mewtwo Posted May 1, 2014 So what makes a true leader? what are the virtues one needs in order to be one? Was reading vol 18 of the MLP comic omg omg omg awesome and hade to ask this question. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mewtwo Posted May 1, 2014 "The great and Humble Trixie would like some peanut butter crackers." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrandmasterP Posted May 2, 2014 Who needs 'leaders' , apart from 'followers'? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mewtwo Posted May 3, 2014 maybe you should ask why there are followers in the first place? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted May 3, 2014 So what makes a true leader? A person with the character traits to be able to lead by example. Â But no, Anarchists don't need or want a leader. (No, I'm not talking about the revolutionary anarchist type.) 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Infinity Posted May 3, 2014 As true leader is perhaps someone who values their followers as much as they values themselves.  ∞ 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrandmasterP Posted May 3, 2014 maybe you should ask why there are followers in the first place? Â That might be construed as a 'leading question'. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manitou Posted May 3, 2014 Maybe a true leader is one who has transcended caring what others think. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted May 3, 2014 Maybe a true leader is one who has transcended caring what others think. True on one level but the leader still must insure that his followers are willing and able to follow so that the results will be positive. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrandmasterP Posted May 3, 2014 (edited) Cometh the hour cometh the leader. Churchill for example in World War 2. Not necessarily a great leader or brilliant strategist but people needed someone to believe in and rally round back then and he was the man for the job. Apart from dictators, leaders do tend to rely on the consent of the 'led'. Edited May 3, 2014 by GrandmasterP 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted May 3, 2014 Yeah, Churchill got a raw deal, I think. It was he who gave the Brits the strength to continue when most thought that all was lost. True, he was not a military strategist (but never claimed to be) and that was what got him in trouble with his people. Â And this is why a good leader needs subordinates who are not afraid to advise in the best interest of the followers and the leader. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrandmasterP Posted May 3, 2014 (edited) Before my time was Churchill as a politician. I do remember his funeral though, that was a huge event here in all sorts of different ways. I was raised in a mining village and Churchill was universally loathed by the old miners. He'd once sent troops in against striking miners and some miners were shot dead. They never forgot that. On his funeral day, in the Miner's Welfare Club in our village, they held a party. Edited May 3, 2014 by GrandmasterP Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mewtwo Posted May 3, 2014 That might be construed as a 'leading question'. Â Â your a leading question lol 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted May 4, 2014 I have forgotten most of what I read about Churchill. And I agree, he was not popular with the "common folks". But he was an aristocrat and that was the way he thought. Â Churchill was the driving force for getting the US involved in that war. We it not for him Y'all would be speaking German today. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted May 4, 2014 your a leading question lol Excellent observation. Hehehe. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrandmasterP Posted May 4, 2014 (edited) Obama. Leading question? Â :-) Edited May 4, 2014 by GrandmasterP 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manitou Posted May 4, 2014 Cometh the hour cometh the leader. Churchill for example in World War 2. Not necessarily a great leader or brilliant strategist but people needed someone to believe in and rally round back then and he was the man for the job. Apart from dictators, leaders do tend to rely on the consent of the 'led'. Â Â But that's the rub. A truly great leader will follow the precepts of The Art of War - Sun Tzu. He will do by not doing, withdraw strategically, not be led by ego. 99.9% of his 'followers' will not understand this because they will not understand wu-wei; they will be as the chorus of voices around the U.S., for example, that think that we should aggressively police the world each and every time something goes awry. And yet the wisest action will often times be to not act, to let the situation evolve into the right timing; perhaps an action will be required, perhaps not. Â This principle alone makes a built-in push/pull between those who are followers and the one who is the leader. The true leader will understand the timing but the followers will often push for too much aggression and have a lack of understanding of letting things ripen and acting at the perfect moment. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted May 4, 2014 Obama. Leading question? Â :-) I will pass on that one. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thelerner Posted May 4, 2014 Obama. Leading question? Â Â I will pass on that one. I shouldn't cause it's derailing, but I think- better then the alternative. Â In leadership I prefer pragmatism over dogmatism. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ThisLife Posted May 4, 2014 (edited) . I have forgotten most of what I read about Churchill. And I agree, he was not popular with the "common folks". But he was an aristocrat and that was the way he thought. Â Churchill was the driving force for getting the US involved in that war. We it not for him Y'all would be speaking German today. Â My experiences tell me that history can very rarely ever be so radically simplified as this. In reality, there are so inconceivably many inter-locking and contributing factors, all in a state of constant, interactive flux. With regards to Churchill, I believe that many, many surveys have shown that even today he is still the most well-known and admired politician, across the entire range of British society. (Which may also have something to do with the appalling quality of political leaders that we've been lumbered with since his time). Â As for your statement that he was the driving force for getting the US into the war,... you seem to have forgotten the helping hand the Japanese gave you at Pearl Harbour. Â I'm not one to glorify war by any stretch of the imagination. But here I felt that I couldn't just sit idly by while a person who made possibly the greatest contribution in the world towards preventing civilization as we know it from being sucked back down into the brutal and inhuman Dark Ages by German Fascism ,.... was being falsely portrayed through lack of knowledge. Edited May 5, 2014 by ThisLife Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aetherous Posted May 4, 2014 (edited) A leader has a desire...which means they have motivation and reasons for motivation, to achieve a goal or many goals. Because they have integrity in this fashion, they lead, even with no followers. Without the desire, you can have reasons for doing something ("I should lose weight", for instance) but no fuel to get there. Without reasons, your desire lacks a foundation...it's like a car without wheels; you have the gas and some parts but you're not going to get far (the followers will ask "but why should we do what you say???"). And if you are lacking in a map, you might be able to go...but where are you going? So having a clear goal based on that reasonable desire, means you have directions, and the means to follow those directions. So that's what defines leadership...a motivation to achieve a goal for some reason. Â I also like the Army's acronym: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless service, Honor, Integrity, Personal courage. But I don't think leaders necessarily need character development. They just need a goal they want to achieve...the more in line with that want they are, the more people will feel it...and the more in line the followers are, the better a leader you are. There can be really developed people in terms of having a lot of honor, a sense of duty...but they might just be followers and not leaders. In fact, that's probably the case. Edited May 4, 2014 by Aetherous 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doc benway Posted May 4, 2014 (edited) So what makes a true leader? what are the virtues one needs in order to be one? Was reading vol 18 of the MLP comic omg omg omg awesome and hade to ask this question. A few qualities that I think are important in a leader - Awareness Confidence Humility Compassion  Edited to add: It may also be that the best leaders do so out of necessity rather than desire. Edited May 4, 2014 by steve 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrandmasterP Posted May 4, 2014 A few qualities that I think are important in a leader - Awareness Confidence Humility Compassion  Edited to add: It may also be that the best leaders do so out of necessity rather than desire.  Having an army helps too.  :-) 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Apech Posted May 4, 2014 Just doing a self check ... Â A few qualities that I think are important in a leader - Awareness Eh? Confidence Errr not sure. Humility Pffft no time for it. Compassion What? For those bastards ... Edited to add: It may also be that the best leaders do so out of necessity rather than desire. ..well I'm waiting to be asked .... 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
