Case Study 3.3 FORGING CHARACTER THROUGH HARDSHIP

British explorer Ernst Shackleton, Abraham Lincoln, abolitionist Frederick Douglass, German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and science writer Rachel Carson would appear to have nothing in common. With the exception of Lincoln and Douglass, their paths never crossed. They came from different eras, countries, and backgrounds and pursued different objectives. Explorer Ernest Shackleton wanted to bring back his crew alive from a disastrous arctic expedition of 19151917. Lincoln set out to save the union. Escaped slave Frederick Douglass worked to end slavery and bring the vote to blacks following the Civil War. Dietrich Bonhoeffer opposed Hitler. Author Rachel Carson challenged the chemical industry and helped launch the environmental movement in her 1962 book Silent Spring.

Despite their apparent differences, Harvard business historian Nancy Koehn identifies several threads that bind these figures together. To begin, they were all leaders who had a significant impact on their times and on the years that followed. Further, as leaders they were made not born. Though they had energy, ambition, and intelligence, there was no guarantee that any of them would shape their worlds. Lincoln was an unschooled farm boy, Douglass spent the first years of his life as the property of whites, and Carson grew up in a house without plumbing. But they were willing to work on themselves. Lincoln taught himself the law while delivering mail, for example, while Douglass bribed street kids to teach him to read. Carson taught herself how to write for a popular audience. Each embraced a purpose larger than him or herself and led out of a sense of empathy and compassion. Shackleton made sure the physical and emotional needs of his crewmembers came before his own needs. Bonhoeffer engaged in small acts of service and kindness to his seminary students and later visited those who were imprisoned by the Nazis. Lincoln ended his second inaugural address by declaring

With malice toward none, with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nations wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan.

Hardship, more than any other thread, defines this group of leaders. Each went through a series of challenges. Shackleton lost his ship, was stranded on pack ice, and had to sail 800 miles on a small dinghy to rescue his crew. Lincoln oversaw the slaughter of his fellow citizens and the loss of a son, all while being vilified by the press and much of the public when the Civil War appeared unwinnable. Douglass was pursued by bounty hunters and faced death threats. Bonhoeffer was imprisoned for two years by the Gestapo and then executed. Carson wrote her most influential work during the latter stages of breast cancer.

Each of the five leaders faced hardships with courage, deciding to take a single step forward into the turbulence and then taking the next step after that (p. 441). They tried to learn lessons from the crises and grew from these experiences. For example, Bonhoeffer, who came from the most privileged background of the five leaders, developed the fortitude to resist Gestapo interrogation, comfort his fellow prisoners and come up with a new vision of Christianity while in jail. All five learned to slow down, to think carefully, and to assess the bigger picture. (Lincoln was known for writing telegrams and letters, putting them in a drawer and then never sending them.) They kept pursing their goals but were able to adapt their strategies. Douglass broke from fellow abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison in the 1850s to start a newspaper and employ new strategies for attacking slavery. Shackleton did everything he couldestablishing routines, celebrations, walking, sailingto keep his mission and men alive. Carson shifted her focus from writing about the natural world to defending it.

Koehns five leaders were frequently disappointed but never abandoned their causes. The author notes that we have much to learn from their steadfastness in the face of catastrophe:

But these individuals didnt give up. They tried to walk with integrity, thoughtfulness, and a sense of purpose. In this sense, the very way that each lived was an act of leadership unto itself, whose impact resonatesand calls to usin the early twenty-first century. (p. 448)

Discussion Probes

What tells us more about a leaders charactertheir successes or failures?

Why do some people step into crisis while others retreat? How can we encourage ourselves to follow the example of these five leaders?

How did these leaders demonstrate adaptive capacity?

Can you think of other prominent leaders who successfully weathered and learned from crises?

How have hardships evolved your core beliefs and shaped your character? This reflection should be presented in a manner to enhance your ethical self-awareness.

(a) Select three of the leaders mentioned above and conduct research to further learn about each leaders style of leadership. Subsequently, identify and analyze a relevant leadership theory that would reflect each persons style of leadership. (b) Informed by your analysis, evaluate the three leadership theories to select one that is consistent with your preferred style of leadership and justify your selection. Please be sure to provide an application context (e.g., where you plan to apply your selected theory) as part of your justification.