Beowulf's Leadership Qualities

Leadership skills are exemplified in the poem Beowulf through Beowulf’s characteristics and actions and his ability to lead and motivate his thanes. Unwillingness to give in to pride is also a leadership skill revealed in Beowulf. Beowulf displays courage and confidence during the battles of all three beasts of Beowulf. He ensures that his warriors trust in him enough to believe that they may be able to achieve a definite goal together. Beowulf, however, does allow his pride to obscure his vision of the future, therefore he does not possess all the necessary skills a leader should have.

Leadership is the ability of motivating an assembly of people to act towards a common goal and has the skill to make others want to follow in their direction (Ward). The epic Beowulf, contains various scenes of how the protagonist hero, Beowulf, shows great leadership. Beowulf portrays good leadership by his confidence, his physical strength, and his loyalty, which are important qualities of the Anglo-Saxon time.

The poem, Beowulf, shows many examples of leadership. Beowulf would be the first ideal “leader” to come to mind. Throughout the poem he chooses to be an effective king, defend his people and be a brilliant warrior. We all want good leaders in our lives, but knowing what makes a good leader can be hard to figure out in certain situations. A leader should be able to guide you in the right direction and show characteristics that you would want to grow to be. The men who were leaders in Beowulf showed many characteristics of loyalty, charismatic and bravery.

The article that I am reacting to is about Beowulf, he is considered a leader that saved the people from the monsters. Beowulf took it upon himself to fight Grendel and his mother without his soldiers because he wants his family's name to be remembered forevermore. Beowulf was risking his life for all these people and was labeled as a charismatic leader. No one on this earth would do what Beowulf did for the people because people are so selfish. Beowulf is a selfless person who deserves more than just his family's name to be remembered. Beowulf is a brave leader who fought to the end which makes him loyal to his people.

Now let's consider Beowulf's leadership. Beowulf ruled the Geat people for 50 years before he died after defeating the dragon. Beowulf does not give much insight into the protagonists' qualities as a leader or his specific actions while king. Nevertheless, the author reveals that his people were extremely sorrowful at his death, and they repeatedly declared that he was a good king. But perhaps Beowulf's virtues as a leader are not so cut-and-dried, for Beowulf's death left the Geat people in dire straits.

    The characteristics of a true leader are defined when they have to do something that the normal person or creature would not.  Beowulf is a true leader because he proves his greatness, bravery, and worthiness by defeating numerous monsters to save his people.  He shows all three of these characteristics in the poem.  Beowulf’s greatness is proved when he defeats Grendel, his mom, and protects his people from the dragon.  No normal creature could accomplish this task but Beowulf.  He shows his bravery by taking a stand against a creature in Grendel, who attacks and kills everyone, by fighting him with his bare hands.  Beowulf’s worthiness is proved when he is deemed the greatest king of all time by his people.

A leader comes in many forms, there are those whom support, love and protect their team, the public, and or the country, and those who hate, torment and bring despair to the people like in this very generation right now. Tom Loughman and John Finley created an article called titled “Beowulf and the Teaching of Leadership”, its main claim is about whether Beowulf was a great leader or not. The article states about Beowulf’s traits and the story to see if he is a leader or not. To support their claims, the authors used a model called “Conger and Kanungo’s (1994) Charismatic Leader Model”, a model that is made to use to describe any types of leaders who follow the model or not. The authors use the model to see if Beowulf fits well

Dr. John Finley and Dr. Tom Loughman provide understanding for all professions ranging from leadership researchers to management in their article, Beowulf and the Teaching of Leadership. The authors describe how charismatic leadership relates to the main character of the epic poem, Beowulf. This relationship deals with both positive and negative attributes of a charismatic leader in today’s society. They also provided enough support and claims on why Beowulf is a such a great example of being a charismatic leader.

In the fantasy world found within the story of Beowulf; Hrothgar, the wise king of the Danes, offers Beowulf some important lessons of leadership. Hrothgar, recognizing Beowulf’s nobility and strength, talks to him about how he should act to be a good ruler when he becomes king. The characteristics of good leadership that Hrothgar mentions still hold true today, through people like politicians, and business executives. Hrothgar’s sermon not only provides an insight into what leaders like these should do, it aims to bring to light what leaders should not do.

Beowulf is a fascinating novel and piece of work. The fact of how relevant and useful this poem is baffles me.  The epic is still a very contested poem even hundreds of years later. No other story ever conveyed the leadership skills quite like in in this poem.  Beowulf is one of the most influential pieces in the history or literature and the world being that it set a precedent for leadership that is still the followed to this day.

Does beowulf the hero fit into the model of an charismatic leader? One have to think how beowulf shows the right acts of being a leader or hero and what qualities he have to shows to prove himself as an charismatic leader. The authors Tom Loughman and John Finley of the article ’Beowulf and the teaching of leadership’ shows us great facts that shown us how beowulf is an leader. This article gave me such good examples and other sources that compare to beowulf also how he show as a leader. Furthermore Beowulf is seen as an ideal warrior hero where his comrades willingly scram with him. In my opinion this article was helpful in some ways but I does it shows if that Beowulf is an or isn’t an charismatic leader.

The article Beowulf and the Teaching of Leadership written by Tom Loughman, Ph.D., and John Finley, Ph.D. was quite informative on the characteristics of a charismatic leader. They did a tremendous job by using Beowulf as a leader to check off the Conger-Kanungo guidelines.The main purpose of their research was to look at Beowulf's leader-like characteristics through evaluation of his band of warriors and kingdom. Then piggybacking off of that they take the risks of following, and over-relying on a charismatic leader. It is a piece of work worth praising and their efforts should not go unnoticed.

Beowulf is a fascinating novel and a piece of work. The fact of how relevant and useful this poem is, baffling to me.  The epic is still a very contested poem even hundreds of years later. No other story ever conveyed the leadership skills quite like in in this poem.  Beowulf is one of the most influential pieces in the history or literature and the world being that it sets a precedent for leadership that is still followed to this day.

The characteristics of a true leader show when they have to do something that the normal person or creature would not. Beowulf is a true leader because he proves his greatness, bravery, and worthiness by defeating numerous monsters to save his people. He shows all three of these characteristics in the poem. Beowulf’s greatness shows when he defeats Grendel, his mom, and protects his people from the dragon. No normal creature could accomplish this task but Beowulf. He shows his bravery by taking a stand against a creature in Grendel, who attacks and kills everyone, by fighting him with his bare hands. Beowulf’s worthiness is proved when he is deemed the greatest king of all time by his people.

“A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus, but a molder of consensus.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. Having leadership is not something that one is just titled to, but it is to be earned. Leadership is being able to stand up without having to be told what to do or who to follow. They set examples and inspire those who are willing to listen. Throughout the Anglo-Saxon literature, leadership is seen within different characters and their experiences on becoming a leader their people need.