After spending weeks reading theories of leadership, the conclusion is inescapable: we don’t really have a good, persuasive, comprehensive theory of leadership. Now that is not a terribly inspiring conclusion, but perhaps we were just looking in the wrong place. Perhaps Leadership is not something best defined in theory. Perhaps leadership is defined by practice. And so, we turn to history.
First up, the First History on Leadership, the origin not only
of something recognizable as a history book, but the first historical textbook
on leadership. Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War.
A note on editions:
if you want to read this book, there is no contest about which version
to read. The Landmark Thucydides, edited by Robert Strassler, is really the
only choice. An amazingly edited volume. The maps alone make it worth the price—instead
of one or two maps at the outset, there are maps on every single page in which the
action changes venue; you never have to flip a page to get a sense of where you
are in the world at the present moment.
Who knew that a surfeit of maps could make a book so enjoyable? The footnotes are also amazing. The side notes indicating what is going on in
every paragraph are invaluable for finding things again. The typeset is incredible. I so want to say that I am totally in love
with The Landmark Thucydides, but I
am afraid that if I said that I would be committing biblioadultery—having given
my heart to the Library of America, I am not sure I can be unfaithful to my
other love. But, if I was the adulterous
type, The Landmark Thucydides would be
my new bibliomistress. But, please don’t
tell the Library of America—I am not sure how jealous she is.
The beauty of the volume aside (sigh, such beauty), the book
itself is fantastic. An aside (shocking
I know); I first read The Peloponnesian
War when I was interviewing for a job at Mount Holyoke. I even talked about the book during my
interview with the Dean of Faculty here.
(And I got a job offer.
Coincidence?) I enjoyed the book then,
but without a doubt, after 20 years of extra reading, I enjoyed the book even
more this time around.
As a manual of leadership it raises an incredibly provocative
question. Thucydides is telling the
story of the Death of Athenian Democracy.
The cause of Death: Suicide. Thucydides places great emphasis on the speeches
given by assorted figures. At the outset
we get Pericles and the marvelous Funeral Oration extolling the virtues of
Athenian democracy. Over time, the speechmakers
devolve more and more into demagoguery.
One way to read this book: democracy
generates leaders who make the best speeches.
But, the ability to make a great speech is not the same as the ability to
be a wise and good leader. So, what
happens when the best speechmakers are unwise or downright self-serving? Well, you end up with pointless wars which hollow
out and eventually destroy the country.
The application is pretty immediate, and hard to
dispute. In modern America, Rock Stars
win. Think about it; when was the last
presidential election which was not won by the person with greater Star
Power? Maybe Nixon, but it may actually
be Hoover or Coolidge or Harding. At a minimum,
in the entire time I have been politically aware (since I was 10 and Carter
beat Ford), the candidate who was more like a Rock Star won. (Even the totally uncharismatic George Bush
Sr fits that rule—he drew Dukakis as an opponent.) But, do Rock Stars make great presidents? Sometimes.
(Reagan!). Sometimes not (Hmmm…everyone
else).
That leads to the fascinating dilemma. Suppose that by having a democratic government,
you are doomed to end up with poor leaders who have nothing other than fine
oratory skills. Does that make democracy
bad?
I am more ambivalent about this matter than I would like to
be. I have been a closet monarchist
since the Clinton years (hmmm…now that I have written that, I guess I am not
longer a closet monarchist. (Hey, look!
I came out of the closet!)) During the Impeachment
hearings, I realized that one virtue of monarchy is that you don’t have to
lament the sad state of the public when you see bad leaders. If a king is a bad king, that’s just the fault
of heredity. If an elected president is
a bad President, then that is the fault of the electorate. Somehow, blaming a bad gene pool is more comforting
than blaming a few hundred million people for being idiotic. Hence my monarchist tendencies.
Then again, if I could really switch the country over to a monarchy,
I am not sure I would. One of the
virtues of being a college professor is that you can have opinions and not have
to worry that anyone is ever actually listening to you and might do what you
suggest.
In the end: the lesson from Thucydides for leadership: Leadership is giving a Great Speech. If you want to be a leader, learn the art of
rhetoric.
You are crazy....fun, but crazy:) Hope the faculty show goes well. (Carol and I were invited to go tomorrow evening!)
ReplyDelete