Historical Leadership

My thoughts on the historical view of leadership and how it has evolved has not been changed that much with the recent readings.  Leadership is usually seen as a head of state or the crucial active agent of a transition.  Niccolo Machiavelli’s contribution of The Prince which is an informational depiction of how leaders are perceived, how they will act and what they should be aware of may have been radical during its time but is not as shocking now(1505).  Written in the 16^th century, Machiavelli goes in depth about principalities, land, governing, followers, armies, enemies, wealth and much more in 26 chapters.  We were asked to read ten of the chapters for the purpose of this assignment.  Some of the ideas that increased or enhanced my understanding were from chapters XV and XVIII.  The following quotation is from chapter XV, “for a man who wishes to act entirely up to his professions of virtue soon meets with what destroys him among so much that is evil”.  The context of the quote and overall chapter is that a man who is virtuous must know about and adapt to the evil of his opposite.  To say a good man will succumb to his foes if he were not to amend his methods is a profound statement to make.  We have seen some of our greatest leaders survived by others who were not as significant for their time.  The leaders were usually lost in the confrontation of opposition to principles and beliefs of which they stood for.  We see this as a moral sacrifice and a testament to the will of an individual for the fight for what is right and good.  The idea I get from Machiavelli’s statement states that the loss of life can be avoidable though the valiant heroism can be negatively affected.  Would history be viewed the same if the person had not died in their prime and lived long enough for the image to be tarnished?  A prevailing thought in accordance with that comes from chapter XVIII.  For any sort of longevity leaders should know about and be talented in the ways of both beasts and men.  The ways of beast are devious while men are honorable but one should be able to combat either when called upon to do so.   

                To address some of the myths of history, gender and leadership I will lean on some of the writings of Laurel Ulrich from the book Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History (2007).  One very important statement found on page 50 says that “History isn’t just what happens in the past.  It is what later generations choose to make of it”.  My take of this is that the events, as they happen, are not imperative if it is not relevant at a later time.  That is a brief but powerful statement to define what history is.  As we grow and advance, how do our values progress when we look at the past?  Something that was significant may no longer reside in the same context for the present audience.  Meaning the present actually rewrites the past simply by maintaining pertinence of the moments as time goes by.  To me, that is a stunning divulgence of not only how we remember history but how what we consider historical is created.  To coincide with that observation is the stories of amazon women in the beginning.  Once the facts are recognized or understood, descriptive language and hyperbole can be added to a story to cause veneration or disillusion.  This aspect can produce a myth with distortion of the actual events which may or may not have held its own against the test of time. 

                My personal plans are not necessarily affected from what I have learned from this reading.  I gained valuable information about how others feel about this subject matter but to be cognizant of what others believe is an honest attribute of critical thinking.  One thing I do take from this exercise is to make sure what I am doing now is worthy of being remembered by anybody with a positive connotation if possible.  I do not want to be the antecedent of nightmares and regrets for people.  I can elude that circumstance at all cost from this point forward.  Another theme that I will try to carry on is to preserve a precise portrayal of how things occurred in the instant it does.  Let me try to minimize the breeding of myths from what I can control first.  All in all history may be best defined by what remains from that period or style of leadership instead of what will be remembered.