Was Hitler a Leader?

            As I considered who to take a closer look at as a leader, many inspirational and high quality leaders went through my mind. I considered exploring the styles of Caroline Myss, Ghandi, the Dali Lama, and many others. But there was a conversation that kept coming back to me and had me stuck: Hitler. In class, we had been discussing how one’s values make such a difference in their leadership style. What I got stuck around was: how someone like Hitler, who truly followed his convictions, could create such devastation? How could someone so horrific in history be considered a leader? I decided to pursue the answer to my own question.

            So much of it depends on how one defines what leadership is. There are many different styles, and there are those who are successful and those who are not. There are also situational leaders, and then there are those who seem to be able to lead no matter where they are. Leadership, it seems, rests not on one specific definition, but on a continuum – making room for someone like Hitler to be included.

            The complex circumstances of the times that allowed him to come into power are incredible, but like it or not, he was a leader. In my mind however, he was a failed leader of catastrophic proportions. If there is value to what he did, it was to show us how not to be as leaders. May history never repeat itself!

~LC

Comments

[Heidi Marmen]

There is a method to their madness. They know how to incite fear and a sense of comraderie.
I just saw this English movie, "This is England" that was filmed after the Faulkland Wars debacle. This young boy, who was relentlessly picked on, was taken under the wing of skinheads - and they were the original anarchists, not the hate mongers. They made him feel worthy and that he belonged. Then a former friend of theirs who just got out of jail started hanging around with them and incited them to hate. He used the Falukland War as a method to impassion them and feel a strong sense of patriotism. The young boy had lost his father in the Faulkland War and was ripe for the pickin'. Great movie which illustrated how quickly one can learn to hate in the name if patriotism.

[Tiffany Rosario]

Wow, Lori! You show courage for taking on Hitler as your leader in focus. Did you find him to possess any of the virtues examined in Kolp and Rea (2009? Hitler definitely had a charisma and a message that appealed to many. It's frightening to think that human beings are capable of being deceived by men like Hitler. I wonder if there is something in our nature that seeks after absolute truth. It seems that those who follow the Hitlers, David Koresh's, and even the latest politicians or religious leaders, are wanting to put their faith in something. Sometimes even if it means believing a lie.