Learning From Great Leaders Essay

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Learning From Great Leaders

"The Art of Rhetoric" makes the point that Pericles had great powers of persuasion, and that he could directly affect the will of the people through his rhetorical strategies. When the Athenian citizens got too proud and even arrogant, he would settle them down into reality -- but when they were struggling to believe, he could lift them up to a higher place. This was the sum and substance of "The Art of Rhetoric" and the lesson from this narrative is that the clever, creative, careful and strategic use of words -- and language in general -- can manipulate people in the way the speaker wishes them to be maneuvered. This paper verifies the validity of this theory through the literature and through the successes that political leaders and business leaders like Lee Iacocca and others have utilized by having the power of persuasiveness.

Pericles' Skills -- A Closer Look at a Great Leader

Before this paper delves into how business leaders and politicians have used rhetoric effectively to sway others' opinions -- and to compel them to sit up and take notice -- a closer look at the skills displayed by Pericles seems appropriate. Oliver Goldsmith was the author of a book about the history of Greece that was published in 1817 and digitized in 2010. On page 195 Goldsmith writes that Pericles began to change his behaviors after assuming the "whole authority of the state" (Goldsmith, 1817, 195). Prior to his ascendance to the highest rung of power in Athens, Pericles was a "fawning and humble suppliant," but once in power, thanks to his ability to chose words that moved people in the direction he wanted them to move, he practiced "…the haughty airs of royalty" (Goldsmith, 195).

Sometimes Pericles would "…win his fellow citizens over to his will," Goldsmith explains; but other times, when Pericles found citizens to be "obstinate," he would, through his polished rhetoric, "compel them to consult their own interests" (195). And so, between "power and persuasion, public profusion and private economy, political falsehood and private integrity," Pericles took over as the total ruler of Athens, Goldsmith writes (195). Moreover, his speeches and his ability to twist minds through word usage meant that his "enemies" became "…the enemies of the state" (Goldsmith, 195). Clearly the Athenians were greatly "impressed" with the "exhortation of Pericles," Goldsmith continues on page 203.

One of Pericles' most notable speeches was the "Funeral Oration" he delivered in 430 BCE; it was the end of the first year of the Peloponnesian War and a large assembly of people gathered outside the walls of the city to witness the huge funeral pyre where the bodies of dead soldiers had been (or were being) burned. Pericles said:

"I have no wish to make a long speech on subjects familiar to you all: so I shall say nothing about the warlike deeds by which we acquired our power…what I want to do is, in the first place, to discuss the spirit in which we faced our trials and also our constitution and the way of life which has made us great. After that I shall speak in praise of the dead, believing that this kind of speech is not inappropriate to the present occasion, and that this whole assembly, of citizens and foreigners, may listen to it with advantage…" (Murphy, et al., 2013).

Pericles was skilled at first telling his audience what he was not going to speak about and instead turning their attention to a softer theme. In this case he chose a more pleasant theme than death, which he described as "…the spirit in which we faced our trials" (Murphy). This device has been used effectively by business icons and social and political leaders over the years, including Dr. Martin Luther King. In his speech the night that he was assassinated in Memphis (where he had gone to rally people behind a garbage strike) King said, "The question is not, 'If I stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to me?' The question is, 'If I do not stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them?'"

Using "Soft Power" to influence audiences

An article in the website of the Business School at the University of Navarra points to the four dimensions of "soft power," which is defined as persuasiveness. The first dimension is "emotional intelligence," which entails the speaker recognizing his or her own feelings and more importantly the feelings of "…those of the person or persons he or she is speaking to (Leggett, 2013).

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Empathy certainly enters into the speaker's soft power; what is the attitude of the listeners? How can I change their attitudes so they mesh with my message?

The second dimension of "soft power" that Leggett presents is the actual message being communicated, which doesn't have to be "grandiose" in its vision but it must be wholly relevant to the situation in which the speech is given (Leggett). The third dimension is the most salient to this paper -- the "rhetoric," which communicates the vision of the speaker, and the credibility of the speaker (Leggett). The speaker must, as Pericles surely did, be able to create exactly "…the right emotional environment" for the message to be received. The three languages that Leggett describes when evaluating the quality of rhetoric are "…the languages of feeling, meaning, and action." Leggett references Aristotle's view of rhetoric: to wit, the speaker must feel "…the same emotions while speaking that he expects his audience to experience," and Pericles did that.

Is persuasion more important today than ever before?

The Harvard Business Press published a book called The Essentials of Power, Influence, and Persuasion, and in this book the authors assert that a great percentage of people in the American workforce "…have grown up questioning authority" and hence they don't respond positively when "…told what to do" (Society for Human Resource Management). What they do respond to is quality persuasiveness; when they are convinced through effective persuasive rhetoric that there is a "logic and benefit" of doing things "…a particular way," they do act in response (Society for Human Resource Management).

Of course the persuasive rhetoric must be presented by a person with credibility, who has a good understanding of his or her audience, who possesses a "solid argument" to be sold, and who engages in "effective communication" (Society for Human Resource Management). The cornerstone to effective persuasiveness is "credibility"; and if the speaker doesn't have a lot of credibility at the start of the presentation, he or she can build credibility through the persuasive power of the speech. Moreover, a speaker can build trust in his audience through the emotion, sincerity and credibility one puts into a presentation (Society for Human Resource Management).

Business leaders whose coy and creative use of language propelled them to the top

Lee Iacocca -- Chrysler Corporation

Lee Iacocca was the CEO of Chrysler Corporation at a time when the company was struggling to compete with imports from Japan, autos that got much better mileage than U.S.-made cars. In 1978, Iacocca began to speak out about Chrysler's problems, but he didn't stop there. He also addressed -- in his powerful voice, with body language that showed he was a person committed to his cause, and with words that made an immediate impression on his audiences -- social issues, political issues, along with business and economic issues (Seeger, 1994).

His style was "direct," Seeger writes, "and highly credible"; and his "blunt discussion of business and social problems" touched the hearts and minds of white collar and blue collar workers. He was aware that he had credibility and explained how he achieved that credibility as a speaker: "People are hungry for somebody to tell the truth" (Seeger, 17). Iacocca's message was believable for the same reasons that the Society for Human Resource Management explained in the section above this one: he knew his audiences (and knew how to captivate the media); he established trust and hence, credibility; and his rhetoric was relevant to the listener's ears. Moreover, he was skilled at using words -- like Pericles did -- that stirred people up if they needed to be awakened. And if government seemed a bit uppity and out of touch with the middle class, he turned his verbalized scorn towards Washington, D.C., much to the delight of the tax-paying man in the street who was weary and wary of do-nothing politicians.

Iacocca's notoriety was one of his great strengths, and he used his notoriety brilliantly. For example he was smart enough to use Chrysler's resurrection (which he nearly single-handedly accomplished) as a metaphor, a symbol, of America's "larger economic struggle" (Seeger, 17). Chrysler was a microcosm of America's problems, he insisted, and (after nearly going bankrupt but being bailed out by the U.S. Treasury, which Iacocca had demanded) Chrysler's renaissance pointed to practical "and tested solutions" for America (Seeker, 17). Iacocca was unsurpassed when it comes to linking his own automobile….....

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