[May 11, 2016] The other day I was perusing the Internet looking at the popularity of various ideas. My interest was how the subject of leadership compared with other concepts such as gaming, music, food, and sports. Leadership was hardly a blip on the radar (depending on how it’s measured), while music and television were consistently at the top of the list. So, the question I propose is; who cares about leadership?
If history is any help, then we will have to put aside the concept of popularity for the moment because of its transient nature. Who cares about leadership is not based on popularity but on other factors and those factors are mostly a measure of the character of people, or, the wisdom and strength of their inner-most selves.
Those who have strength derived from personal adversity, leadership experience, and a well-rounded ability to make good judgments do care about leadership. It should be self evident that leadership, and those who care about it, is something also that matters only to those who have a need for it. For example, during the darkest days in England during World War II, Winston Churchill was elected to lead the nation through trying times.1
After the peace was assured, Churchill was rejected, in large part because of his strong views and because he warned of an “iron curtain” of Soviet influence in Europe and promoted European unity. The danger of the growing Soviet empire – in its advanced weaponry and ideology – was not fully understood worldwide until the 1980s. Churchill had warned the world about the Soviets but most thought him a crackpot … his leadership was no longer needed.
Those who care most about leadership either have the personal aptitude or are those who need it the most; the latter being a fleeting one. Those leaders can be for good or for evil, can be successful or failures, or can be of great prominence or meddling fools. What people want is strength. They want someone to guide them out of the abyss and to satisfy their needs.
The history of humankind is filled with examples of those who have picked evil to lead (Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot). To know history – and how and why leaders are chosen – is to help us avoid mistakes of the past.
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