In Carlyle’s book On Heroes, Hero-Worship and the Heroic in Society (Carlyle, 1840), the author dove into the lives of several men he deemed “heroes,” like Muhammed, Richard Wagner, Shakespeare, Martin Luther, and Napoleon. Carlyle suggested that these great men shaped history through these personal attributes and, yes, divine inspiration, too. (And since he lived in Scotland in the 1840s, there was no mention of women.) These great men were identified by their charisma, intelligence, and wisdom.
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In 1840, Scottish writer Thomas Carlyle stated that “the history of the world is but the biography of great men.” The Great Man Theory took hold-the idea that history can be explained by the impact of great men and the decisions they made. Still, thanks to them, the “leader as hero” concept had been a clear definition for hundreds of years. Of course, they didn’t use the word “leader.” The word “leader” as we use it today didn’t come into the English language until the 19th century. Plato, Plutarch, Lao-Tzu and even Machiavelli had an impact on how these rulers and heroes were defined in their instruction and shared opinions of what it meant to be a leader. Some of these heroes were mythological, like Odysseus, descendant of the gods and hero of the Trojan War, and others, like Alexander the Great and Hannibal Barca, earned their distinction in battles won against nearly insurmountable odds, immortalized in stories retold over generations. Those that were not kings were instead heroes, possessors of God-given skills that helped them achieve victory in battle. The right to rule was derived directly from the will of God. Early concepts of monarchy included the element that king was a divine choice and was bound to no earthly rules. Surely, anyone who knew the legend of King Arthur understood that it helped illustrate the concept that those who led were born and not made. Or, more likely, we’d watch the process unfold and then say, “Hey, nice trick, but why should I listen to you?” Concepts in leadership have changed since the sixth century. There’d be very few leaders among us today if we relied on a pulling-sword-from-stone selection process. Either way, he was the chosen one, he possessed a certain something, and, by divine right, he became the king of Britain. Most versions tell either of how Arthur became king when the Lady of the Lake gave him a sword called Excalibur, or of how he was the only one capable of pulling the sword from a stone. There are a few different varieties of King Arthur’s story, one of the most prominent folklore stories from England.
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There is of course, a much broader and diverse history of leaders across the world not mentioned here.) Leadership-Historically Speaking (Note: this text will focus on the history of European and North American history, since we’re addressing a largely US-based audience. Let’s take a trip way back and take a look at how far we’ve come. How did we arrive at what we understand about leadership today? Historically speaking, it’s been quite a ride. Those are some fairly basic concepts about leaders and leadership. (As we’ll discuss later in this module, not every leader is a manager and not every manager is a leader.) Or a leader can be informal, someone who steps up and provides that guidance from within a group of people, not necessarily the person who has been given decision making authority.
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Describe the contingency approach and its variationsĪ leader may be considered a leader because of a formal relationship, provided by the possession of managerial rank in an organization.Discuss our understanding of leadership from the historical perspective.