Leadership and Management Skills of the Great Personalities of the Twentieth Century - Essay Example

 Principle of Management Introduction Adolf Hitler, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Joseph Vissarrionovich Stalin and Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill were some of the prominent politicians of the twentieth century. Hitler was a German whereas Roosevelt was an American. Stalin was a Russian whereas Churchill was a British citizen. Even though these people belong to different nations, and cultures, one of the common elements seen in the behaviors of these people was their leadership skills or man management power. These people had immense power to mesmerize their people with their leadership skills. In fact, people adorned these leaders very much and were ready to do anything instructed by these leaders. In other words, people had blind faith in the abilities of these great leaders. Even though Hitler and Stalin were popular in their countries alone, Churchill and Roosevelt were very much popular all over the world. Stalin and Hitler worked only for the wellbeing of their people whereas Roosevelt and Churchill worked for the wellbeing of the global community, In other words, Hitler and Stalin were regional leaders whereas Roosevelt and Churchill were global leaders. The ability to solve problems in crises was the major element of similarity in the leadership of these four great personalities of the twentieth century. This paper analyses the leadership and management skills of these great personalities of the twentieth century. Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler, a politician of Austrian German, became boss of Nazi party in 1921 and being appointed the position of Germany Chancellor in 1933. In 1934, Hitler was assumed the office of German leader. During the Second World War, he was additionally appointed as Supreme Commander of German Armed Force. He was widely accepted as the main trigger of the Second World War. A decorated veteran of World War I, Hitler joined the precursor of the Nazi Party (DAP) in 1919, and became leader of NSDAP in 1921. He attempted a failed coup d'etat known as the Beer Hall Putsch, which occurred at the Bürgerbräukeller beer hall in Munich on November 8–9, 1923. Hitler was imprisoned for one year due to the failed coup, and wrote his memoir, "My Struggle" (in German Mein Kampf), while imprisoned. After his release on December 20, 1924, he gained support by promoting Pan-Germanism, anti-semitism, anti-capitalism, and anti-communism with charismatic oratory and propaganda. He was appointed chancellor on January 30, 1933, and transformed the Weimar Republic into the Third Reich, a single-party dictatorship based on the totalitarian and autocratic ideology of Nazism When purging the interior of politics, Hitler brought all economics into the control of the nation, so as to conform to the need of politics. Compulsory production was more helpful to arms expansion and war preparation. Consequently, Hitler started to implement his plan. In late September of 1934, Hitler issued a secret command of rearmament. By 1935, this order was made public: the national defense forces were expanded from 100000 to 300000. This action strongly went against Treaty of Versailles, which caused strong reactions of western countries. French, Great Britain and Italy all lodged their protest, and they also reached to a treaty of jointed defense. However, these measures only stayed on paper, and were never implemented. Instead, they intrigued against each other secretly and acted very over-cautiously. Especially, Great Britain even went back on his word and signed a navy agreement with Germany. This was also the beginning of UK’s policy of appeasement. In the November of 1936, Germany and Japan concluded the Anti-communism Pact. In September, 1937, Italy joined this pact. As for this, Germany, Italy and Japan formed the Fascist group and the three axis counties were ready. This indicated that, Germany, Italy and Japan were staying on the same chariot. By then, Hitler finally got rid of the constraint of Treaty of Versailles, as well as the isolation of foreign relation. Therefore, he convened Defense Minister, Commander in Chief, Foreign Minister and other officers, declaring to that that, by seizing contiguous living space and raw material base, Germany’s space could be expanded between 1943 and 1945 at the latest. As for this, to conquer Austria and Czechoslovakia was his first objective. During the Second World War, Germany and other axis powers had seized most areas of Europe, North Africa, East Asia, and Pacific islands. However, after 1942, allied armies started to fight back, and German Forces were losing ground gradually. In 1945, Germany was completed defeated. Yet, Hitler’s whereabouts had hereby become an unsolved mystery in history. Not only that, Hitler was intrinsically a figure with plenty of mysteries. A man born out of Germany, with no political experience or financial, political background, actually became Leader of Germany, and eventually started World War II which changed the world’s course of history. He is a devil or genius? Nobody really know. Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt became the thirty-second president of America in 1933. He was instrumental in leading America in some of the most difficult times such as economic depressions and the Second World War. It should be noted that he is the only president in American history who has been elected more than twice. He has completed three terms in president’s office only because of the public acceptance of his leadership skills. The economic depression was one of the worst problems faced by the Americans in the twentieth century. The recent recession was less serious compared to the economic depression in the twentieth century. In other words, President Roosevelt faced more difficulties than the current president Obama because of economic problems. It should be noted that the current president is struggling to justify the policies taken by him to overcome the current recession. On the other hand, Roosevelt had no such problems. In fact people had blind faith in the abilities of Roosevelt so that they supported each and every policy taken by him for overcoming the economic problems. “He brought hope as he promised prompt, vigorous action, and asserted in his Inaugural Address, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."” (Franklin D. Roosevelt, n.d.). These words clearly indicate that how inspirational Roosevelt was. He asked the public to stay calm and do not be agitated. He convinced the public that America has enough resources to overcome difficult situations. His mesmerizing words motivated the public to work collectively and support the policies of the government with an open mind. Early in his campaign for the presidency, Roosevelt had reached into the academic and professional community and formed a small close group of consultants and costrategists, popularly known as the “brain trust.” Immediately after his election this group expanded, planning in a ferment of activity. They included professionals from the social welfare and helping fields, especially social workers experienced in innovative programs with structurally disadvantaged groups (Barrett-Lennard, 2012, p.22). Roosevelt never tried to lead America as a dictator. He sought the opinions of prominent people before the implementation of any policy matters. His democratic style of functioning increased his number of supporters in America. Roosevelt’s charisma was such that even in difficult times, Americans never turned against the president. The Second World War is another example, which proved the leadership skills of Roosevelt beyond any doubts. Even though this war was ended only after his death, Roosevelt did everything possible to end the war. He realized that being the two superpowers in the world, it is necessary for America and Soviet Union to strengthen mutual relationships. “Feeling that the future peace of the world would depend upon relations between the United States and Russia, he devoted much thought to the planning of a United Nations, in which, he hoped, international difficulties could be settled” (Franklin D. Roosevelt, n.d.). Joseph Vissarrionovich Stalin Joseph Vissarrionovich Stalin was the head of the Soviet Union between 1941- 1953. Stalin assumed power after the death of Vladimir Lenin. Even though Stalin was a controversial leader, he did many things for the wellbeing of the Russians. He was the father of the theory socialism in one country, which states that Soviet Union should strengthen internally to fight against capitalism and the destruction of communism in other European countries. Even though Stalin was a dictator in nature, Russians accepted his leadership wholeheartedly. A Pravda editorial of 14 January 1954 on the CPSU’s nationalities policy “Under the Banner of Indestructible Friendship”, indicated that “Lenin’s seminal recommendations on the nationalities question were further creatively developed in the works of the great successor to Lenin’s immortal cause, I.V. Stalin”. From 1953 to 1955, it was a rare leading article or editorial in Pravda that did not carry some mention of Stalin and his role in the country’s successes and accomplishments. (Pyzhikov, 2011, p.12) Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill He is quoted as often as Shakespeare and Mark Twain. U.S. presidents from FDR on have used him for inspiration. His words have seeped into everyday language: “finest hour,” “blood, toil, tears and sweat,” “Iron Curtain,” and even “business as usual.” The man, of course, is Winston Churchill, best known for his wartime leadership (Wreden, 2002, p.2) “Churchill remains a source of inspiration throughout the world to leaders both in business and politics” (Longstaffe, 2005, p.80). He was a great leader who surprised everyone in this world with his leadership qualities during WW2. Being a statesman and a great orator, Churchill was a conservative politician who served two terms in British Prime Minister’s office. Even though Churchill is well known as a politician and a leader, many people do not know his contributions to literature. Perhaps, he is the only prime minister in this world who received Nobel Prize for literature. Moreover, he is the first person who received the Honorary Citizen of the United States award. Before becoming the prime minister of Britain, Churchill held many positions in the cabinet and administration. However, Churchill’s leadership qualities were revealed only during the WW2. Churchill led Britain very well during WW2 and his speeches and activities were inspirational not only to the British people but also to the rest of the world. Churchill had the uncanny ability to motivate the public. During WW2, he said; “"I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat". These words were mesmerizing and the British people wholeheartedly supported Churchill’s leadership during WW2. Another inspirational speech made during WW2 by Churchill is as follows; We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender (We Shall Fight on the Beaches, 1940) The initial periods of WW2 were not so good for Britain. Germans under the leadership of Hitler invaded many countries and threatened Britain immensely. Hitler was successful in creating panic in the minds of British people. However, Churchill with his inspirational speech held the British people together and countered the threats of Germany with the help of clever war strategies. Even though Churchill led Britain to victory over Germany in WW2, he was not at all a war lover. In fact, he was a great humanist and was sympathetic to those people who were struggling for survival. During British colonial rule in India, British soldiers were engaged in lot of massacres at different parts of India. Churchill never tried to justify these massacres. In fact, he criticized all the inhuman acts performed by British soldiers in India. Conclusions Adolf Hitler, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Joseph Vissarrionovich Stalin and Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill were some of the prominent politicians of the twentieth century who influenced the twentieth century politics immensely. While Hitler and Stalin had good images in their country alone, Roosevelt and Churchill had a good image in the minds of the people all over the world. Even though Hitler was an influential leader for Germans, he worked only for safeguarding the prides of Germans, which resulted in Second World War. The case is not much different for Stalin also. On the other hand, Roosevelt and Churchill were not at all controversial figures. These two visionary leaders worked not only for their mother countries but also for rest of the world as well. In short, Adolf Hitler & Joseph Stalin were inspirational only to their people whereas Franklin Roosevelt & Winston Churchill were global leaders who worked for global peace and harmony. References Aigner, D. 1985. Hitler's ultimate aims – a programme of world dominion?. In Koch, H.W. Aspects of the Third Reich. London: MacMillan Barrett-Lennard, G.T. 2012. THE ROOSEVELT YEARS: Crucial Milieu for Carl Rogers’ Innovation. History of Psychology. Vol. 15, No. 1, 19–32 DOI: 10.1037/a0024168 Franklin D. Roosevelt, n.d. [Online] Available at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/franklindroosevelt [accessed 10 October 2012] Goldhagen, D. 1996. Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust. New York: Knopf. Hitler, A. 1999. Mein Kampf. Trans. Ralph Manheim. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Longstaffe, C. 2005. Winston Churchill, a leader from history or an inspiration for the future? Industrial & Commercial Training. 2005, Vol. 37 Issue 2, p80-83. Pyzhikov, A.V. 2011. The Cult of Personality During the Khrushchev Thaw. Russian Studies in History, vol. 50, no. 3, Winter 2011–12, pp. 11–27. Wreden, N. 2002. Language: Churchill’s Key to Leadership. Harvard management communication letter. JUNE 2002. Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation. We Shall Fight on the Beaches. 1940. [Online] Available at: http://www.winstonchurchill.org/learn/speeches/speeches-of-winston-churchill/128-we-shall-fight-on-the-beaches [accessed 10 October 2012] Read More