In Bass’ “Concepts of Leadership” I found it very interesting to compare and contrast the styles of leadership from then to now. Leadership styles now are obviously vastly different to the times of the Ancient Greeks and Romans. For instance, “The Odyssey advises leaders to maintain their social distance.” While maintaining a social distance is obviously a good idea during Covid times it’s more difficult to lead when not seeing people face to face in the modern day. The best leaders interact with their followers thus allowing them to gain more appreciation and approval from their people. This is best demonstrated by modern Presidents of the United States using their bully pulpit in order to gain more approval of the people.
In contrast there are certain parts of history that stay true today when defining successful leaders. Specifically when defining heroic leaders, “The Greeks admired and thought were needed in heroic leaders were (1) justice and judgement (Agamemnon), (2) wisdom and counsel (Nestor), (3) shrewdness and cunning (Odysseus), and (4) valor and activism (Achilles).” Those are many of the qualities that Americans look for in wartime leaders. This is usually when a President has their highest approval ratings because they display exactly the qualities the Greeks say are necessary for a strong leader.
Pierce, i find it interesting how you talked about Americans and presidential approval in war time. I believe your point is correct that when a president apppoints a strong leader in the military, that his or her approval might slightly raise in response to the terrible situation at hand; however, i am curious as to if his overall approval actually rises as a leader given the fact that he is the man that got us into war in the first place.
Secondly, I agree with what you Said about social distance. It is difficult to lead when one isn’t amongst their peers, for example it is difficult for school teachers to teach when they are not in person leading their students, and rather attempting to lead from their living room.
I agree I find that the people who become the best leaders (whether for good or for bad) are able to understand what the people need and are looking for in a leader at that current point in time.
I’m also very intrigued by the idea Bass expresses about effective leaders and their social separation from their followings. Surely enough, this is an ideal that isn’t generally regarded as constructive in modern governments, but what about less humanitarian organizations–say, corporations? The CEO of a multinational corporation likely has little to no intimate knowledge of the true experiences of the company’s wage employees. In the lens of economics, is this separation an effective tactic in leadership?
I agree that the leadership styles from Ancient Greek and Roman times are much different and found it extremely interesting to compare and contrast. To look into the different types of leaders, such as Ancient Greek leaders, it shows that sometimes they cannot always relate to the people whom they are ruling over. Throughout history, I feel that leaders have shifted to trying to interact and gain more personal approval from their people.
I also found it interesting that specific characteristics that made for good leaders in older times are still relevant today. While many people have their own ideas and perceptions of what skills make up a good leader, it is interesting to me that many of the same ideas and philosophies are still present today.