An Introduction to Social Psychology

Chapter 34: The Qualities of Leaders

Luther Lee Bernard

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THE SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF LEADERSHIP— The chief essential to leadership is always to be able to focus the attention of a group of people upon a common object of interest to them or to attach their interest, by a process of conditioning, to something which previously did not appeal to them. Sometimes the task is to make them realize or believe that they have this interest with regard to some form of behavior or object of attention and at other times it is the problem of getting them to respond effectively to that interest as a stimulus. Or it may be both. This focusing of the attention of individuals upon a single common object of interest may thus involve the creation of a new group, or it may merely call for the concentration of the behavior of an existing group upon some common interest in the most economical manner possible to produce the most favorable results in the light of the end set up.

TWO METHODS OF APPEAL— In performing this function the leader may find it advantageous either to concentrate the attention of the group upon himself and his behavior or upon some behavior objective or abstract value outside of himself. Which plan he should follow will depend largely upon his purpose or aim and the quality of his followers. If personal advancement is his motive, or if the intellectual quality of the members of the group averages low, or if the results sought can best be attained by emotional appeal without burdening the followers with too detailed an intellectual analysis of the aims and objectives of the movement, it is usually advisable to appeal to the trust and confidence of the group in the prowess, power, capacity, or good intentions of the leader and thus secure the support and personal loyalty of his followers to himself. This loyalty and support he can usually transfer with little difficulty to the end which he has caused to be associated

(529) in their minds with his own personality. But the higher the intellectual and moral grade of those who are to be directed by the leader and the less he aims at self-advancement and the more he seeks the promotion of some important cause or movement worthy of support in itself, the more likely the leader is to make himself merely tangential to the cause he represents. He will keep the realization of the objective set constantly in their view by all the devices of which he is master, bringing himself into the situation only when he finds that some dramatic element or appeal to personal loyalty will be more effective for the time being. Between these two extremes of leadership there are many gradations, and it is in the intervening ground that most leadership practice naturally falls. But leadership of crowds and direct contact groups is most likely to involve the former methods, while leadership of publics or of indirect contact groups may frequently employ the latter procedures.

THE TASK of THE LEADER IS COMPLEX— In exercising the function of leadership it is not necessary always to secure uniformity of response of all of the followers to the same stimuli. It is not even necessary that all should respond equally or at all to the same stimuli. Only in the simpler tasks of collective behavior and achievement is the situation likely to have that degree of unity which will call forth the same type of response from every one to the same stimuli. This sort of uniform collective response might possibly occur in a small band hunting under a leader or in loading a heavy piece of machinery on a truck or in defending some limited position against an enemy group. But it will readily be seen that even in such simple instances some differentiation of effort will be necessary in order to perform the collective task efficiently. Even in simple cases where a leader seeks to get a group to vote as a unit for the same candidate, which is essentially a uniform type of response, stimuli must be varied in order to reach different types of people who have different experiences and therefore different preconceptions and values,

In the more complex tasks and in the larger and more populous groups, especially in the indirect contact groups where there is a maximum of opportunity for differences of experi-

(530) -ence and attitude and of technique on the part of the members of the group, it will be necessary for the leader to stimulate and organize very different behavior reactions with regard to both the same sets of stimuli and to different sets. It is also necessary for him to manipulate a variety of stimuli, sometimes a very great variety, in order to bring about the proper organization of behavior on the part of the members of the group. The more complex and abstract and extensive the objective, ordinarily the greater will be the variety of stimuli presented, and the more diverse the responses which it will be necessary to have organized into some sort of unity.

The task of the leader of complex movements in indirect contact groups becomes very heavy indeed. Not only does he have the problem of finding the right stimuli for each type of persons with whom he deals and likewise the problem of organizing a great variety of behavior responses to these stimuli, but he must also secure the harmonious and coöperative operation of the distance contact machinery of communication which is necessary for the carrying out of his plans. Complex leadership of this type involves the most consummate generalship and the highest type of intellect and statesmanship. The leader must know his people accurately, and this is not always an easy task in indirect contact groups covering wide areas. He must also know well the principles of social organization and how the operation of these may be affected by human nature and various environmental circumstances. In addition, he must have a good understanding of the machinery of communication and of its limitations and possibilities.

THE TRAINING OF THE LEADER— Leadership of such expertness is relatively rare. The task of leadership in any situation will of course vary in difficulty according to the means of communication and stimulation at the disposal of the leader on the one hand and of the degree to which the followers feel the need for leadership and are prepared to understand it and follow it on the other hand. But under the most favorable circumstances the difficulty of successful leadership in complex situations and for abstract ends is very great. Such leaders are not born, as some poetic temperaments have maintained, but they must be trained, either formally or in the hard school

( 531) of experience. However, some elements of inherited equipment, as will appear later on, may be of great value as a general background to the achievement of successful leadership. Leaders of important movements must be trained, and this training will not come solely from the reading of books on sociology and psychology or from classroom lectures, valuable as a theoretical knowledge of human nature and of social organization is for the leader. The most effective training for leadership must be found in the practice of leadership, supported by natural ability and theoretical training. And the practice of leadership itself consists not alone in the art and practice of making appeals to persons directly or through the indirect media of communication, but it is also to be had largely in the intelligent performance of a variety of everyday collective functions which bring one into contact with his fellows. It is from these contacts that the observant person may learn how people are manipulated by stimuli, and thus in the practice of leadership and in intelligent following he may gain confidence in his own technique and powers.

QUALITIES AND EQUIPMENT OF THE LEADER— IN FACE-TO-FACE GROUPS— Leaders are likely to be found in all groups, even in deliberative assemblies, but the leaders in groups concerned primarily with intellectual analysis and discussion serve more as foci of attention than directors of thought. In classes and audiences the leader becomes more dominant and he may even by the use of well directed verbal stimuli dictate the collective behavior which obtains in the group, although such dictation is not essential to the successful functioning of the groups. In the case of the rally or demonstration, however, the leader or leaders must direct the collective behavior of the group.

Perhaps the simplest and most elementary item of equipment of the personal leader is the possession of a striking physical personality. Size, good looks, the appearance of strength of body and of character are invaluable assets for the leader who must come iii personal contact with people who are moved more by emotional stimuli to the senses than by rational considerations. But even among people of intellectual trends the striking physical personality may exert a powerful influence. From

(532) childhood one is conditioned by his experiences to respect size and the evidences of physical prowess. To have these and other advantageous personal qualities gives the possessor a feeling of self-confidence which is of great value in personal leadership in crowds. Add to these physical qualities the power of ready speech and the oratorical gift of emotional appeal, and a certain readiness in repartee which enables the leader to extricate himself from otherwise embarrassing logical situations, and his equipment for direct contact leadership has a very powerful foundation.

IN INDIRECT CONTACT GROUPS— These personal qualities are not of so much importance for leadership in indirect contact groups. Size, good looks, the self-confident manner, readiness of speech and repartee, the poses of the practiced orator, are not so easily conveyed to the members of the public who dwell at a distance from the speaker or writer. Most of his contacts will be made through written language, which does not reveal the concrete personality of the writer directly to the senses of the reader, or through the radio, which has the important advantage of revealing the concrete appeal of the voice in whatever degree it exists. However, the voice is primarily an asset in personal appeal in the degree to which it is made to function in connection with appeals to the visual sense and to the extent the responses of both senses can be integrated in a unitary response. Aside from the vocal content Of the stimuli presented by the leader, the appeal which he makes to the visual sense, and through it to the kinesthetic senses, is more important than his appeal to the auditory sense. Something of the visual appeal can be accomplished even through indirect contact media by means of pictures. Movies, especially news reels, newspaper illustrations and illustrated supplements, magazines, and picture posters carry pictorial representations of importance as agents of concrete sensory appeal at a distance. These are rendered all the more important when supplemented and reënforced by anecdotes and descriptive material in print which serve to illustrate the concrete personal characteristics of the leader.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SYMPATHY IN LEADERS— Another important, perhaps the most indispensable, quality for success

(533) in personal leadership is an attitude of sympathy and understanding on the part of the leader. This is important also in indirect contact leadership, but it is not so easy to make it manifest through the more abstract agencies of communication as through those of direct contact. However, the properly worded printed speech, supplemented by anecdote and perhaps life history, and especially the more direct contact of the radio, or pictures of the leader in sympathetic and friendly poses, are valuable means of making people understand that the leader possesses this quality of sympathy and good fellowship. Political leaders especially are likely to be extensive "joiners," partly because they fear to deny their favors to solicitors and partly because they know the value of having many contacts of good fellowship. In the more personal types of leadership in direct contact groups the chief cause of the popularity of the leader is his readiness of sympathetic response to human need or appeal. Some of the most corrupt of our political bosses have had very strong and genuine sympathies and were so kindly and helpful to their relatively ignorant constituents that they were retained in office in spite of their notorious records for public incompetency and graft.

Many years ago the writer asked a physician in a certain district in Chicago why that district defended a certain malodorous politician after his crimes against the public had been publicly exposed and he had been dismissed from office. My companion informed me that it was because Mr. was always ready to help any family in need, to pay the rent overdue, to bear the expense of a funeral for the poor, to send food or coal, or to intercede with landlords, policemen, inspectors and judges. His constituents understood these virtues or primary attitudes, whereas they knew little or nothing of the theory and practice of American political institutions in the abstract, that is, of derivative ideals. Consequently they dubbed him "The Little Father" and did his bidding and enjoyed his bounty, which in turn he took from the public treasury. The cold and intellectual personality has little chance of successful leadership unless it hides behind the screen of indirect communication and even then a press agent is needed to give the proper touches of ordinary humanity through anec-

( 534) -dotes and the like. Even Napoleon was the idol of his army largely because of his impassioned appeals to their more concrete interests and desires, and because merit or devotion were always likely to attract his attention and secure a reward.

JUSTICE AND HUMANITARIANISM IN LEADERS— A strong sense of justice, especially if seasoned by sympathy, is also a strong asset in successful leadership. The more personal the practice of justice is the greater will be its appeal. Abstract justice has its value, even before the scattered public which makes its contacts indirectly, but most people like the justice of their leaders to be warm blooded, and by no means wholly blind. Closely allied to the sense of justice in the leader is the humanitarian attitude. It also should be warm and direct. Abstract benevolence never has appealed to a great many people. The philanthropist who bestows alms is much more acceptable as a leader than the philanthropist and reformer who merely establish public welfare organizations, organize reform associations, or make gifts for scientific social research. But leaders who can talk affectingly in a philanthropic vein, provided they identify themselves with the people and do not behave condescendingly, may often secure a better following than those who actually accomplish great transformations in social organization in a quiet and unostentatious manner. The demagogue who preaches equality, fraternity, and liberty, but never gets beyond the use of the terms as shibboleths with which to win votes, may, unless he is detected in his hypocrisy, secure a better following than the statesman who says little and accomplishes more in legislative reform. The latter type of men may become the heroes of the next generation, but they are not likely to be lionized in their own.

HONESTY AND GOOD FAITH IN LEADERS— The crowd or the public must also believe the leader to be honest or faithful and devoted to their cause if he is to secure their support. As between general honesty and identification with their cause personally, if a choice must be made, the group will nearly always choose the latter attitude in a leader. Few people are capable of. objectifying their judgments to the degree that they can prefer a good quality in its abstract application to society as a whole to its concrete application to themselves in particular.

( 535) When we say a leader must be honest to be successful, we mean that he must keep faith with those who follow him, or they will repudiate him. He must not even acknowledge a higher good or an allegiance to a greater cause than their own. Such "traitors" have been persecuted in all ages. But the difficulty here is not so much that people are inherently dishonest or selfish, but that they find it very difficult to see truth and duty in the abstract or in any way except from the personal view-point. The leader must be loyal to the things to which his group is loyal, but by skillful manipulation he may be able, at least in some degree, to change their loyalties.'

THE LEADER MUST HAVE INSIGHT— The leader trust know human nature in general and he must know his people in particular. The naïve person who does not readily sense attitudes and changes of emotion in his crowd or public, or who has an absolutistic faith in human nature which renders him impervious to the worst of which people are capable collectively and individually and which makes him a simpering sentimental optimist about human beings and human institutions, cannot achieve and maintain successful leadership under complex and changing conditions. Yet neither can the chronic pessimist or the cynic be successful as a leader. The leader must know that anything can happen, no matter how lead or how good, when collective conditions are ripe for it. It is his business to understand conditions of all sorts, to detect theta and impending changes before others are aware of them, and to estimate the ways in which the people he leads will probably respond to these conditions. The leader, if lie is to secure the best results, therefore, must be a good judge of character, be without prejudices regarding the limits or forms of collective and individual behavior in crucial situations, be an intelligent student of social organization and tendencies, and be possessed of astuteness, resourcefulness, and patience in dealing with people and situations. Some of these qualities are perhaps more difficult to exercise successfully amid the rapid changes of attitude of direct contact groups than in the more leisurely movements of distributed public opinion. But, on the other hand, it usually requires more astuteness of judgment to estimate character, tendencies, and possible reactions in indirect

(536) contact groups than in those of the face-to-face type. In the one case courage and persistence, and in the other clarity of judgment and capacity to take risks, are necessary to avoid mistakes and failures in leadership.

COURAGE AND PERSISTENCE IN LEADERS— Thus courage and persistence are always essential to successful leadership. Opposition will at times become very strenuous and upon occasion even violent. Under such circumstances the man who lacks the courage of his convictions has no business in the rôle of leadership. Failure under such circumstances is the most irretrievable type of failure. Here also independence of judgment is necessary. A weak personality will become convinced that he is wrong or that his cause is unworthy or that his chances of success are poor, in the face of opposition. In most men such intellectual and emotional responses are conditioned to strenuous opposition. The leader of independent judgment will make up his mind for himself and will discount all suggestions to the contrary. The able leader will hold on as long as there is a fair chance of success and thus pilot his cause through many a storm which would have shipwrecked the plans of a less resolute leader. The value of tenacity of purpose or persistence therefore can scarcely be overestimated. Yet, on the other hand, the leader must not be so dogged and uncompromising that he is unable to perceive when a cause is defunct. To be the leader of a lost cause may be romantic, but it does not spell success.

Good natural ability, originality, initiative, good intellectual training, soundness o f judgment, mental flexibility, forethought, etc., are associated qualities, all of which are essential to the highest form of leadership. They perhaps count for most in leadership in indirect contact groups, where the problem of successfully initiating and guiding collective behavior is usually greatest. Often leaders, who themselves lack either the natural ability or the training to initiate successful programs, do very well in subordinate positions. Originality in leadership is the quality of uniqueness of character and thought which enables one to plan something which appeals to others or to use methods of execution which will attract attention. But originality may be a detriment instead of an asset unless

( 537) one is able to temper it with good judgment and inspirit it with initiative. The original person without initiative is only a dreamer, and the dreamer may have admirers but few followers. To be original without sound judgment is to be a freak or a crank. Self-confidence should also be coupled with originality and initiative to enable the independent leader to take the full measure of responsibility for his ideas or program.

Mental flexibility is another trait which is very important for the leader in a dominant position. He needs to be able to change his plans or tactics without hesitation the moment that he sees the old methods are not working well. To hesitate, to fumble, to be doubtful, may easily be fatal in critical situations. The effective leader should be clear-headed and self-confident, sure of himself but always ready to learn and sensitive to the least need of change and on the lookout for the best new methods. Yet he should seek to avoid the necessity for an undue amount of change by painstaking forethought which will enable him to plan far ahead into the future. When once his plan is decided upon he should administer it with concentrated effort and energy. Great energy of body and of mind and high power of concentration are requisite to leadership of the very highest class.

OTHER MORAL. QUALITIES of LEADERS— Certain moral or moral-social and moral-psychic qualities are also essential to successful leadership. The best type of leader should have both intellectual and moral vision. He should know society and the possibilities and limitations of programs for its betterment. He should be able to foresee opportunities for progress before they are generally apparent. He should also have positive idealism. The purely selfish, scheming sort of personality who seeks always to better his own condition at the expense of others, instead of along with the improvement of others, is likely sooner or later to fail. Some men do succeed at the expense of almost everybody else, but, such men occupy more nearly the rôle of social buccaneers than that of leaders. They and a chosen crew take advantage of a disorganized or of an as yet incompletely organized condition of society to carry out

( 538) their schemes regardless of either the wishes or the interests of others.

The highest type of moral leadership is of course that in which the leader is willing to sacrifice himself for the success of a principle or a cause, and to find his own greater self-realization in the triumph of the cause with which lie has identified himself, or to go down with it in defeat. There have not been a great many truly great leaders of this type in the history of the world, but mankind is not likely to forget those it has once recognized and understood. The next highest type of leader is the one who is willing to sacrifice self and others for a great and worthy cause. Other moral qualities essential to a high degree of success in leadership are power of inhibition and of self-discipline. Headstrongness and strong convictions are often necessary to success in leadership, but these qualities must not he unrestrained. Unchecked they produce in the end bigots and social wreckers rather than effective leaders. Even the leader, perhaps the leader more than most men should develop a power of sane and just self-examination and should be able to say to his impulses and enthusiasms, however strong, "no," or, "with moderation."

OTHER QUALITIES OF LEADERS —  If the leader possesses all of the qualities here claimed for him he should yet display a cheerful and even temper and be able to take success and temporary setbacks, or even failure, with poise and to renew his attack undaunted. The leader who becomes irritable or sour or loses his nerve has already lost much, perhaps most, of the battle. He should also have had experience which gives a sureness of touch and fineness of technique which are indispensable in delicate causes. These, together with self-confidence, inspire the confidence of others and bring to him a reputation for achieving success. If in addition to these qualities he also possesses organizing and executive ability and a knowledge of human nature and of society, and is free from unreasonable restraints imposed by custom or prejudice or superstition or an arbitrary power, and if his project is ()tic which m its nature is capable of success, the way should be open for the accomplishment of his ends. Of course but few leaders ever possess all of the psychic and psycho-social qualifications arid condi-

(539) -tions here outlined. But there are also but few truly great leaders.

THE ART OF BEING LED is a factor among the conditions of success in leadership which is sometimes overlooked. Yet it is scarcely second in importance to the qualities themselves which are necessary to successful leadership. Every sincere arid idealistic leader has sooner or later reached the limits to which he could carry his scheme, not alone because his owls powers failed, but because lie could no longer count on the knowledge, idealism, courage, concentration, and singleness of purpose of a sufficient number of his followers to make further advance possible. Some leaders have taken these limitations as a matter of course, while others have encountered them with surprise and grief and cynicism. This has been particularly the case in our country with those why) have sought to establish a true democracy of the people. There are few who are not as sanguine regarding possibilities in this connection as were some of our idealistic forefathers. Likewise the indefinite perfectibility of mankind which appeared so self-evident in theory and so certain of achievement in practice to the intellectual leaders of the late eighteenth century is now known to be a myth. But much more can be accomplished in preparing the masses to be led effectively for the establishment of a better social order than has yet been clone. A more nearly universal education in the principles and data of science, especially of the social sciences, training in respect for proved facts and in the factual discrediting of superstition, magic, and merely mystical daydreaming and escape-from-reality philosophies, and filially training in loyalty to the best social order and types of personality which scientific method can project, will set free a vast volume of the energies of men now unused or inhibited, to be applied to constructive purposes through intelligent social and personal leadership.

MATERIALS FOR SUPPLEMENTARY READING

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