Avatar Dragons

If someone had to be a good leader, they would most likely have to possess different qualities based of the circumstances but in my opinion, the most general ones are: courage, the ability to know good ideas from bad, rationality, the ability to listen, a sense of morality, intelligence, the ability to sacrifice, oral skill, the ability to recognize when to disclose information and the ability to respect others. Courage is important for a leader, because both in war, and in other scenarios a leader needs to be able to stand up and be uncowed by threats or danger, because otherwise if all they do is hide then their people will be left without guidance, and nothing will happen to prevent loss.And if there is no action, then people will become more vulnerable, and others can take advantage of that.

A leader also needs to be able to reconize good ideas from bad ideas, because bad ideas can come from anyone and everywhere, as well as good ideas, but good ideas can be confused for bad ideas, and vice versa, therefore bad ideas could plague the people of the leader, while good ideas that could help them are withheld from them, by their leader. Also, the leader could be sabotaged by his advisors, who might purposely suggest bad ideas to help ruin the leader and his people, and if they don’t realize they are bad ideas, then others could take them and their people down easily. For example, if George Washington had assaulted the British without listening to advice then he would have lost the war by leading the troops into a trap over and over again. In fact, if he hadn’t recognized the sheer brilliance of Henry Knox’s idea to obtain the guns of Fort Ticonderoga, then the siege of Boston would have lasted much longer. Troop morale would have lowered, and the British reinforcements would have arrived and instantly destroyed the Revolutionary Army in battle. Another excellent quality for a leader is the ability to listen. Listening is one, if not the most important quality a leader needs to have because if a leader isn’t able to listen, then they may be unable to give orders based of the situation, because they may not know all the details, and act irrationally. That could potentially cause an enormous risk. Say for example if Gideon Welles hadn’t know about the SS Virginia, the first ironclad then the whole blockade would have been destroyed in an afternoon. With its newfound relative economic prosperity, the south could have purchased more supplies and increased the strength of its declining military. That would prolong the war, which would cost additional lives and give the south another chance to win the war. Plus, if they don’t listen, then only the leaders ideas will be used, and sometimes those ideas can go horribly wrong, like when Abraham Lincoln’s choice of General McClellan to lead the assault on the southern capital backfired so bad that the Union ended up losing an extraordinary sum of supplies and men to the southern generals. Plus, if a leader doesn’t possess a good sense of morality, then they could do horrible things to people, or do the wrong thing and lose support and respect because of it. For example, if Abraham Lincoln hadn’t made the Civil War about emancipation then the nations of Europe would have most likely continued supporting the southern states for their own economic gain, for it didn’t appear as if anything about slavery would have changed if either side won.A good leader also requires a reasonable amount of intelligence, as intelligence is practically required for politics, to prevent people from manipulating you, choosing the right option in a choice, and so many more various different things that a leader needs to do.For example, if Winston Churchill hadn’t helped plan D-Day then the Germans would have most likely kept control of France and expanded their empire to Britain. Then, they would keep conquering the rest of the world until someone stopped them. But, by then the damage would have been done and a enormous amount of additional deaths would have happened.

Additionally, if a leader cannot make sacrifices for the greater good, then more will suffer because of it.For example, if America hadn’t dropped the A-bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki out of fear of slaying thousands of innocent civilians, then most likely the Japanese would have kept on fighting until they were all slaughtered which is because they believe surrender is the worst thing one can do, and having every Japanese person killed is a horrific crime, just because they wouldn’t surrender. Another thing a leader needs to know how to do is deliver good speeches, or in other words, be a skilled orator.

Being a skilled orator is important, because addressing people in a composed and confident manner is important, and saying the right things at the right time is also really important.

For example, if Lincoln hadn’t addressed the nation with his masterpiece of a speech, the Gettysburg Address then it would have been left in a state of shock and misunderstanding after the horrors of the battle. Knowing when to disclose information is also important, because disclosing information at the wrong times to the wrong people could cause a severe problem, because information can easily cause mass panic and a state of emergency. For example, if Kennedy had told everyone about how close the US and the USSR had come to nuclear war during the Cuban Missile crisis immediately, then the panic would have been unimaginable. Finally, a leader needs to respect people, because respect is the most important tool for diplomacy. For example, if John F Kennedy hadn’t respected the USSR, then nuclear destruction would have been inevitable. Those are the qualities I believe leaders should possess, but which do you think a leader should have?