[October 10, 2014] There is a new theme in the professional study of senior leaders and it says that those leaders must have a sense of unpretentiousness to be effective and successful. Anyone being familiar with U.S. leaders, and its military culture in particular, knows that such a character trait of their military men certainly does not include the characteristic of unpretentiousness. Given such a Western cultural bias, does the sense of unpretentiousness merit being a trait of senior leaders? My argument here will be that it is and, furthermore, it can be one of their most important traits.
U.S. General George S. Patton of World War II fame was the antithesis of unpretentiousness … his bombastic traits are not unlike those of many political and military leaders across the globe and across recorded history. Another U.S. General, the current U.S. Chief of Staff and most senior General Martin E. Dempsey, I will argue has a tremendous sense of unpretentiousness. Both Patton and Dempsey share key qualities: decisiveness, intelligence, vision, and strength of character are some of their important personality traits. But General Dempsey diverges radically from Patton because Dempsey, very much like other current U.S. military flag officers, is not bombastic but is more prone to show humility instead.
Can it be that an effective and successful leader must be “impressive” or show that they are “important” to people? Clearly, the answer is no. Mahatma Gandhi for example, the leader of the Indian independence movement in British-ruled India, is the epitome of the unpretentious leader and was enormously successful. See a summary of his leadership in this earlier profile link here.
Western societies have changed in the past 75 years, along with their leaders. National politics and their citizen’s social lives have changed most. They are richer, have greater leisure time, and enjoy more freedom than their ancestors. While many have criticized these changes, because it is believed that it makes their citizens less resilient and lazy, they do acknowledge benefits. One advantage is their leaders are more accommodating, better at creating a positive work environment, and are more approachable. These are the characteristics of a leader who is unpretentious.
Today, a sense of pretentiousness is a trait of senior leaders. It is not just acceptable, but necessary when leading people that have experienced the type of social-political changes the likes of which Western societies have seen. A General Patton would not survive as a leader in the current U.S. military. Senior leader evolutionary changes have occurred, for good or bad, and we can see the results. Decades from now, when we look back on those changes, only then will we be able to say whether having a greater sense of unpretentiousness was successful.
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