What is leadership? The dictionary definition of leadership is the action of leading a group of people, however, I believe that leadership delves a little bit deeper than just that. Being a leader is about how and individual can influence others, whether it be good or bad. It is about how they have the ability to and are willing to compromise when need be. A good leader is one who has the best interests at heart for the people that they are leading.
In Cronan’s paper, “Only connect… The Goals of a Liberal Education”, Cronan delves deep into what a characteristics and qualities can make up a good leader. Some points that Cronan makes are that good leaders “ they listen and they hear”, “they practice humility, tolerance, and self-criticism”, “they understand how to get things done in the world”, and “they nurture and empower the people around them”. (Cronan, 3-4) It is important for a leader to listen to the people, and understand how to help them and empower them. It is important to see how the actions of the individual help the people and how their leadership qualities shine through their actions.
Throughout the Leadership course, we learned about how leaders are identified. I think that Roller’s model of exemplarity does a decent job of creating an outline for leadership. It model is as follows:
- Action
- Audience
- Commemoration
- Imitation
This explains how an exempla, or a leader-like figure, must do an action which is memorable to others. It can be an action which is seen as good or bad. The audience are the people who directly witness the action of this exempla. The commemoration portion of the model talks about how the individual is rewarded for their honorable or memorable action. For example, the story of Cloelia follows this model. Cloelia was a Roman women who, along with many other Roman women, had been abducted by Porsena, an enemy of the Romans. She was said to have bravely led the hostage women across the river in which they were bathing, to get away from the enemy. She had snuck past the guards and led all these women to their freedom. In this story, the audience are the women who were led to freedom by Cloelia. She was commemorated by the narratives that were written by her and an equestrian statue. Although her story was not imitated at that time, due to the social hierarchy of men versus women, her leadership qualities, such as bravery and virtus, were imitated. Roller’s model does a great job in explaining how leaders were in ancient times by fitting them into the model through a memorable action that they did. Although Roller’s model does provide an outline for leadership, it is not a great way to explain leadership. Not only is the model constructed for men and the ways that they display virtus and other Roman characteristics, it does not leave room for women to display their leadership abilities as women were not supposed to break the stereotype of a woman. Leadership goes past just a single action and reward for that action, it is about how the individual leads the people to a better part of a whole.
When my group and I worked on our final project, I realized how differently leadership could be seen. The topic for my group project, my final exemplum, was Cleopatra. While studying her, I realized that Roller’s model of exemplarity was not entirely correct. When looking at Roller’s model, it can be interpreted as leader is defined by a single action that they carry out. However, after doing research about Cleopatra, I believe that this statement is false. A specific action does not define an individual, it is the qualities and the characteristics that are constantly portrayed that create an actual depiction of the type of leader a person. While Cleopatra is known for her affairs with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, she is mainly known as one of the greatest rulers of ancient Egypt due to how she had ruled over the vast country.
When working on the group project, I feel that I embodied the qualities of what I believe to be a good leader. It is important that everyone in a group is heard, that they know that their input is just as important as that of the others in the group. I had too the initiative to make sure that everyone had a say, and that they were comfortable enough to freely speak their mind. Being a good leader is more than just about commanding, it is about taking the initiative to get the work done, and making sure that the work gets done effectively. I realized that I am the type of person who takes the leader role unconsciously. I am the one who will make sure that everything gets done effectively and according to plan. I also tend to pick up the slack of other group members who may not be putting their absolute best into a project. I realized that need to be more confident in my leadership abilities and ideas. I need to make my voice heard and not be seen as someone who will do everything and not say anything about it. As a leader I hope to be more confident and embrace my role as a leader.
