What makes a great leader?
 

What makes a great leader? Action, or no action. I think it's a good question and a lot of people have different ideas about what a leader should and shouldn't do.

My dad always told me Clinton was a good President because he didn't do too much. Left things alone for the most part. If it ain't broke, don't fix it... right? (I'm waiting for some moron to mention the dot com boom while forgetting the dot com bomb.)

I personally disagree. I think a leader should be active and try making changes "for the better". Sometimes things work out, sometimes they obviously don't. Some leaders are much more active than others, while other leaders make poor decisions.

What I really find interesting is conservatives are usually considered... well, conservative. Traditionally they don't like too much change, are comfortable with the way things are... why fix something that isn't broke?

And liberals are usually the opposite. More "open minded". Willing to embrace change and try new things. Action makes things happen.

What, in your mind, makes a good leader?

look at it this way...
clinton didnt do shit, got voted in for a second term..
bush.. well... fuck him. his career is over

clinton was a good president for himself in that he was a survivor, the teflon man, but was terrible for the country.



The key thing is conviction. The ability to do what is right even if it hurts your popularity. Bush and Reagan are an example. They stick to their view and dont budge off it. Alot of the euro countries dont like bush because he isnt a pushover. He gets what he wants and if he dosent he tells them to :321GFY

This is subjective, of course but I'd say appearing confident, having a plan, and saying what people need to hear especially in a crisis.

People have had great ideas and no one listened to them. The idea waited until someone else popularized it. Those people can't be considered great leaders.

Other people have had horrible ideas and people listened to them. Are they great leaders? Is Jim Jones a Great leader? David Koresh? Charles Manson? Adolph Hitler?

Leaders create followers by definition. But what if followers are created coercively? What if people follow someone to their doom?

Sometimes systems and situations systematically create leaders. George Bush had a 50% approval rating before September 11 and was viewed as a great leader for a while after that (he is since back to being normal). Kennedy became viewed as a great leader during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Both Bush and Kennedy in these situations did lead. They said the right things, spoke tough, appeared confident, and charted plans.

A good leader looks out for their followers and will not focus on what is best for themself only. They have their followers best interest in mind when making important decisions. If a good leader is defined as someone who doesn't fix what's not broken, then that's also someone who accepts situations for what they are and never wants to improve anything, mainly because it will effect THEM too greatly.

Ignorance is bliss, until catastrophe strikes and then all the leader's followers are infuriated, which leads to the followers blaming the leader for what went wrong.

Remember the story of the grasshopper or whatever insect it was, that didn't want to work, but instead wanted to lounge around and when winter came, he was starving and cold? Point being, postponing the inevitable only leads to being unprepared and vulnerable to tragedy.

A leader is supposed to set an example. Just like a boss, manager, supervisor... whatever is supposed to set an example for employees and keep things in line. If it was acceptable to not take action and treat situations with diplomacy, nothing would ever get done or improve.

People do not like Bush, because he is playing the role of the strict parent that enforce rules, where as Clinton was the cool big brother, that let you and others get away with murder... literally.

I'm not sure who you mean by "people do not like Bush". Half of Americans approve of his job performance. Maybe you only refer to non-Americans.

War is always controversial. At one point 47% of Americans disapproved of the Kosovo airstrikes which is greater disapproval than the war in Iraq.

I believe that a good leader is someone that makes people go in the way he or she wants because people believe in his ideas.

I have no oppinon on this.
Just raising my post count.

A good leader steps up takes control of a situation. People listen when he speaks, and they are not even sure why. It's just a repsect thing, some people have the persona where they just get respect. When they do something people take note, understand, learn, and grow.

When I say "people", I am referring to the people that do not like Bush. Not every person, just the ones that disapprove.