Defining the concept of leadership
Question:
Discuss about the Contemporary Leadership for Trustworthiness and Humaneness.
“Good leaders have vision and inspire others to help them turn vision into reality. Great leaders create more leaders, not followers. Great leaders have vision, share vision, and inspire others to create their own.”
The above quoted lines of the author Roy T. Bennet from his famous work “The Light in the Heart” gives an overview of the concept of leadership and the role of an effective in the present day context. Leadership forms an important part of not only the various business organizations but also in the political framework of any nation as well (McCleskey 2014). The concept of leadership can be defined as the “ability or the capability of the individuals to lead others towards the achievement of their desired goals as well s objectives or the goals and the objectives set by the business organization concerned” (Yukl 2012). In the opinion of Chester Bernard, “Leadership is the ability of a superior to influence the behavior of a subordinate or group and persuade them to follow a particular course of action”. However, a more pertinent definition of the concept of leadership was provided by the 16th century Italian dramatist Machiavelli in his famous play “The Prince” when he said “Leadership is a matter of intelligence, trustworthiness, humaneness, courage, and discipline … Reliance on intelligence alone results in rebelliousness. Exercise of humaneness alone results in weakness. Fixation on trust results in folly. Dependence on the strength of courage results in violence. Excessive discipline and sternness in command result in cruelty. When one has all five virtues together, each appropriate to its function, then one can be a leader”. Therefore, it can be said that the concept of leadership has different interpretations in the various diverse walks of life (Chemers 2014).
John F. Kennedy is one of the most popular names not only in the genre of the American politics but in the genre of world politics as well. He is more famous as the “35th President of the United States of America” (Jfklibrary.org. 2018). He is widely considered as one of the major proponents of the concept of peace and is widely known for the effective leadership which he provided after the “Second World War” (George 2012). His words on the “first anniversary of the Alliance for Progress, 13 March 1962” are significant to note in this particular context when he said that “those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable” (Jfklibrary.org. 2018). He is also known as a champion of the human rights of the individuals not only in the nation of the United States of America but in a global context (George 2012). It is a reflection of the contributions made by him as the President of the United States of America that he was awarded the various medals and honorary awards like “Navy and Marine Corps Medal; Purple Heart Medal; American Defense Service Medal; American Campaign Medal; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with three ?3⁄16″ bronze stars; and the World War II Victory Medal” (Jfklibrary.org. 2018). The words of James Forrestal the then “Secretary of the Navy” are significant in this particular context “For extremely heroic conduct as Commanding Officer of Motor Torpedo Boat 109 following the collision and sinking of that vessel in the Pacific War area on August 1–2, 1943. Unmindful of personal danger, Lieutenant (then Lieutenant, Junior Grade) Kennedy unhesitatingly braved the difficulties and hazards of darkness to direct rescue operations, swimming many hours to secure aid and food after he had succeeded in getting his crew ashore. His outstanding courage, endurance and leadership contributed to the saving of several lives and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service” (Jfklibrary.org. 2018).
Interpretations of the concept of leadership
Kennedy was born in the year 1917 at the “83 Beals Street in suburban Brookline, Massachusetts” (Jfklibrary.org. 2018). He hailed from a very intellectual as well as liberal family with his “Joseph Patrick Joe Kennedy” being a politician as well as a businessman and his mother “Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald Kennedy” being a philanthropist (Ions 2013). He received his early schooling from the “St. Aidan’s Church” and later went on to graduate from the Harvard College after dropping out of the Princeton College due to heath issues (Jfklibrary.org. 2018). It is significant to note that as a student Kennedy loved to indulge in extra-curricular activities like swimming, horse riding, football, golf and other sports. Furthermore, after graduating he joined his brother as well as father to work at the “American embassy in London” (Ions 2013). It is from here on that the political journey of Kennedy began. It is significant to note that Kennedy since his early childhood has an inclination towards politics on the score of his family background as most of his family members were involved in politics (Ions 2013). It is a reflection of this that most of this that in his colleges years he participated in the various political events of the students.
Kennedy’s defense career began with his association with the “Officer Candidate School” (Ions 2013). However, it is significant to note that he was debarred from the army on account of his poor health. In the year 1941, he joined the “Office of Naval Intelligence” and it is from here on that his naval career began (Packenham 2015). The most significant naval activities of Kennedy include his leading of the “three Huckins PT boats—PT-98, PT-99, and PT-101”. However, after the death of his father he left the naval services and started as a newspaper correspondent at the “Hearst Newspapers” (Jfklibrary.org. 2018).
The father of Kennedy was a key player in the political environment of the United States of America and therefore he was elected to represent the interests of the Congress in the Presidential elections (Packenham 2015). However, after his premature death the responsibility feel on the shoulders of Frank Kennedy. It is significant to note that with the help of his family’s political connections and also with their financing he was able to win “12 percent of the vote, defeating ten other candidates” (Packenham 2015). Furthermore, he repeated the same feat in the next general elections in the “1946 elections” (Schlesinger 2012). He served in the “House of Commons” for six years and announced his nomination for the 1960 “Democratic presidential nomination” (Schlesinger 2012). It is significant to note that after winning in this particular general Presidential election he became the “youngest person (43) ever elected to the presidency, though Theodore Roosevelt was a year younger at 42 when he automatically assumed the office after William McKinley’s assassination in 1901” (Carty 2016).
In his Presidential speech Kennedy said “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country” (Jfklibrary.org. 2018). These words of Kennedy provide a pertinent account of the kind of Presidential style which he was to follow in his reign as the 35th President of the nation (Carty 2016). It is significant to note that he was one of the major proponents of the “civil rights” of the individuals of the nation during his election campaign and even after his selection as the president of the nation (Burns 2016). Furthermore, in his presidential speech he even urged the citizens of the nation to fight against the “common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself” (Jfklibrary.org. 2018). Moreover, he also added that “All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. …. whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you” (Jfklibrary.org. 2018). In addition to these, Kennedy is also known for his various economic reforms particularly in the genre of the economic taxes. The foreign policy of Kennedy was “dominated by American confrontations with the Soviet Union, manifested by proxy contests in the early stage of the Cold War” (Burns 2016). He is also known for his successful campaign in the nation of Cuba which overthrew the reign of the Communists in the nation. This particular campaign of Kennedy is popularly known by the name of “Bay of Pigs Invasion” (Burns 2016). Moreover, he is also known as an active proponent of the concept of peace and strove much to establish peace in the various conflicting nations of South-east Asia.
John F. Kennedy: A champion of leadership
In the opinion of many scholars the political career of Kennedy is a manifesto of the “situational style of leadership”. In the opinion of Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard, “The situational leadership theory refers to those leaders who adopt different leadership styles according to the situation and the development level of their team members”(Sabato and Sabato 2018). The basic precept of this particular style of leadership style is that “Effective leadership is task-relevant, and the most successful leaders are those who adapt their leadership style to the Performance Readiness (ability and willingness) of the individual or group they are attempting to lead or influence” (Sabato and Sabato 2018). It is significant to note that a situational leader is the one who acts as per the individual situations and tries to resolve the issues at hand by doing the thing which is right for the situation. This becomes apparent when the political career of Kennedy is taken into consideration. It is significant to note that the decision to enter the political arena was totally a situational one after the death of his father (Sabato and Sabato 2018). In addition to this, the various campaigns of Kennedy like the “Bay of Pigs Invasion” or his foreign policies towards the nations of Russia and Cuba are a reflection of this particular style of leadership of his (Obolensky 2017). Furthermore, his insistence on the concepts of civil rights and the various precepts of peace were also the requirements of the situation. The creation of the “Peace Corps” is a reflection of this particular style of leadership. Furthermore, it is also significant to note that he used the concept of motivation to help the other members of his cabinet to perform in a much better manner than they had been used to doing in the earlier interim periods (McCleskey 2014). Moreover, he strove to improve the working condition of the lives of the citizens of the nation of the United States of America and passed various important legislations for the improvement of the lives of the citizens of the nation (McCleskey 2014). Therefore, it can be said that the leadership as well as the Presidential reign of Kennedy strove to improve the lives of the citizens of the United States of America in a way which the Presidential reign of no other President has done in the past barring perhaps only the reign of Abraham Lincoln.
Conclusion
To conclude, leadership forms an important part of the lives of the individuals not only in the field of business but also in the field of political activities as well. It is significant to note that there are various styles of leadership and the effectiveness of a particular style depends on the situation or the scenario in which they are being used. Furthermore, the role of a leader in the society is very important as his or her activities not only influence his own individual life or the lives of the people who are in immediate touch with him or her but the lives of the general population as a whole. This becomes significant when the life as well as the career of the President of the United States of America is taken into consideration. His life as well as political career are not only important from the perspective of the political aspects but also on the score of the various activities related to the human rights as well as economic reforms which he did for the citizens of the nation of the United States of America.
References
Burns, J.M., 2016. John Kennedy: a political profile. Open Road Media.
Carty, T., 2016. A Catholic in the White House?: Religion, Politics, and John F. Kennedy’s Presidential Campaign. Springer.
Chemers, M., 2014. An integrative theory of leadership. Psychology Press.
George, A., 2012. The assassination of John F. Kennedy: Political trauma and American memory. Routledge.
Ions, E., 2013. The Politics of John F. Kennedy (Routledge Library Editions: Political Science Volume 1). Routledge.
Jfklibrary.org. 2018. Life of John F. Kennedy – John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum. [online] Available at: https://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/Life-of-John-F-Kennedy.aspx [Accessed 16 Apr. 2018].
McCleskey, J.A., 2014. Situational, transformational, and transactional leadership and leadership development. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, 5(4), p.117.
Obolensky, N., 2017. Complex adaptive leadership: Embracing paradox and uncertainty. Routledge.
Packenham, R.A., 2015. Liberal America and the Third World: Political development ideas in foreign aid and social science. Princeton University Press.
Sabato, L. and Sabato, L. 2018. Lead like John F. Kennedy. [online] Washington Post. Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership/wp/2013/11/20/lead-like-john-f-kennedy/?utm_term=.291b48b8bdda [Accessed 16 Apr. 2018].
Schlesinger, A.M., 2012. Robert Kennedy and his times. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Yukl, G., 2012. Effective leadership behavior: What we know and what questions need more attention. The Academy of Management Perspectives, 26(4), pp.66-85.
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