Analysis
Main Conclusions
Stefan Kornelius analyzes the leadership style of Angela Merkel – the Chancellor of Germany. The country’s citizens go to election in a few days and in spite of her successful eight-year leadership, the Chancellor might lose the elections according to Stefan Kornelius (2013). The editor of Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper says that the Chancellor’s successes may not serve her well on the Election Day because she is the “enemy of herself”. Arguably, her leadership style is too conservative for a politician.
Assumptions
The author makes several assumptions. For example, the comparison of Angela Merkel to Margaret Thatcher is meant to enhance his position of the conservative nature of the Chancellor. Notably, the author uses other political duels to elucidate her conservativeness. Although the author is adept with the political happenings in Europe, it is instructive to state that not all leadership styles are the same (Kornelius, 2013).
Reasons
Stefan Kornelius (2013) notes that Angela Merkel is too conservative politically. While she enjoys successes such as playing a critical role in averting the Euro Crisis, maintaining a robust German economy, and taking sides that are favorable to most Germans, the Chancellor might lose elections. She does not enjoy political fights (Northouse, 2013). Angela Merkel is a transformational leader as demonstrated by her role in the Euro Crisis. The German economy still enjoys a strong position in Europe. Transformational leaders encourage democratic rule but at the same time are well-informed (Lussier & Achua, 2012). The leaders have the skills for instituting turn-around strategies in organizations that are approaching total collapse (Bass & Riggio, 2006).
Evaluation
Overall Evaluation
Angela Merkel is the presumptive leader of the European continent. Many countries are watching the elections with a keen interest. Germans are not enthusiastic about electing her since most of them perceive her as uncharismatic though politically strong and popular. The article is comparing the head of Germany with other world leaders such as Obama, Cameron, and Putin. Although these leaders have achieved much less, however, they take the limelight from Merkel since they have honed the skill political visibility. Germans may be looking to elect a leader of such caliber in spite of the successes of Angela Merkel (Kornelius, 2010).
Acceptability of reasons
The reasons that Stefan Kornelius gives resonate with majority of pundits and Germans. If anything, the Chancellor has defended her seat almost unsuccessfully on two occasions. The author also says that Angela Merkel solves crises one at a time (Kornelius, 2013). This means she might not handle pressure emanating from different directions. Stefan Kornelius (2013) notes that the Chancellor does not enjoy duels that put her in unpopular positions.
For example, during the Libya crisis, Merkel took the center position leaving Barrack Obama to receive all the criticism (Fisher, 2010). Leadership theories posit charismatic leaders as excellent users of individual appeal to get things done to their expectations. John F. Kennedy was down-to-earth and very humane. Using these abilities, he strived to instill a united America that transcended bias through race or class. Martin Luther’s oratorical and community-organizing abilities helped him drum up support for a racism-free America (Field et al., 2002). So, it is hard to argue that Angela Merkel is charismatic.
References
Bass, B. & Riggio, R. (2006).Transformational Leadership. Mahwah, N.J.: Thomson/South-Western.
Field, K. (2002). Effective Subject Leadership. London, United Kingdom: Routledge.
Fisher, A. (2010). Critical Thinking, an Introduction. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
Kornelius, S. (2010). Angela Merkel: The Chancellor and Her World. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
Kornelius, S. (2013). Is Angela Merkel Too Boring for Germany? Web.
Lussier, R. & Achua, C. (2012). Leadership: Theory, Application, Skill Development. Mason, Ohio: Thomson/South-Western.
Northouse, G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Sydney, Australia: Sage.