Odysseus Leadership Qualities

Although Odysseus is one of the most well known greek heros in the world, he is also very controversial among the people as well. In the book, “The Odyssey” written by Homer, Odysseus made some choices that makes the readers question his role as a leader. In “The Odyssey”, it tells the story about Odysseus’ long journey home from the Trojan War. Along the way, Odyssey has extended his times away from home by making unintelligent decisions that led him to encounter one disaster after another. Although Odysseus has some positive attributes, he is a poor leader for the following reasons: he is too cocky and overconfident, he make careless decision, and finally, he is very selfish.

“The art of leadership is saying no, and not saying yes”(Tony Blair). In the Odyssey, Odysseus is the captain of a large fleet trying to get back to their home, Ithaca. Odysseus, with his crew, had to go through many obstacles to return to Ithaca. Odysseus was a bad leader because he was selfish, arrogant, and couldn’t control his men.

In the Odyssey, Odysseus is quite the legend known to people, whether you are high up in the sky with Zeus, or deep in the ocean with Poseidon, everyone knows Odysseus. In the epic poem, the Odyssey told by the one and only Homer, the brave, the godlike human, Odysseus is finding his way home after the big battle victory against the Trojans. This story is about his travels home and how he got caught up in other business. Let’s just say he stabbed Poseidon’s son, had his crew turned into pigs, faced a six-headed monster and whirlpool, and that is to say the least. He may as well be on America’s most wanted list with all the trouble he was causing. Even though Odysseus is a troublemaker, he has multiple great characteristics of a leader. Odysseus, when it comes to his crew and family, is confident, compassionate, wise, and always knows a way to get out of any problem.

Throughout the entire book Odysseus shows that he as an amazing leader. “ Nine whole days we sailed, nine nights, nonstop”- Odysseus, (P. 231, L. 32.) Odysseus leads his crew to new lands always getting

In the epic The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus should not be considered a good leader because he is giving false hope to his crew and treats his crew very poorly by letting them die for his mistakes. A good leader should do what is necessary in order to achieve their goal and must be considerate of their crew, by respecting them and notifying them about any changes in their plans. It is the leader’s duty to let the crew decide what to do in tough situations and consider their opinions on entering risky scenarios.

Peter Drucker said, “Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results, not attributes.” Homer proves this point in The Odyssey, which is an epic poem, and the main character is Odysseus. Odysseus is on his way back from the Trojan War and everyone returns back to Ithaca beside him, he is being held against his will, by Calypso, on Ogygia. He soon will be faced with problems that come about all because of himself. Some people like Odysseus are not fit to be a leader because he is arrogant, foolish, and a liar.

Odysseus was an effective leader for many reasons. one example was when Odyssey use his mind to get his men’s out of hades. one example was when he help his mans get to safety. he was an Effective leaders and in this part of the story,Odysseus men were scared of of the Hades, and they did not think Odysseus would make it back,so he told them not to worry, i will make it back and he tells them to leave if he doesn’t make it back to the ship. another example was when Odysseus and his men were stock in cave with the one eye monster.

Odysseus shows the characteristics of a good leader by being brave and sacrificing his life for his crew and the way to get home to his family. ''Under strange sail shall you come home, to find your own house filled with trouble: insolent men eating your livestock as they court your lady.'' This quote shows how Odysseus will stop at nothing to find his way home, He legitimately traveled through the underworld a very petrifying place to find his way home and he also had to deal with his dead crewmate and cried. This shows that he will stop at nothing to get home which is something that inspires your crew which is a very crucial part of being a leader.

Being a good leader can take time and effort and although mistakes are involved one must keep going. Odysseus went through the struggle of becoming a good leader throughout his journey but he showed his good leadership through his thought out plans, quick decision making, and compassion towards his crew. The first way Odysseus showed his good leadership was with his well thought out plans. In book IX, line 377-393 Odysseus decided to get the cyclops drunk. He decides that if the cyclops is drunk and not in the right state of mind it will help with the rest of his plan. He wants the cyclops to be weak so when he stabs him, he will have a lessening reaction. Also in book IX, lines 397-398 Odysseus lies about his name. This may seem silly but when Odysseus and his men stab him in the eye he screams out to the other cyclops.

A good leader is selfless, courageous, have the ablity to think fast when faced by an unexpected issue, and overall, possesss heroic characteristics. In the Odyssey, Odysseus leads his men on a journey and faces countless amounts of obstacles that him and his crew are forced to face. Whether for Odysseus, it was fighting extravagant monsters or leading and making sure that his crew was alright at all times I definitely believe that Odysseus shows great leadership throughout the story. The first incident where Odysseus shows that he’s a good leader is when he cleverly tricks and blinds the Cyclops, Polyphemus, which saves his crew from certain death.

After reading about Odysseus in the first part of The Odyssey he may seem like a good leader. Nobody had thought that deeper in the epic Odysseus’ actions made him turn out to be a bad leader. Homer’s epic The Odyssey is about how Odysseus and his men are journeying back home to Ithaca from the Trojan War. He encountered many obstacles along his journey that cost him the lives of his men. Odysseus faced atrocious monsters, foxy nymphs, and gods out for revenge. The journey that he completed tested his skills not only as leader, but as a human too. Odysseus proves himself to be a bad leader due to him being deceitful, oppressive, and dramatic.

First of all, a leader must be willing to put all his men first Odysseus proves he lets his pride endanger his men many times in The Odyssey. One example of Odysseus being prideful when he wants a song to be about him at dinner with Alcinous.. The text states that “In effect, Odysseus is asking for a song about himself”(756) This shows he doesn't want his men to be in that song with himself. Odysseus also shows that he is overly prideful when he declares “Men hold me Formidable for quile in peace and war.”(756)This shows he not a humble leader

In the story “The Odyssey”, by Homer, Odysseus improves his leadership abilities from not caring about his men and being selfish to thinking for his men’s lives before his own. First, during Odysseus’ visit to the Cyclops' Cave, Odysseus wants to stay to fill his desire to “see the caveman” but because of this, many of Odysseus’ men end up being killed by the Cyclops (Homer 958). Therefore, Odysseus is selfish and thinks of his personal desire to see the cyclops over his men’s lives. A good leader would have thought about his men first and left the Cyclops’ Cave as soon as possible. Odysseus’ poor leadership is on the reasons that his journey is difficult.

In his work, The Odyssey, Homer presents readers with an amazing leader in Odysseus, accompanied by a less-than-fabulous crew. With this combination, instances of Odysseus not involving his followers exemplify how this failure of leadership on Odysseus’ part only come back to hurt himself. On his way back from Troy, the site of Odysseus’ recent and victorious battle, Odysseus and his crew stop at an island called Aeolia. In hopes of finding a way back home to Ithaca, Odysseus consults the king Aeolus. By the time Odysseus is ready to leave Aeolia, he is given the gift of control over the winds. Even prior to this, Odysseus had been given many gifts from his conquering of Troy. So, without telling his crew what it is, Odysseus loads this new gift from Aeolus onto the ship. But, this makes his crew curious, as Odysseus notes. “As soon as I fell asleep, the men started to talk, saying I was bringing home for myself silver and gold… And they opened the bag. The winds rushed out…” (Homer Book 10 lines 41 - 53). This quote not only shows the lack of cognitive ability for Odysseus’ crew, but also how Odysseus’ failure to inform his crew about

In the Odyssey, Odysseus is a very good example of a strong, wise, responsible hero throughout the epic. Although there are people at home he loves and cares for but as the good leader he is, he sacrifices those things like his wife and child to go to war and lead. Odysseus was the main factor for the greeks winning the war of troy. Even if he wasn’t the main leader he still showed his signs of leadership in his actions. Odysseus is a great leader shown by his actions.