Discussion
President Dwight Eisenhover was the 34rd president of America and one of the most successful presidents to ever lead. He has been known to portray certain charismatic qualities that distinguish him from many other leaders in the world. These qualities are written by Philip Ernest (2001) and we are going to look at them to know why he became very effective and successful during his time as the preside
First and foremost, he was a good team leader. He learned this when he was a football coach and when he led the allied army in Europe, he is said to succeed in bringing together British and American generals together to work as a team. He motivated them to work together since he knew that solidarity and unity is the only way of succeeding because everyone feels part and parcel of the program.
The second quality that he had was that he believed in doing his best. He believed in doing more than the expected work. He insisted in doing the good work however little it may seem to be since this is a basis of greater work ahead. He is a president who believed in keeping his word. Every promise that he made it was fulfilled and this made him gain credit as a faithful president.
The fourth quality is that he knew his priorities and what he was expected to do for his country. He is said to have told his wife that she was number two after his country America. For that reason, he was able to devote a lot for the better of the American people making him famous and very successful.
John Kennedy shares a lot in common with President Dwight. He also saw the need for working as a team, doing more than you are asked to do, showing compassion and being a good communicator. However, as Philip Ernest (2000) records, President Kennedy had other profound qualities that include the following.
First, he learnt that it is good to make a mistake but at the same time learn from it to avoid future havoc. This was demonstrated when Russia was planning to explode a missile in Cuba. This according to him was a loop hole in his government which he worked out later on. He is said to have had a direct telephone call from White House and Moscow so as to see them stop the intended act. He also took that opportunity to sign a treaty meant to end nuclear tests on the planet earth.
Kennedy worked on the principle of setting a good example by becoming a good role model. He was apparently a smoker but many people did not know that. He smoked in private so that he could se good example especially to the youths who would be influenced to smoking if he happened to do it in public.
He believed in setting of high goals by sharing of a vision. In his speech of 1960, he told the Americans not to be satisfied by their then status quo but instead look at the gaps that needed to be filled in addressing the challenges that the world faced and also seek to answer many questions that remained unanswered. During the same speech, he told the Americans that they have to send people to the moon before the end of that decade. He was indeed a great motivator.
On the importance of direct leadership, this was first demonstrated by President Dwight who believed that delegating what a leader is supposed to do is not advisable. The leader should take full responsibility in doing all that is expected of them without directing it to the subordinates who might not do the work as expected.
Direct leadership involves face to face interactions with subordinates. The message passed by them becomes what the leader intended. The importance of this is that the leader is able to influence those that he leads since he becomes part of them and feels what they are going through and therefore during the formulation of the policies the leader will be inclined to support those that touch the people.
Another importance of direct leadership is that other effective leaders are born. This is because they have a chance to observe what the direct leaders do and for that they are able to also borrow from the example set for them.
Direct leaders are able to notice very quickly when the system is not working, how things work and how to address such problems (milum.net).They are held responsible for the outcome and therefore they are very keen on the policies that they adapt. This makes them very careful while leading.
Conclusion
Following the above discussion, it is important that the leaders work directly for the welfare of the people being held accountable for everything that they do. They will be motivated to change the tactics of their leadership styles for the benefit of the society in general.
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