What Is Leadership?

What Is Leadership? Leadership is such a broad and general topic. Often times, we view people that were great leaders as those who have done much good, such as Jesus Christ, George Washington, Joseph Smith, and many others. However, there have been many effective leaders that have left those they led in bad situations.

One such example is Adolf Hitler. Many people would not consider him a great leader, but think about what he accomplished. Following World War I, Germany was poor, depressed, and were being forced to pay massive reparations to the English and French. In a relatively short period of time, Hitler rose through the ranks, established the Nazi Party as the major party, gained a Legislative majority, and got the support of the German people. He was smart in the way he went about gaining power, but with the wrong motivations. He played off of fear, and this became a constant theme of his reign. Germans were too afraid to oppose him, so consequently when he began the systematic murder of the Jews, Gypsies, and the mentally handicapped, no one stood in his way. Also, Hitler was very secretive about his leadership role. While it was a well known fact that Hitler hated the Jews, the Holocaust and many other aspects of the government were kept quiet. These are not the qualities of a great leader. No where in history have I found an example of Adolf Hitler demonstrating the Christlike model of leadership, instead, he invented his own model for leadership, which is the complete opposite of that of the Savior.

A stark contrast to Adolf Hitler, is George Washington. As I look over the list of leadership attributes (good morals, caring, Christlike, competent, influence, inspiring, charismatic, listener, humble, vision, service, etc.), there is not one that I believe George Washington does not embody. Probably the most remarkable thing about Washington's leadership is that he had no desire to lead. At the start of the Revolutionary War, when offered the position of Commander in Chief of the Continental Army, Washington was very reluctant, and only accepted, out of his country's need for his service, not out of pride. Upon the surrender of the British at Yorktown, he immediately gave up the position. What an amazing thing! He surely could have become King if he wanted to. He cleverly stated, "I did not spend the previous years fighting against King George III to become King George I."

I will apply this to my role as Quorum President by seeking to serve others, and be a humble leader. It is important that I not be prideful about a title, but that I serve purely because that is what I've been called to do.