Great Leadership

We usually use “great” at the beginning of a description to declare the intense or powerful nature of something. Greatness is, therefore, a force. The history of the world leadership is marked with several iconic leaders who have always energized, stimulate and sweep people through their influence. The passion in them and the composure they had made it possible to achieve remarkable milestones in fighting for social changes. Such leaders as Mandela, Luther King Jr., Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Mother Teresa and Abraham Lincoln were among the great leaders the world ever had. Among the five three were assassinated for their influence in championing the rights of the people. Mandela, for instance, was imprisoned for 27 years, but the passion was never taken from him. King died while championing the rights of sanitation workers in Memphis. These revelations only indicated the courage these leaders had in fighting for what they perceived in just and right for humanity.
Greatness comes with a price and which most of these leaders were more than willing to pay. However, several qualities allowed them to achieve such remarkable achievements in their leadership. First, most of them are visionary. The ability to see both short and long term probable results made it possible for the leaders to achieve milestones. Mother Teresa a Roman Catholic nun inspired many in assisting the less fortunate and the ill in the society through his visions of a healthy society. Furthermore, great leaders like Gandhi, Lincoln, and King all underwent assassination for their vision of transforming their countries in various distinct ways.

Second, persistence and modesty dominated most of these leaders’ actions and plans. Political forces impaired the thrust they had in undertaking various acts, but they kept their head up and moved on. Such were the qualities that Mandela had that saw him become the first black president of South Africa immediately after being released from prison.
Third, integrity and competence of these five great leaders allowed them to prosper. The ability to create trust and a strong bond with the followers in any leadership position is crucial (Phipps and Prieto, 438). The skills possessed by great leaders in creating teams that ensure success helped most of these leaders to achieve their goals. For instance, Abraham Lincoln as the president of America led the country through the civil war of 1861-1865 through his transformational leadership. The same was displayed by the activist Gandhi from India who fought for India’s nationalism from the British rule. Lastly, decisiveness and desire for excellence qualities enabled them to ease their plans. From the histories of the progress of all these leaders, their success is embodied in their decisions and yearnings for excelling. Mother Teresa wanted to enlarge and influence other nuns and religious groups to help the society. Her efforts were later taken up by many other organizations. Assuming responsibility for any decision, one makes as a leader determines how successful he/she will be (Archer and Cameron, 109). Great leadership is built on decisions, desires, and persistence as it is depicted by the histories of this five world known leaders.
It is essential for any organization/persons in leadership positions to possess qualities that facilitated their progress other that hinder. These are indispensable in making it possible for followers to get inspired and articulate for the same. Creating a buffer between success and failure is thus paramount. Mostly, having a motivated support group may increase the influence and thus greater achievements can be realized. It is, therefore, important that leaders of the current world match their qualities with those of legendary leaders who ever lived.
The Science of Leadership
Although leadership is seen as an art by many people, the reality behind the facts that destiny does not count on the greatness of a leader should not be ignored. The dynamics of a greatness of a lied not only rests on the skills and motivation to lead but the ability to correlate between vital issues that need to be addressed. Even so, the circumstances can make one a leader especially in monarchy systems of governance. Such leaders may run into significant challenges in their leadership. Judging from the world’s greatest leaders of all time their achievements were bestowed in their knowledge of whatever they championed and demanded that it be done (Archer and Cameron, 75). Analyzing the information available and planning on the approach mechanisms is described as a scientific mean of achieving milestones. It is, therefore, vital to mention that strong leadership is built on scientific approaches making it more of a science than art.
This age of big data in organizations has made leadership take a different angle. Other than just being creative and skillful, the need for analytical capabilities is predominant. For instance, a leader of a business organization presented with business records will need more than creativity to make decisions. Any decision made out of the very many options that may be present depends on its expected outcome. Such estimations cannot be made without prior knowledge of how to relate things. It, therefore, challenge the opinion of destiny and circumstances being the source of leadership. The science between analytical skills and cross-relating decisions with outcomes depends on taught knowledge. Most of the great leaders like Mandela studied (he studied law while in prison) to enhance their capabilities in championing for social change. For this reason, prior knowledge of the requirements of leadership is obtained through education.
Even if leaders are not supposed to be scientists, science is needed to get close to the truth. Data brings an understanding of our environment and what to expect if different approaches are made. For instance in business, if the manager decides to shoot prices up, then it is anticipated to reduce the demand for their goods. Destined leaders cannot be able to realize such implications without prior experience or knowledge of it. The scientific side of leadership comes in when decisions are needed, and as a result, the various variables associated with the decision to be made are carefully evaluated (Barth-Farkas and Vera, 230).
Any great leader has to have substantive evidence of their success or plan as well as reasons for the changes they make. It takes science to understand the dynamics of change. The evidence is used by great leaders to draw a conclusion of what is happening and what changes are best suitable to tackle the matter. Although creativity as an art can be used in such instances, it remains vital for evaluation of the options to be made to ascertain the most viable choice. This is where the scientific mode of leadership comes in. Furthermore, in the present world, computerization is rapidly replacing the skill of human labor making it mandatory for literacy in dealing with a wide variety of issues.
Although leadership is seen as a gift of life or orchestrated by fate/destiny, it is wrong to make this assumption fixed. Without loss of generality, leadership can be perceived as a science other than art. Looking at the composition of the current prominent and influential world leaders, it is their qualifications and knowledge of leadership that drives their success. Furthermore, all those leaders with limited education have/are experiencing shakeups in their leadership. It, therefore, remains vital to note that strategies and planning being part of science is crucial in leadership hence making leadership a science rather than an art.
Works Cited
Archer, D and A Cameron. “Collaborative leadership: building relationships, handling conflicts and sharing control.” 2nd. USA: Routledge, 2013. Print.
Barth-Farkas, Faye and Antonio Vera. “Power and Transformational Leadership in Public Organizations.” International Journal of Leadership in Public Services 10.4 (2014): 217-232.
Phipps, Simone T. A. and Leon C. Prieto. “The Influence of Personality Factors on Transformational Leadership: Exploring the Moderating Role of Political Skill.” International Journal of Leadership Studies 6.3 (2011): 430-447.