Leadership Style of Ronald Reagan

Abstract

Ronald Reagan, America's 40th president, is indeed one of the great leaders the world has seen. With Washington and Lincoln, he is regarded as one of the three best presidents America has ever had. He gave his countrymen hope and the opportunity to collectively seek to the tenets of freedom and democracy advocated by the founding fathers of nation. He was a "transformational" leader whose political style helped him meet a number of the challenges that a modern president dealt with. This research paper focuses on leadership style of Ronald Reagan. It is found that instead of the actions taken by a leader, the true measure of a leader is the heights of his actions to which they inspire others. And according to that standard, Reagan was one of the most influential presidents in American history.

Table of Contents

Introduction4

Body: Discussion and Analysis5

Transformational Leadership5

Ronald Reagan- A Transformational Leader5

Reagan on Foreign Affairs7

Ronald Reagan- Mentor by example7

The Political Legacy9

The Economic Legacy of Reagan10

The Great Communicator10

Conclusion12

References14

Leadership Style of Ronald Reagan

"We can never fully measure the positive effects that each kind word or deed has." (Ronald Reagan)

Introduction

The expression “transformational leader” was presented by James MacGregor Burns to illustrate a category of political leaders. Transformational leaders give inspiration to their followers to go beyond their own self-interests for the betterment of the nation as a whole and they have a profound and extraordinary influence on their followers. They are considerate regarding the needs and concerns of their followers, provide vision and a sense of mission, promote intelligence, communicate high expectations, and can transform follower's awareness of issues by helping them to take a look at issues in new ways. (www.nccuorgbehavior.wordpress.com, 2011)

Transformational leadership calls for a vision to look in to the future; and an aptitude to communicate and implement innovative, coordinated strategies to achieve set goals. It is believed by many people that charisma is also a part of transformational leadership and Ronald Reagan had unarguably that charisma, which set him apart not only from the common people, but also from a number of presidents of United States. This paper will be a synopsis of Ronald Reagan as a transformational leader. The leadership style of Reagan along with his skills, behaviors and practices will be analyzed. How I take an inspiration from his leadership style will also be discussed.

Ronald Reagan was 40th president of United States, a formidable politician, and above all a larger-than-life individual. The optimism, hospitability, and gracious nature of Reagan appealed not only to his followers but his opponents as well. The great strength of his optimism arose from his belief that most governmental difficulties were simple and conformable to simple solutions. The wide-ranging vision and clear-cut direction of Reagan made his political ideals appealing.

Body: Discussion and Analysis

Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership is more related with top leaders of an extraordinary type: those who inspire followers for the achievement of transcendental goals or to fulfill higher-level needs concerning self-actualization. Transformational leader, in their followers, develop motivation by generating a desire to ...