The Leadership Visions of John Muir and Hugh Hammond Bennett - Case Study Example

A comparative analysis of the leadership visions, abilities, traits, and styles of two environmental leaders, John Muir and Hugh Hammond Bennett, toprovide the basis for rating each one’s overall effectiveness as a leader in the natural resources field. Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION Introduction to the Project Environmental protection and conservation of the Earth’s meager resources has become one of the major global issues. On one hand nations have been debating the pros and cons of conservation with respect to their economic progress. On the other hand, leaders like John Muir and Hugh Hammond Bennett have been helping in generating public awareness about the disasters caused by rapid deforestation and misuse of our natural resources. Environmental leaders like these two have been raging battles against the destruction of our mountains, pollution of our rivers, soil erosion – and their career have been marked by great achievements in the form public opinion and finally governmental legislations. There has been a long succession of leaders who have generated public opinion on matters related to preserving the world’s natural resources and have made it possible to slow down the detrimental onslaught of development that threatens the stability of our eco-system. John Muir and Hugh Hammond Bennett rank prominently among such leaders who have left a legacy for the environmentalists to follow. As an environmental enthusiast and as someone who has a passion for conservation, I have always been fascinated by the people who have contributed towards creating awareness about the issues related to the environment. John Muir inspires me to write on his achievements because he is “the man” who is responsible for today’s modern conservation movements. I find his story fascinating. He had a life overflowing with adventure, making numerous sojourns to the mountains, deserts and forests with the aim of exploring the beauty of nature. As an enthusiastic environmentalist, he has a large number of conservation projects to his credit (Ecology Hall of Fame, n.d.). Hugh Hammond Bennett is another very interesting man who lived his life to show how soil erosion was affecting every aspect of the nation. He is described as “the Father of Soil Conservation.” He was the first head of the Soil Erosion Service, and worked tirelessly mapping the country’s different soils and the problems that were causing erosion (Cook, n.d.). The following project gives me a chance to elaborate upon the achievements of these two great leaders. While elaborating and comparing their work and life, I also hope to be able to highlight the traits, skills, and abilities that contribute to the making of great environmental leaders. This project will also help me in highlighting the visions and the leadership styles of these two people. By doing this exercise, I hope to be able to place the John Muir and Hammond on a scale that successfully rates them as environmental leaders. Thesis Statement A comparative analysis of the leadership visions, abilities, traits, and styles of two environmental leaders, John Muir and Hugh Hammond Bennett, provides the basis for rating each one’s overall effectiveness as a leader in the natural resources field. Subject Overview The research is expected to bring out the different leadership qualities of the two environmental leaders, John Muir and Hugh Hammond Bennett. There is a vast amount of literature available elaborating the leadership traits that are successful in leading employees within a formal organization. However, leading an informal movement, like the ones that John Muir and Hugh Hammond Bennett led, may be an all together different task. It is expected make an interesting study to find out what qualities and traits help in such semi-formal/informal movements and how do these leaders get support from common people and communities. John Muir had been a naturalist since his teenage days while working on his father’s farm Wisconsin (Ecology Hall of Fame, n.d.). Technically inclined, he had divided time in inventing gadgets and in learning about the natural environment. His love of nature led him to Yosemite, where he started familiarizing himself with the beautiful terrain. His knowledge of the region made him an entertaining guide to people who visited Yosemite, thus bringing him in contact with several prominent and influential personalities like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Robert Underwood Johnson, editor of Century magazine. (Muir, 1913) Muir started writing about the beauty of the mountains and in his articles he stressed about the need to preserve them. Muir’s ability to make friends and allys of people that he met, helped him in influencing the government to create a National Park and save the mountains from the destructive grazing of the sheep. He was also successful in staring the Sierra Club that helped the common people to participate in the preservation of the region. Under his guidance the Sierra Club grew support conservation and preservation of endangered regions all over the United States of America. (Ecology Hall of Fame, n.d.) Hugh Hammond, though coming from an entirely different background from that of Muir, was also a highly successful leader. Born and brought up on his father’s plantation in North Carolina, Hugh learnt the importance of soil conservation from his father. Graduating from the North Carolina University, Hugh was offered the job of carrying out soil surveys for the government. It was during his work as a Soil Scientist that Hugh started learning about the different types of soils of his country, a knowledge that was going to help him greatly in his later years as an environmental leader. (Cook, n.d.) Before becoming an active crusader for soil conservation, Bennett continued to carry out intensive and painstaking surveys and writing articles about the menace of soil erosion. His repeated attempts at getting his department, and the government involved in taking active measures for soil conservation were however not fruitful. His patience and dedication led to the publishing of the Lauderdale report that led to setting up a program for saving the soil of Lauderdale County, Mississippi from erosion. Next, he completed a report on Fairfield County, South Carolina, and also another report on Stewart County, Georgia, which he thought would shock the authorities and the public alike into doing something about the issue. (Cook, n.d.) Repeated failures at getting the expected response from the public or the government, made Hugh modify his efforts. Understanding that soil erosion was not an interesting topic for most people, he started talking about land management instead and thus hoped to get people’s attention directed slowly towards soil erosion. He also started writing for other organizations like the Southern Forestry Association. These organizations were more acceptable of his ideas on soil conservation. He also extended his writing to publish articles in popular magazines like Nature and the American Game. (Cook, n.d.) Hugh had the ability to form lasting relationships and used it to make friends with fellow soil scientists, who provided valuable help to him time and again. Additionally, Hugh spent his time in befriending the local people and guiding them to set up their small-scale soil conservation programs. His contacts within the State governments and the local authorities helped him in creating awareness for using control measures for soil erosion. He was successful in obtaining a large grant from the government to carry out extensive research on soil erosion. Hugh’s efforts paid off when ten erosion stations were established in various parts of the country. (Cook, n.d.) His great administrative skills helped him in establishing and running the Soil Erosion Services in 1933. (Larson, 2005). Hugh undertook the big task of organizing large demonstration projects that displayed a variety of soil conservation measures. A task of this scale called upon Hugh’s communication skills and his ability to work in teams. The effort was a great success with the local farming communities and also grabbed the attention of the public. It was with the dedicated efforts of Hugh that various legislations, like The Soil Conservation Act came into existence. (Larson, 2005). He was also among the few people who realized the importance of taking the help of the farmers in conserving soil. His vision of getting the nation involved in an effort of soil conservation is still an inspiration for the environmentalist. Project Description The project will comprise of two parts. At the onset, I will do an exhaustive literature survey and collect data from journals, newspaper records and websites. I will also be taking into consideration the various articles, and books written about the life and work of the two subjects, and material that has already assessed their leadership qualities. I will also interview several park rangers at Yosemite on their opinion about the qualities required for being a great environmental leader, and about their thoughts on John Muir and Hugh Hammond Bennett. The literature will then form the basis of my comparative analysis of the leadership styles, abilities and traits of the two leaders. This comparative analysis is not aimed at establishing who, between these two environmentalists, comes out as a better leader. Instead, by a comparative analysis, I expect to bring out the different leadership traits and abilities that these two leaders possessed. This way I hope to gain insight and highlight the various leadership qualities and traits that can help in leading and guiding people in tasks of environmental protection and soil conservation. Nature of the Project The comparative analysis will be done with the frame of reference as the historical and biographical information. The frame of reference provides the context within which the two subjects can be compared (Walk, 1998). The available literature will be reviewed for extracting those instances in the lives of the two men that display their leadership abilities. The research will be carried out using a text-by-text comparison of the two leaders. This means that I will discuss and elaborate upon the leadership styles, vision and ability of one of the subjects at a time. The nature of the study is going to be qualitative, and the analysis will be based on data collected from books, journals, websites and interviews of the park rangers of Yosemite. It is assumed that the information collected would be adequate and relevant to assessing the leadership qualities of the two subjects. A comparative analysis, by studying the achievements of the two leaders, would be done keeping in mind their different areas of operations, the different regions that they were involved with and the different political climate that they survived in and the difference in the attitudes of the people of the region. Scope of the Project The comparative analysis is expected to reveal valuable insights into the contributions made by the two leaders towards the cause of environmental protection. It will therefore serve as a collection of the various achievements of these two great leaders, and will provide guiding information for future researchers. Further, comparing the two leaders on their leadership styles, abilities and visions is expected to bring to the forefront the leadership qualities that are necessary for leading an environmental movement. A contrast and comparison of the different approaches of the two leaders would help in underscoring the more important abilities or skills – which are given more weightage than others – in the fight for conservation. This may in turn help other scholars and researchers to formulate future research that tests these qualities in a more detailed manner. Further, practitioners of environmental movement may draw inspiration from the exhaustive data that on the lives and achievements of the two leaders that my thesis is expected to gather. In addition, the modern day environmentalists can streamline and strengthen their efforts by adopting the most effective leadership styles, as highlighted by my project. Goals/Purpose of the Project To carry out a comparative analysis of two environmental leaders – John Muir and Hugh Hammond Bennet in order to - 1. Present a holistic picture of John Muir and Hugh Hammond Bennet as environmental leaders. 2. Highlight the factors, abilities, traits and styles that make effective environmental leaders Significance of the Project With the increase in world population and the need for providing for the billions of people, we have been putting excessive strain on our natural resources. The debate for protecting our environment Vs development has been gaining momentum from the last century. Now, more than ever beore, it is an urgent need that we understand the importance of balanced and sustainable development and push for conservation. This project is highly significant as it intends to bring to the forefront the various details of the environmental movement, as spearheaded by two great environmentalists of the 19th century. The project will lead me to develop a better understanding of how common people can be made to get involve in conservation and environmental protection. In this manner, I hope to be able to utilize my learnings in my future job, that I hope to take up in the environmental field. References 1. Ecology Hall of Fame: John Muir, 1828-1914. A brief biography. (n.d). Retrieved June 26, 2008, from http://www.ecotopia.org/ehof/muir/bio.html 2. Cook, M. G. (n.d.). Hugh Hammond Bennett: The father of soil conservation. Retrieved June 26, 2008, from http://www.soil.ncsu.edu/about/century/hugh.html 3. Muir, J. 1913. The Story of My Beloved Youth. Kessinger Publishing. 1913. 4. Walk, K.1998. “How to Write a Comparative Analysis” for the Writing Center at Harvard University. 5. Larson, W. E. 2005. “Hugh Hammond Bennett (1881 – 1960) American Soil Conservationist’. Environmental Encyclopedia. Read More