Plato’s Allegory of the Cave best showcases the power that followers possess and their necessity, perhaps more than leaders. Plato’s argument, at the end of the video, is that once the freed prisoner attempts to show the captive prisoners the outside world, what he perceives as a better life, he will be killed. The captive prisoners will prefer their life inside the cave and resent the freed prisoner for trying to “blind” them in the same way he was initially not adjusted to the sun when he went outside. The mass of prisoners will not understand what the freed prisoner is showing them and they will revolt against him. The leader’s power, in this case, does not surpass that of his followers. He is not seen as a leader because his followers do not respect his ideas.
This theory, although established in 514A is relevant to the leadership styles that individuals aim to reach today. Many of our leaders present their followers with ideas which they think will beneficial to the entire population but often it is the decision of the population that dictates whether or not the idea is put into practice. Sociologist George Simmel articulated this argument best in saying that both followers and leaders are given the same amount of power and respect, due to the fact that one cannot exist or thrive without the other. There is an understanding that the collective population has most of the internal power because they are the majority. They may not be the face of an organization yet their views and principles heavily influence the goals and mission of that organization.
Another interesting point Garder mentioned was that leaders are born out of distress to lead the population. This leads (no pun intended) me to think about leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. who was given his power and position as a leader because of his situation. The discrimination and segregation that he and other African Americans experienced pushed him to see the suffering his people endured and rise to the occasion of being their leader. Alongside this, it is important to understand that he was able to remain in power because he represented the voice of the people. Although MLK was chosen, if he did not perform as was expected he would not have maintained his position as a leader. In fact, like the freed prisoner in Plato’s cave, if he was not able to give the people what they wanted and was thought to be leading his followers in the wrong direction he would’ve been demoted or killed.
Lastly, Mabey’s article about citizen leaders pushed me to ask the question do we demand too much or too little from our leaders? On one hand, Mabey made the argument that we have many different types of transitional leadership traits which we expect our leaders to fulfill. We expect them to be able to identify problems and find solutions, as well as generally leading the organization, focusing on the future of the company and at the same time teaching and preparing their followers to be great leaders when they are gone. These are all different theories developed which we, ideally, would like all of our leaders to possess, even if it may not be possible. Yet, on the other hand, Mabey argued that within the liberal society we have today, many of our leaders are egotistical, focus on their own good and are simply given a title of leader once they fill a position, not necessarily reliant on their action and involvement as a leader.
“It can also be the art of the impossible, that is, the art of making both ourselves and the world better”
The captive prisoners, whom Plato refers to, find comfort and solidarity in the “truth” that they have been told/ led to believe. They would prefer life inside the cage because it is all they know. If someone became “enlightenend” and sought to tell the truth of reality to their peers, then he would be persecuted for disrupting the peace.
Dr. King ‘s legacy is a recurring example that has been used since the start of this class. Dr. King represented African Americans and voiced their concerns so well to people outside of the race, which only projected the movement in the long run.
I believe that leaders have the potential to exhibit all the transitional leadership traits highlighted by Mabey. However, they can not exhibit all these traits at once… this is when it be hectic and the people would be asking for too much. A leader’s potential in one area of leadership traits should be recognized and nurtured. Along the journey of that leader, more transitional traits can be developed or observed for future development. It is important to be able to recognize these things in the people who surround us, before asking them to jump off of bridges.