The Nature of Leadership

"The wise leader, according to Lao-tzu, was to be selfless, hardworking, honest, able to time the appropriateness of actions, fair in handling conflict, and able to 'empower' others (to use a more current vernacular).  Early and medieval mythology (e.g. Homer's Iliad and Odyssey; Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King) focused on the attributes of heroes, whereas biblical writing emphasized wisdom and service to others as leadership qualities.  Plato's Republic (1960) emphasized that in the ideal nation-state, effective leaders used reasoning capacities and wisdom to lead others....  His student Aristotle argued in Politics (1900) that leaders were to help others seek virtue; they would do so by themselves being virtuous."  (101)