Prof Macqueen, Did This Forum A Few Weeks Ago?

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Leading a group of individuals, organization or a society is a challenging task when the leader lacks sufficient qualities and a defined approach to his/her duties (Dimovski, 2010). People have different perceptions of leadership in the society. Thus, they would want their leaders to behave as per their individual preferences. For instance, they will want their leader to reason and act in a similar way to their conceptions. This is wrong as it could lead to leadership failures in the society. I believe that every individual leader must have his/her individual approach to leadership. It all lies in his/her individual beliefs, values, priorities and perceptions. This paper will discuss government successes/failures, which originate from leadership issues.

The purpose of leadership is to provide direction while protecting the values and interests of a given society (Dimovski, 2010). It takes adequate practical knowledge and sufficient decision-making skills for an individual to lead a group or team towards the desired direction. In the processes, the leader will rely on research to gain necessary knowledge or feedback that will form the foundation of decision-making. This implies that a leader needs the support of a particular set of people around him/her in order to stay on the right leadership track. When the people around a leader start behaving strange and offering distorted information, then his/her leadership regime becomes vulnerable to failure.

Personal interests can strongly influence a leadership regime in the society. Middlehurst once reasoned that individual factors like “the need to demonstrate individual superiority, generate fear, show control and exercise physical power are examples of primal leadership” (Middlehurst, 2010, p.8). Such factors point to an individual’s level of emotional intelligence. They entail his/her mood, behavior and attitudes towards various duties or concepts. Research indicates that emotional intelligence is very influential on individual performance in an organization or society. Thus, it could either breed success or lead to failure depending on the leadership style where it is applied.

The movie, Gladiator, focuses on the life of a former Roman General Maximus whose approach to leadership is reserved. He builds his leadership foundation on his personal values and life morals, which ultimately lead to various combat victories and overall success. On the contrary, Emperor Commodus’ reign is built around primal approaches like greed, control, superiority, brutality and power (McDonald & Scott, 2000). These characteristics make him lose the favor of his people hence experiences failure. He uses corrupt and brutal means to rise to the throne where he misuses power to rule and mistreat the residents of his empire. Unlike Commodus, Maximus’ reserved and peaceful approach to life and leadership makes him a crowd favorite wherever he lives. His traits and leadership achievements had assisted him in gaining the loyalty of most members of his army. Furthermore, it is not wrong to claim that he draws motivation from emotional intelligence as he strives to avenge the family’s murder.

The Emperor ruled his land with distorted information from his staff. The people around him brought him false and misguided information. They lied to him that the public was happy with his style of rule, yet they were opposed to this kind of life. He lived in the comfort zone, murdered people’s families, and made others his slaves. Lack of empathy, poor research, and a brutal mind were the sources of his failure. Governments have policies and a distinct way of exercising control. It is, however, imperative that a government addresses the needs of her citizens to bring societal happiness. Poor advisors can give back lame feedback about people’s response to certain government policies, which will result in poor decision-making and failure. Apart from all the other skills and knowledge requirements, attention to detail and practical precision often contribute to effective governance/leadership.

References

• Dimovski, V. (2010). Authentic leadership in contemporary society. Človek in Organizacija, 20-27.
• McDonald, L., & Scott, R. (2000). Gladiator [Motion Picture]. United States: DreamWorks & Universal Pictures.
• Middlehurst, R. (2010). Sustaining leadership in challenging times. Higher Education Management and Policy, 22(3), 1-19.
• Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence. Bantam Books.
• Bass, B. M. (1998). Transformational leadership: Industry, military, and educational psychology. Leadership Quarterly, 9(4), 289-301.
• Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Sage publications.
• Antonakis, J., & Day, D. V. (Eds.). (2017). The nature of leadership. Sage publications.
• Yukl, G. (2012). Leadership in Organizations. Pearson Education.
• Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. Harper & Row.
• Koons, C. (2015). Leadership and ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 132(2), 385-399.