Famous Leader - Margaret Thatcher EX-Prime Minister of Great Britain - Essay Example

Critical Essay on Famous Leader -Margaret Thatcher EX-Prime Minister of Great Britain Institution: Introduction During her tenure as the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Margaret Thatcher was constantly singled out for her leadership. Thatcher exemplified a multitude of proper leadership traits, behaviors and skills, which further echoed the superiority of her leadership. People often described Thatcher using terms such as decisive, determined, iron willed and confident. These terms typify Thatcher’s inherent leadership traits, thereby, affirming the trait theory of leadership. “Trait theory of leadership differentiates a leader from a non-leader by concentrating on the individual’s inherent characteristics and qualities” (Northouse, 2012, p. 65). Thatcher further demonstrated numerous behaviors that distinguished her from other leaders. These behaviors included a desire to lead, integrity, intelligence, job related knowledge and self confidence. Although the trait theory of leadership is a viable approach to people’s leadership attributes, the approach has certain limitations, for instance, there are no collective traits, which envisage leadership under all situations. Traits essentially foretell people’s behaviors, particularly in the context of adverse situations rather than constructive situations. Such limitations have pushed researchers to advocate the consideration of alternative leadership theories. This paper will examine Margaret Thatcher’s leadership traits, skills and behaviors in the context of the traits theory of leadership. Traits theory posits that qualities associated with leadership subsist in vast quantities and individuals continually produce these features. Margaret Thatcher’s Leadership Characteristics Thatcher exhibited a multitude of personality traits, particularly with regard to her political persona. These traits typify Thatcher as an effective leader who managed to navigate British politics, which is quite a cut-throat world. Leadership Traits “Effective leaders are individuals with the distinct capacity to express themselves logically and fully” (Northouse, 2012, p. 101). These leaders also appreciate what they desire, why they call for it, and how to share their requirements to others so as to gain their support and cooperation. Effective leaders also have the capacity to appreciate how they can attain their objectives. Leadership traits or qualities differentiate leaders from followers. Thatcher had the aforementioned characteristics, which differentiated her as an effective leader. Some of Thatcher’s most notable leadership traits include courage and resolution, self-confidence and decisiveness. Thatcher’s courage was evidenced by her throwing herself into politics; a male dominated field in which women were not welcomed. Thatcher showed courage and resolution through her single-minded passion to fight off her opposition. Notably, Thatcher had the drive to confront her enemies. Thatcher also demonstrated exceptional conviction and confidence, which enabled her to remain in power. In the course of Thatcher’s premiership, Britain’s unemployment rates rose rapidly. However, Thatcher’s conviction allowed her to offer persuasive arguments, for instance, that a tightly-bound economy would offer future benefits. The mammoth patriotic enthusiasm that followed Thatcher facilitated her persuasive tendencies. Thatcher’s conviction further exemplified her decisiveness. She did not follow multitudes but rather made her own decisions and stuck to her choices. This decisiveness is primarily notable in Thatcher’s successful repulsion of Falkland Islands by Argentina. Thatcher’s decisiveness is also evident from her introduction of an internal market to the nation’s health care sector. Thatcher was a notable champion of capitalism and free markets. Leadership Skills Thatcher had many leadership skills through which she engaged with her followers. Notably, she had transformative skills as she always engaged her followers in processes of superior levels of morality and motivation. She had the ability to make her followers feel valued by attracting them to model her attitude and values. Thatcher had a lot of charisma as she often sacrificed her self-interests for the wellbeing of both her followers and party. Thatcher constantly used her intellectual ability to encourage new ways of thinking strategically. Thatcher’s leadership skills also encompassed her ability to communicate clearly and concisely (Davies & Mian, 2010). She communicated her concise vision with her party and followers effectively and articulated viable strategies to achieve her vision. Her effective communication skills motivated and inspired her followers to perform their functions well beyond Thatcher’s expectations. Leadership Behaviors Leaders’ behaviors, especially towards their followers, demonstrate the leaders’ effectiveness or ineffectiveness. Leaders’ behaviors are always viable indicators of their leadership abilities. Numerous behavioral patterns make up leadership styles, which are an integral part of leadership. Thatcher’s behaviors exemplified her leadership capacity. Her style of leadership was one that helped her remain in power. It also allowed Thatcher to attain heights that no other British woman had attained in the nation’s political arena. Firstly, Thatcher had immense concern for people as she considered her followers’ needs, problems, development and interests. Notably, Thatcher did not consider her followers as merely means to an end. For instance, she brought changes to the health sector, which proved beneficial to Britain. Thatcher also showed concern for tasks by emphasizing the attainment of concrete objectives such as ensuring gender parity in UK’s institutions. Thatcher sought excellence in Britain and organized initiatives to attain these objectives (Shamir, 1995). Lastly, Thatcher upheld participative leadership as she invited other policy makers in decision making processes. Thatcher’s people-centeredness and participative behaviors brought immense satisfaction to her followers.    Margaret Thatcher’s Success As the PM of Great Britain, Thatcher showed impressive leadership skills, behaviors and traits that resulted in her success as a politician in the male-dominated arena. Thatcher’s leadership abilities allowed her to reconstruct Britain’s economic, social and political atmosphere through the provision of direction to the country during her three terms as Britain’s Prime Minister. Her leadership style showed that she did not merely want to win but also achieve satisfaction. This was through winning both publicly and dramatically, and crushing her opposition in the process. The UK was not especially friendly towards female politicians (Shamir, 1995). After the Second World War, female politicians only accounted for approximately four percent of the membership of Britain’s House of Commons. Still, by the late 1980s, this figure had not exceeded 6%. However, the feminist movement gave leeway for women to gain a voice in the political atmosphere. Despite the meager membership of women in UK politics, Thatcher was quite successful. This success was primarily as a result of her aggressive leadership approach. Thatcher considered effective leadership as vigorous and thorough, but, not extremely authoritarian. Thatcher was successful because of her dominant leadership style, which encompassed a perfectionist desire to control and to remain determined and brisk. Thatcher was also personally engaged in her leadership and, more often than not, merged her political persona with her personal life. For instance, her personal involvement was evident when the wife of Norman Tebbit, the Trade and Industry Secretary, was paralyzed by a bomb in Brighton. In addition, Thatcher was quite unwavering in her decision making and ensured she attained her objectives. She also had impressive planning skills as she used financial, economic and human resources to plan strategies actively and enthusiastically to achieve her objectives. For instance, Thatcher worked enthusiastically towards her stated goal to push a complete Argentina surrender and strategically planned attacks that pushed Argentina to surrender. Moreover, not even the death of British militants made her deviate from her stated decisions and goals to defeat Argentinean forces. In essence, Thatcher’s strong leadership ability allowed her to excel in the Falkland’s War test as she utilized her powerful beliefs to attain her goals (Genovese, 2009). Application to Leadership Theories Thatcher’s leadership approach is quantifiable to the traits theory of leadership. Thatcher exemplified a multitude of superior leadership qualities during her stint as Great Britain’s Prime Minister. Trait theory effectively differentiates Thatcher as an effective leader. Thatcher’s leadership approach quantifies traits theory since the leader showed a variety of attributes linked to proper leadership under the aforementioned theory. These attributes include ambition, a strong desire to lead, self confidence, and integrity, relevant knowledge to the job at hand, energy and enthusiasm. These are some of the traits, which the trait theory of leadership posits that effective leaders should possess, and notably, Thatcher possessed these traits, using them effectively to motivate her followers to adopt her values and standards (Davies & Mian, 2010). Thatcher’s style of constant self monitoring further demonstrates her effectiveness in the use of traits theory of leadership. “Trait theory of leadership upholds leaders with the capacity to evaluate their leadership styles and establish more effective styles than their existing approaches” (Northouse, 2012, p. 115). Thatcher demonstrated constant self evaluations as she routinely fortified her stances on different issues. Thatcher also exemplified high levels of flexibility as she integrated the ideas and beliefs of other leaders in her decision making. Notably, Thatcher was a directive leader who did not appreciate the input of other people, both in her party, as well as from her followers. However, Thatcher’s directive leadership involved her taking decisions on behalf of other people and requiring them to adhere to her directives. She had the ability to speak to the needs of her followers and effect strategies to ensure that these needs were met effectively. Furthermore, Thatcher demonstrated the capacity to navigate the aggressive world of British politics. She exerted power over the British cabinet, allowing for the achievement of her objectives and stated goals. Notably, Thatcher was an Iron Lady who demonstrated authoritarianism in her autocratic leadership. Similar to other autocratic leaders, Thatcher strove for power and authority and was controlling in nature. Generally, Thatcher exemplified the trait theory of leadership since her leadership approach involved the establishment of concise decisions and strategies to achieve the set goals. Reasons for Margaret Thatcher’s Leadership Success Thatcher’s leadership approach was successful for her, particularly considering that she was elected as Britain’s Prime Minister for three consecutive terms. Thatcher’s success in British politics is undeniable and her name is often used in reference to a certain way of thinking i.e. Thatcherism. Her approach to politics was successful, since, although she was not typically an original thinker, she had the skills to convey other people’s original thoughts as hers. Her effective communication allowed her to exert power and authority on her followers and the cabinet in a manner that appealed to all persons and satisfied everybody. Her authoritarianism allowed her to transform old ideas into effective operations that achieved beneficial goals for the entire British population (Genovese, 2009). Thatcher’s leadership style also proved successful since her transformative abilities allowed her to save Britain from the brink of disaster in the late 1970s. When Thatcher gained leadership of the Conservative Party in the year 1975, Britain was on the edge of disaster, which threatened to cripple the entire nation into bankruptcy. However, her strategic decision making capabilities allowed her to steer Great Britain to achieve economic success, as well as a fully ordered society. This achievement was quite momentous considering that Thatcher was the only female Prime Minister in the country’s history. Thatcher’s overall success as a leader emanated from her superior combination of qualities. This helped her to win two landslide elections and a third term in office. Her decisiveness, which was part of her leadership style, fortified her stature in British politics. Her approach also encompassed courage to make out an opportunity and take it. In addition to her strong leadership capacity, Thatcher had clear beliefs, which enhanced her crusading qualities embedded in her strong Methodist background. She gave moral purpose to whatever she did and involved her high intellectual ability to achieve her objectives (Davies & Mian, 2010). Her unyielding strength and intelligence allowed Thatcher to turn any disadvantage into a powerful weapon. She turned Argentina’s attack on Falkland into an opportunity to demonstrate Britain’s military prowess. Summary Margaret Thatcher was a strong leader whose strong beliefs and clarity of though in decision making allowed her to remain relevant in the cut-throat environment of British politics. Thatcher exemplified the traits approach to leadership as she possessed valuable qualities, which reinforced her leadership style. Thatcher’s leadership is today the subject of leadership teachings. The former British Prime Minister had a multitude of valuable traits, which included, among others, decisiveness, self confidence, resolution and conviction, as well as determination (Genovese, 2009). This paper has provided a link between trait theory of leadership and Thatcher’s leadership style. Trait theory distinguishes leaders from non-leaders by demonstrating the leaders’ inherent qualities, skills and behaviors. Thatcher showed considerable ambition, concern for people’s wellbeing and profound knowledge of her tasks as Great Britain’s Prime Minister. In essence, traits theory of leadership demonstrates that qualities of effective leadership are either learned or inherited. These qualities exist in immense amounts and individuals constantly produce these qualities through learning (Davies & Mian, 2010). References Davies, G., & Mian, T. (2010). The reputation of the party leader and of the party being led. European Journal of Marketing, 44(3/4), 331-350. Genovese, M. A. (2009). Women in power: The personalities and leadership styles of Indira Gandhi, Golda Meir, and Margaret Thatcher. Political Psychology, 30(2), 327-329. Northouse, P. G. (2012). Leadership: Theory and practice (6th ed.). California: Sage Publications. Shamir, B. (1995). Social distance and charisma: Theoretical notes and an exploratory study. The Leadership Quarterly, 6(1), 19-47. Read More