Some Thoughts About Greatness And Leadership
Shakespeare was good about leadership, as about most other things. The spoof letter which caused poor Malvolio to make such a fool of himself contains words that say a lot about the subject. “Some men are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them”. Greatness and leadership are so closely akin that the words give us a useful point of departure.
“Born great” has two possible meanings: either being born to a great position, such as that of an hereditary monarch, or possessing natural talents and/or virtues of an exceptional kind. Clearly not everyone born to a great position is worthy of it, and relatively few have the qualities of a great leader. But the greatness of certain offices can rub off on their occupants, who may not otherwise have qualities out of the ordinary.
Some appear to have the gift of leadership, but are found to lack it when tested. Tacitus wrote of an early Roman emperor that he would have been thought capable of ruling if only he hadn’t actually been called upon to rule (capax imperii nisi imperasset). Others are recognised as “born leaders” and exercise effective leadership up to a certain level, but prove disastrous failures beyond that level. It is very hard to judge the point beyond which a person will be overpromoted.
“Some achieve greatness” denotes, above all, those whose greatness is self-made. But all of the really great leaders must be regarded as achievers, whatever their advantages of birth and training. Alexander the Great was born to kingship and inherited a strong army. With Aristotle as his tutor, he was perhaps the most privileged person, educationally, that there has ever been. Nevertheless, what he achieved in his short life was beyond anything that could remotely have been expected of him.
Much the same is true of Julius Caesar. He was a young Roman aristocrat whose career began as a demagogic politician, but who turned out to be a military commander of genius. The trajectory of his career could never have been predicted. To be continued…….
Related Stories
POSTED IN: Leadership resources
1 opinion for Some Thoughts About Greatness And Leadership
JQ
Apr 20, 2007 at 4:38 am
I enjoyed the article. I would disagree on a point though. It is this statement that speaks on “born great,” that some “possessing natural talents and/or virtues of an exceptional kind.” Nobody is born with virtues. The contrary is probably more true, everyone is born without virtues. These must be practiced, learned, and applied in life. I have heard it before even in the sense of “natural talent” for a sport. As a former high school baseball, there is really no such thing as natural talent. The best players I have watched, even professionals, have worked and practiced to make themselves great.
Thanks for the thoughts, I will speak more today at my blog on the issue.
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: