, at which Catie Taphorn is a research assistant.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n“Whether we call someone a teacher, a manager, a coach or a parent, we often characterize others by titles that indicate their roles as leaders. But have you ever wondered what type of leader\u00a0you<\/em>\u00a0are? An ancient Greek philosopher may help you shed some light on that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIn Darden Professor Ed Freeman\u2019s recent book with Oxford Professor Dominic Scott,\u00a0Models of Leadership in Plato and Beyond,\u00a0<\/em>the two professors\u00a0explore Plato\u2019s ideas\u00a0on\u00a0leadership\u00a0and how his\u00a0ideas\u00a0can\u00a0be applied to\u00a0modern business\u00a0leadership principles.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\nPlato didn\u2019t try to develop a single definition for leadership, nor which specific leadership qualities may work in all circumstances. Instead, he noticed different features or principles of leadership and highlighted them through intuitive metaphors that provide us with easy-to-imagine \u201cmodels of leadership.\u201d And even though Plato was writing over two thousand years ago, many of these models will still resonate with us today.<\/span><\/p>\nWHAT\u00a0MODEL OF LEADERSHIP FITS YOU BEST?<\/span><\/h2>\nTHE DOCTOR<\/span><\/h3>\nThe Doctor\u00a0is someone who can expertly diagnose sources of disorder or conflict within a group, propose unifying solutions and maintain social equilibrium. Doctors are credible, selfless and aim to promote the well-being of their followers by pushing them to pursue realistic long-term goals, rather than short-lived ones. This leader faces the task of persuading followers to follow a prescribed course of action so as to \u201ccure\u201d systemic\u00a0problems.\u202f<\/span><\/p>\nExample: Indra Nooyi, former PepsiCo CEO, who reoriented the company to promote its success in the long term.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nTHE NAVIGATOR<\/span><\/h3>\nThe Navigator is an individual who can help steer followers through the worst of storms. Navigators are particularly attuned to their environments and are especially keen at anticipating future challenges, as well as managing the consequences of unintended obstacles. Navigators\u2019 resolve, rationality and social influence make them inspirational figureheads, and while some may not understand the Navigator\u2019s expertise, this leader isn\u2019t afraid to stand out. Plato also introduces a variation on this model called \u201cThe Captain,\u201d whose main difference is the tendency to look inward rather than outward, focusing on uniting the crew and heeding their desires to pursue collective goals. A great leader may be a combination of these two.<\/span><\/p>\nExample: Frederick Douglass, an abolitionist who mobilized civil rights activism and helped chart the path to an end to slavery.<\/span><\/p>\nTHE ARTIST<\/span><\/h3>\nThe Artist is a free-spirited and innovative thinker, able to cultivate and set in motion their own unique vision of the future. Artists are detached from societal constructs, putting into question the supposedly unchangeable nature of current systems and proposing to others a new system in which harmony, order and justice are paramount \u2014 an ideal which they themselves espouse. Because artists are trailblazers, they face the challenge of overcoming the constraints of former ways of thinking \u2014 which may mean building from the ground up in order to realize their visions \u2014 but their integrity and passion paints them as a source of inspiration for\u00a0others.<\/span><\/p>\nExample: Elon Musk is a technological visionary who fits many of the Artist\u2019s characteristics.<\/span><\/p>\nTHE TEACHER<\/span><\/h3>\nThe Teacher is someone knowledgeable who engages openly with followers in order to expand those followers\u2019 horizons. Teachers tend to be sensible, generous and intellectually respectful, exchanging ideas with others while simultaneously pushing them out of their comfort zones. In offering up their unique expertise and challenging preconceived notions, Teachers may encounter a \u201cperspective gap\u201d between themselves and their pupils that leads to resistance. Nevertheless, Teachers aim to\u00a0promote mutual understanding by welcoming interrogation and stimulating debate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nExample: Mikhail Gorbachev, whose ideas were inflammatory to many but urged Russians out of complacency and spurred the disintegration of the USSR.<\/span><\/p>\nTHE WEAVER<\/span><\/h3>\nThe Weaver is skilled at bringing together very different kinds of people, encouraging both soft-tempered and strong-headed individuals (aka \u201cdoves\u201d and \u201chawks\u201d) to be unified in the pursuit of common goals. Weavers are tolerant of differences but promote shared values among their diverse followers and may remove detractors where necessary. Overall, Weavers promote cooperation and are able to unite courageous and reserved personalities due to their own uniquely balanced perspectives.<\/span><\/p>\nExample: Jim Kutsch, a blind computer scientist and business leader, developed communication aids for the blind, advancing inter-organizational cooperation among people with diverse talents and backgrounds.<\/span><\/p>\nTHE SOWER<\/span><\/h3>\nThe Sower is a wise and humble leader who plants great ideas within those that surround them. Sowers allow their words to take root in their followers, be cultivated and form a legacy for future generations. A Sower empowers others to think independently and take up new initiatives, recognizing the importance of stepping back to allow others to adapt their ideas with time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nExample: Marie Curie\u2019s scientific discoveries created a paradigm shift in the scientific community and led to the development of X-rays.<\/span><\/p>\nTHE SHEPARD<\/span><\/h3>\nA Shepherd is someone who is dedicated to the \u201cflock\u2019s\u201d well-being and assumes a protective and caring role for followers. However, the nature of Shepherds\u2019 intentions\u00a0could be\u00a0ambiguous, as they may seek the well-being of their followers as a means of benefiting themselves. This leader is individualistic, practical and skilled at influencing others.<\/span><\/p>\nExample: Uber Co-Founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick asserted that Uber protected and valued drivers \u2014 but also expressed a desire to eventually cut drivers and move toward the use of self-driving cars to maximize profit.<\/span><\/p>\nDID YOU FIND ONE THAT MATCHES YOUR LEADERSHIP APPROACH?\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\nDon\u2019t worry if you don\u2019t fit neatly into one of Plato\u2019s specific leadership models.\u00a0It\u2019s likely that your typical leadership style is a combination of multiple models (e.g., Sower-Teacher), as is the case with most people. Plato understood that there were many features to leadership and that individuals could exhibit different leadership styles at different times in their lives or in different circumstances.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIn\u00a0Models of Leadership in Plato and Beyond<\/em>, Freeman and Scott introduce recent case studies of leaders in business and other domains that\u00a0mesh\u00a0with Plato\u2019s original models of leadership.\u00a0When reviewing modern leadership theories, the authors also find that those that consider a leader\u2019s values and ethics \u2014 principles Plato emphasized \u2014 have a lot in common with Plato\u2019s own leadership models.\u00a0Ultimately, they find that Plato\u2019s thoughts on leadership are still relevant in today\u2019s world and invite others to develop new models of leadership to Plato\u2019s based on their own experiences.<\/span><\/p>\nWhat kind of leader will you decide to be?”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Catie Taphorn on Dec 06, 2021 in\u00a0Nonprofit Boards I recently read this article and enjoyed it so much that I wanted to share it with my readers. The article outlines seven types of leadership models patterned after Plato’s ideas. Check it out to discover what type of leader you are. Maybe you even want […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":386,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nonprofitkinect.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nonprofitkinect.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nonprofitkinect.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nonprofitkinect.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nonprofitkinect.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/nonprofitkinect.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":388,"href":"https:\/\/nonprofitkinect.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385\/revisions\/388"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nonprofitkinect.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nonprofitkinect.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nonprofitkinect.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nonprofitkinect.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}