The Image of Military Leadership: To Be or Not To Be a Hero.

Abstract

This monograph examines the advisability of purposefully cultivating a leadership image. Five historical case studies, Colonel Thomas E. Lawrence, General Douglas MacArthur, General George S. Patton, Jr., Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr., and General Curtis E. LeMay, are evaluated with respect to criteria denoting effective use of leadership images. These criteria are based on the heroic image of military leadership. This heroic image is divided into five constituent criteria labelled kinship, prescription, sanction, action, and example. The case studies are also evaluated based on relevant behavioral science theory and social science research. Based upon the analysis of the case studies, the monograph concludes that a cultivated image is not necessary to effective leadership, but can be a key element. This conclusion is drawn provisionally. Definitive answers await further research.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 19, 1994
Accession Number
ADA293643

Entities

People

  • Karen S. Wilhelm

Organizations

  • United States Army Command and General Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Behavioral Sciences
  • Case Studies
  • Contrast
  • Human Behavior
  • New York
  • Observation
  • Perception
  • Personality
  • Psychological Phenomena And Processes
  • Psychology
  • Second World War
  • Social Sciences
  • Training
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Theoretical Analysis.