Leaders. When that word comes to my mind, I think of Tokugawa Ieyasu - The leader who unified Japan and established the traditional Japanese way of life.
This man, Tokugawa Ieyasu, was one of the most successful rulers in Japanese history. He was also one of the most cunning military strategists in the world.
This, brings me to my first point, 'unified'. In my opinion, a leader should have the ability to unite his/her people, just like Tokugawa Ieyasu. Also, he/she should have other traits which I will further illustrate.
Martin Luther King Jr. You must know him. He was the man who promoted civil-rights through non-violent means, in the U.S. I quote,
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in his moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
This quote, in my opinion, tells us that a leader should be self-sacrificing. If we are facing times of challenge and controversy, as a nation, our leader is the person who steps up and without care for his own reputation, defends us, his/her people.
In conclusion a leader is someone we can count on. He/she is someone who does things for the greater good of his/her people and not for his/her self.
Another scenario of what a leader would do: If there is a crisis, how do you think a leader would manage it? First, he/she would think about his/her people. The questions that would be racing through their minds would solely be about his/her people. Hence, the rational thing to do would be to calm the people. Calming them and then dealing with the problem itself - that is what he/she would do. Though when dealing with the problem, he/she would think up of the best methods/means to deal with it so as to not harm the people in any way. If there is, even a small risk, the idea would be abandoned.
There is an exception though. If there is no other way than to abandon some of the people, he/she must do it without any hesitation. Not clear enough? Let me explain. Use the following scenario to help you understand.
You are in the middle of the sea and on a boat that can only hold 5 people inclusive of yourself. There are 6 people, inclusive of yourself, on the boat but one of them is critically injured and is about to die. You are the leader and cannot throw yourself off the boat. Would you or would you not throw the almost-dead person off of the boat? The answer is yes, you would. Why? In order to save the remaining people you would have to sacrifice that one person.
With this conclude my essay. A leader should be cool-headed and must be able to work under stress. He/she must think about the people he/she is leading. Without these traits, he/she is not qualified to lead.
Sources:
http://www.selectbooks.com.sg/getTitle.aspx?SBNum=046679
http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96jan/king.html
Quote taken from Martin Luther King Jr.
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