POLITICAL LEADERSHIP
Part I – Political Leaders and Leadership
I-1- Definition of Leadership
Leadership is the fact or the action of working with a group of individuals,
or organizations, or communities. A leader must have values and economic
and/or political and/or other resources motives to accomplish a certain mission.
Also, in order to work in public, competition and conflict are always present to
succeed independently or mutually if the work is being done with other leaders
and/or followers (Burns, 1978).
I-2- Definition of Political Leaders
Political leaders are defined as members of the population who are
democratically elected by the citizens, representing them in the government.
Political leaders are described as vulnerable as well, being put into different
situations, facing major crisis in the country, having to deal wisely with them.
They have an influence on the population through their operations in their
political life (Hartley & Pinder, 2010).
I-3- Qualities of a Leader
“Politics is affected by the personal leadership style and qualities that
officials display during their terms.” To win the public’s support, a leader must
prove that he/she is politically skilled and have certain qualities like honesty,
integrity, competency, loyalty, objectivity, responsibility, trustworthiness,
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fairness, ability to persuade… In addition to that, Barber (1992) explains that
there are “five broad determinants” of a leader’s performance:
i. Determinants related to a leader’s inner characteristics
a. Style
It is the “habitual way of performing political roles”
b. Worldview
Which is the political beliefs and conceptions of social causality, human nature,
and the central moral conflicts of the time”
c. Character
It refers to the leader’s “moral probity, but to the deeper layers of personality that
are molded in early childhood.”
ii. Determinants related to the leader’s political context
a. His/her power situation
b. Climate of expectations
Yet, the researcher clarifies that in practice, the emphasis becomes on the leaders’
emotional stance toward their responsibilities, “the so-called "character," which
he analyzes in terms of whether the president is active or passive in his approach
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to his responsibilities and positive or negative in his feelings toward them” (as
cited in Hahm and Choi, 2009).
Greentein (2000) adds that there are some qualities that shape good political
performance too. They are:
a. Proficiency as a public communicator
The writer gives the example of Roosevelt, Kennedy and Reagan who were good
communicators because they invested lots of effort and experience to improve
this quality. He also considers that George Bush, who could not compare with
Reagan as a communicator, “used the White House briefing room for his public
communications, only rarely addressing the nation from the Oval Office, and he
instructed his speechwriters to temper his prose.” As a result, his “failure to win
reelection in 1992 highlights the costs of a leadership style that gives short shrift
to the teaching and preaching side of presidential leadership.”
Haag et al. (2011) explain that “communication is a crucial leadership act in times
of crisis. For instance, researchers have shown that it was President Bush’s
communication strategy that enabled him to turn the events of 9/11 to his
advantage. In particular, his portrayal of Bin Laden as America’s “brutal”
common enemy during his address to a joint session of the Congress elicited
patriotism and support for his subsequent actions.”
b. Organizational capacity
This includes the leader’s “ability to forge a team and get the most out of it,
minimizing the tendency of subordinates to tell their boss what they sense he
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wants to hear. It also includes a quit different matter which is the president’s
ability to create effective institutional arrangements.”
A good example of organizational capacity is President Dwight Eisenhower who
said: “that is to get all of the [responsible policy makers] with their different
viewpoints in front of you, and listen to them debate. I do not believe in bringing
them in one at a time, and therefore being more impressed by the most recent
one you hear than the earlier ones. You must get courageous men of strong views,
and let them debate with each other.”
c. Political skills
It is in how the leader uses the powers of the office confidently and forcefully,
builds a strong image; hence, a good reputation, and maintains the public’s
support.
d. Policy vision
It refers to the capacity to inspire in the first place, and second, to the consistency
of view point. In fact, “presidents who stand firm are able to set the terms of
policy discourse […] they serve as anchors for the rest of the political
community.” Greenstein (2000) mentions that “the costs of vision-free leadership
include inconsistent policies that cancel one another out, programs that have
undesired effects, and sheer drift.”
e. Cognitive style
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It is the strategic intelligence of a leader.
For instance, President Richard Nixon succeeded in accomplishing his goals by
the final year of his first term because he set his presidential objectives of moving
the United States beyond its military involvement in Vietnam, establishing a
balance of power with the Soviet Union and an opening with China two years
before entering the White House.
f. Emotional intelligence
According to Max Weber, emotional intelligence is "the firm taming of the soul".
It is defined as “the extent to which the president is able to manage his emotions
and turn them to constructive purposes rather than be dominated by them and
allow them to undermine his public performance.”
Greenstein classifies the American presidents of the 20 th century according to
their emotional intelligence as follows:
• Dwight Eisenhower, Gerald Ford and George Bush stood out as
fundamentally free of distracting emotional perturbations.
• Franklin Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, John Kennedy and Harry
Truman were “marked by emotional undercurrents that were
problematic in certain respects but did not significantly impair their
leadership.”
• Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton
failed at being emotionally intelligent. For instance, “the lack of self-
discipline of Bill Clinton led him into actions that ensued in his
impeachment.”
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Good leadership requires having “the essence of strong character” which consist
of:
• Overcoming self-doubt
• Resisting conventional wisdom
• Listening to an inner voice that guides one to do the right thing.
Nonetheless, “bad leadership can also flow from these same characteristics!”
Determination can become stubbornness; defying conventional wisdom may
turn out to be a lack of common sense; the inner voice telling the leader what is
right to do can become delusional. (Greenstein, 2000; Besley, 2005)
