Class - I was asked this particular question by a student some time back: Is there a place for weakness in the definition of leadership? How do we define weakness? Are we looking at a character trait as in 'moral fiber' or a physical trait is in 'physically able to start and finish the task.' Are we evaluating a behavior as in 'unwilling to stand up to/for a given position' or are we looking through a subjective lens of identity (male, female, right, left, democrat, republican, independent, liberal, conservative, among them).

As I say, I was asked this particular question by a student some time back. How do we define weakness? Are we looking at a character trait as in 'moral fiber' or a physical trait is in 'physically able to start and finish the task.' Are we evaluating a behavior as in 'unwilling to stand up to/for a given position' or are we looking through a subjective lens of identity (male, female, right, left, democrat, republican, independent, liberal, conservative, among them). Depending on the context for the evaluation (present day, historical reference, politics, private sector, medical, technology, research, health), we likely are evaluating leadership through a combination of aforementioned positions and then some! Further, we all bring our experiences to the table as well as the sum total of our understanding of the world, our place in it and the processes that govern our place in the world respectively (what I also refer to as our 'best educated guess' when it comes to describing what we know and how we have come to acquire that knowledge). To answer the question directly, if a sense of humanity is considered being weak, then yes I believe there is a place for weakness in the definition of leadership. There again however, you have to evaluate the context for exercising humanity. We could likely write a dissertation on this very question, at the very least write a very interesting journal article! How does the remainder of our class view this question?