Leadership as Potrayed by Henry V - Essay Example

? LEADERSHIP AS POTRAYED BY HENRY V by Introduction The rulers of a nation play a great role, especially when it comes to the chances of winning a war for a country. The leader of a country, whether a king or queen can have a lot of power when it comes to instilling things such as confidence in the forces that are involved in the overcoming of the obstacles that come along their ways. It is these inspirational characteristics that present themselves in the identification or the creation of a leader that is charismatic. In the play Henry V by Shakespeare, as it can be deducted, Henry is one of those great leaders with the necessary skills as well as characteristics to lead his country to war against France, although he started the war. Henry V’s oral skills as a leader The study of the works that Henry V carried out as well as the words that he uttered teach how vital good oratory skills are when it comes to being a good leader. In addition to the oral skills that Henry V posses we see that he posses more in terms of his leadership qualities. Some of the other positive leadership qualities that we see Henry V posses include the ability that many of the leaders do not have, which is the ability to socialize as well as identify with the common man as well as high levels of morality and the determination which as an overall combination with the determination that he posses made him one of the great leaders. The quality of the way that Henry presents his words is amazing, which can be largely attributed to the fact that he can change rhetoric styles to suit the mood that is in demand in terms of what the audience wants to hear to act in the ways that he wants. An example of the latter statement includes some of the instances whereby we see that he has to persuade his men that he is one of them and that there is a bong between him and them that can only exist between brothers. The use of the rhetoric styles that King Henry uses in times that his men are in the need to hear them most bring them to a mood as well as an atmosphere that brings them back to their sense of focus. To create a sort of bond between him and his men, w sees that Henry comes to the use of words such as ‘yours’ and ‘our’. As per the oral skills of Henry, it is evident that a lot of literature skills can be learned when studying the aspects as well as the words of great leaders such as Henry V (Sucher, 2007) Rhetoric skills of a leader As per the context of Shakespeare, we see that Henry has rhetorical skills that can be termed as excellent. Just as any leader who may be termed as great, we see that Henry v not only posses the rhetorical skills, but he also uses them in inspiring the men that are going to war with him before the battle. One of the things that he does before the war inspires his men to go out and fight with determination as well as passion, although they are worn out as well as weak with the odds that presented themselves being impossible in the battle of Agincourt. Despite these challenges, we see that Henry V is still able to uplift the moods as well as inspire the men, who are facing the challenges and odds with him (Loehlin, 2000). Henry V- A leader as a common man One of the things that made Henry V a great leader is the detail mentioned earlier about the ability of a chosen leader to be able to relate as well as be humble enough to listen to the common citizen as well as have respect for them. All the latter mentioned capabilities are all in the possession of Henry V and he uses them well as the text show in the period of the year 1415 before the Agincourt battle. We see that Henry V takes a disguise as an ordinary soldier as he moves about in the camp in a quiet manner whereas giving courage to the men that were about to go to war with him. One of the things that makes Henry a great leader in contrast to many other leaders of the day then and today include the ability of being able to connect as well as exchange ideas with the ordinary men in contrast to what many leaders do, which is staying as well as being a leader who is remote as well as distant. Some of the results that arise as a result of the way that he rules include the un-commanded respect as well as loyalty as we can see from the comments that they make, which include, ‘The king is a good king’ (Chastain, 2004). Henry V as a leader that suites the situation In the position of leadership that King Henry is in, one of the qualities that are vital for any leader to have are those of morality as well as overall social justice. One of the things that we can deduct from the way that Henry talks to his fellow soldiers as well as the way that he acts, is that he can be considered as a man of social conscience as well as a man who is strict when it comes to following his principles. The latter is evidenced when Henry decides to murder all his friends that come to a conclusion to betray him despite the memories that they shared as well as the feelings that were there. This as per the times as well as the situation that all the soldiers were in can be considered as acting in a manner that is fair and just. Relationship between the leader and the people he serves From the play, one of the things that suffices is that Henry was not a king who was preferred as well as respected by many, but he was also a leader who was good and who had the best interests at heart for his people. The above is evident when we see that he is able as well as willing to create a relationship between his fellow soldiers with the creation of an atmosphere that can be considered to be strongly patriotic. In terms of the situation that the King Henry as well as his subject is in terms of the odds and the whole fear creating an atmosphere of war. Henry is best suited because despite the knowledge that he knew that the odds were 5 against 1 in favor of France, he was still able to instill a lot of fear in them. The latter was achieved with the use of frightful images of his enemies such as, ‘Naked infants spitted upon spikes. The use of such imagery spread a lot of fear into the enemies who were surrendering consequently. This is one of the few demonstrations as to how great and powerful the rhetoric of Henry was (Cowper, 2010). Conclusion A conclusion can be arrived at that a view of Henry V as the king and that of Henry V as a king alongside his abilities to be able to almost instantly enthuse and influence his followers for his purposes with the combination of the performances of acts that he delivers are some of the things that made him a great leader as well as a great man. One of the things that are hard to determine from the play is what kind of man that Henry V really is due to the fact that his performances fluctuated from time to time depending on what the soldiers wanted to hear. Henry V would at times be hopeful, passionate as well as capable, which is a character that suits him in that he in himself is a challenge to any person that comes to have an encounter with him. Reference list Sucher, S J, 2007, The moral leader: challenges, tools and insights, London, Wagner L, 2005, Leading Up Transformational Leadership for Fundraisers, Hoboken, John Chastain, E, 2004, Shakespear, New York, NY, Sparknotes. Cowper M., & Turner G, 2010, Henry V: leadership, strategy, conflict, Oxford, Osprey. Loehlin, J N, 2000, Henry, Manchester, Manchester Univ. Press. https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxxaNDobUFDbcXA3VEpKYzZsWFE/edit?usp=drive_web https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxxaNDobUFDbRlM3X0t0U2kxamM/edit?usp=drive_web https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxxaNDobUFDbTWN5ODhfQ1EtUkU/edit?usp=drive_web https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxxaNDobUFDbTVA2LTdlc2JnZUE/edit?usp=drive_web Read More