact is that Odysseus is a leader. And that is the key thing to keep in mind no matter how you experience the poem. Inevitably, when you are talking about leaders, the questions arise: is he or she good or bad? What is the metric and what is your method of evaluation? In this case, we’ll look at Odysseus’ performance through a modern leadership lens, while keeping in mind that Homeric Greek culture might have motivated him to act differently than he would have today.
The epic poem The Odyssey by the ancient Greek writer Homer takes us deep into the life of a man called Odysseus. As the reader gets to know Odysseus many sides of his character are exposed through the challenges he faces. Though he and his crew face danger and obstacles every step of the way Odysseus’s character hardly changes. The entire book Odysseus longs to see his wife but he is a good man and a courageous leader.
The owner of a show horse has many tasks to keep her horse fit and beautiful. She must spend time cleaning, stroking, and combing his hair to keep its gleaming shine. She must make good choices time after time for her horse, allowing him to be in his best condition. She must also train with him day after day and spend hours after hours with her baby, giving him her unconditional love. Like the dedicated owner to her horse, Odysseus shows wonderful leadership skills towards his men with his wily intelligence, warm compassion, and vast bravery.
“I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people.” This quote by Mahatma Gandhi illustrates Odysseus’ leadership in The Odyssey by Homer. In The Odyssey, Odysseus has just finished fighting the Trojan War and is heading home. Along his way, he encounters many things including: the Laestrygonians, Cyclopes, Circe, the Sirens, Calypso, Aeolus, Helios, his worst enemy Poseidon (the god of the seas), and he also runs into Hades. Throughout these challenges, it is evident that Odysseus is not a good leader. The greatest weakness for any leader is pride, something Odysseus has too much of. Odysseus does not make smart decisions; he lacks good communication skills. Overall, Odysseus is a bad leader and he should be criticized as a leader.
"Oedipus the King" written by Sophocles, is a powerful Greek tragedy story. The protagonist, Oedipus is a heroic mythical king who had it all. Oedipus pursues to find the true answers to his identity and destiny, while at the same time trying to avoid fulfilling his destiny.
The leader by its meaning is one who goes first and leads by example and then the other will followed him after being motivated. The above diagram can be explain as; with the three combinations, the person or the leader will influence the other people or the follower to achieve the purpose or goal. In order to achieve the goal, the leader must have a deep rooted commitment to the goal that he will strive to achieve even if nobody follows him (Wong, 2007). The follower also can influence the leader in order to achieve the goal.
Both Antigone and Oedipus, written by Sophocles, use character’s opinions and approach to leadership to show Sophocles’ ideal leadership style for a king.
A leader is described as a person who guides others and has authority and influence over others. They work to influence others into meeting certain goals. There is no right or wrong definition of a leader and there is no recipe that ensures effective leadership. Successful leaders have a good balance of vision, influence, and power. Leaders gain their authority from their ability to influence others to get the work done; because of this, anyone has the potential to be a leader. (Finkelman. 2012, p15)
Leadership is all about having the right amount of heart and determination to help make a difference in someone’s life. It takes certain qualities to be considered a good leader. A leader should want to help inspire others to make a change and to be the best that they can be. A true leader does not need to feel powerful, instead they empower those around them. Throughout my life I have come across various leaders who have made an impact on my life. It takes a very special person to inspire and touch people’s lives. Leadership is so much deeper than having power and bossing people around.
The story of Oedipus is best translated by Sophocles in the play “Oedipus Tyrannus.” The Athenians admired Sophocles and thrived for his interpretive plays in times of crisis. The myth of Oedipus has varies versions, a family curse which was inherited from his father. Sophocles play paints the picture of a troubled king desperately trying to find resolution to a tragedy. Oedipus relentlessly pursued the truth to identify who assassinated the king. His was blind to the truth and his actions were a direct reflection of his fate as the ultimate tragic hero.
A man has many defining characteristics - some positive and some negative. At times, a potentially positive characteristic may cause his eventual downfall. This concept can be directly related to the story Oedipus Rex. Aristotle stated, “the tragic hero falls into bad fortune because of some flaw in his character of the kind found in men of high reputation and good fortune such as Oedipus.” Essentially, he is telling us that Oedipus has a flaw that, under normal circumstances, would be a beneficial characteristic, but in his case, causes his demise. The defining characteristics of pride and determination can be attributed to the downfall of Oedipus.
To inspire and influence others, a leader must possess many skills and abilities. As motivational speaker Peter Northouse, states, “a leader should be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant” (Northouse, 2013) Moving an entire group of individuals toward a singular goal is a considerable undertaking. Without effective communication skills and a clear vision of what needs to be accomplished, one will feel like they are trying to herd cats rather than leading.
To me, leaders are constantly surrounding us. People constantly need to be led and they seek out individuals around them who have personalities that stand out – the basic qualities of leadership, the Great Man Theory. This could be in terms of their appearance, knowledge, charisma, behaviour or style. For example, popular actors/actresses might not be great leaders but they influence the thoughts of people through advertisements through their appearance and charisma. Leadership is also a process where trust of people needs to be gained and established before followers are doing things willingly and without having to use pressure. Managers are different in this aspect, as they are given authority/power and trust factor might not be required to actively participate in management, subordinates might not be performing their tasks willingly. The above idea is adopted from the most recent leadership definition by Manfred Kets de Vries, he defines leadership style as the point of interaction between the leader’s character, the follower’s character and the situation. (Manfred Kets de Vries, The Leadership Mystique, Financial Times Prentice Hall, 2001) To gain people’s trust, the first steps is to communicate, Warren Bennis observed the significance of rhetoric and eloquent, “Effective leaders put words to the formless longings and deeply felt needs of others. They create communities out of words.” (Bennis Warren, An Invented Life: Reflections on Leadership and Change, Reading, Mass, Addison-Wesly, 1993)
The Webster Dictionary defines leadership as an office or position, the capacity to lead, the act or an instance of leading (Merriam-Webster, 2011). Leader is defined as; a person who directs a military force or unit, a person who has commanding authority or influence (Merriam-Webster, 2011). The Army defines leadership as the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and improving the organization. (Department of the Army, 2006 pg 1-2)