To what extent can personality traits predict a persons leadership Essay

To what extent can personality traits predict a persons leadership abilities - Essay Example To begin with, it is important to explain why Hitler was a bad leader. He certainly was responsible for the deaths of millions of people. That in itself is bad. But we know above all that Hitler was a bad leader because he left his country in ruins. He, more than anyone else—including the allies—was the reason that Germany was a divided, destroyed country in 1945. His erratic, haughty, and morbid personality could have predicted that terrible result (Robertson 1963). To begin with, history is important to putting Hitler's personality into perspective. World War One was a disaster for Germany. Many say that the war began as a result of German aggression ended with a German defeat. The winners of the war, Britain and France, were not in a mood to forgive after the terrible destruction of previous four years. They wanted maximum reparations from the German people for their losses during the war. That is why they chose to impose the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty was dest ructive for the German economy. Into this mess came Hitler, promising a revival. He promised a new Germany that would last a thousands years and would be a guiding light to the world. What type of man was he? Hitler was a failed painter. He came from a background that was not very good. He behaved erratically and had trouble making good relationships with people. He had grandiose ideas about himself, but throughout his life until that point had been a failure in everything he did. These were not the personality traits one looks for in a leader. Usually, people seek leaders from good background, who have confidence and credentials. Hitler managed to appeal to people because he blamed other people for Germany's suffering. He told Germans that they were not responsible for the tragedy that had befallen them. He told them to look elsewhere. He said he would lead them out of the wilderness (Robertson 1963). This was all very appealing. He was able to take over by force based on this argu ments. Rather than revolt against him, Germans accepted him as their leader. But what his personality and his qualities gave to the German people was more death and more destruction. Because of his erratic personality and poor qualities, he made multiple mistakes in starting and prosecution the Second World War. His actions led to a new and this time total defeat for the German nation. He was the worst kind of leader and many of his personality qualities would have predicted this. Among the most serious mistakes Hitler made based on his personality was attacking the Soviet Union in 1941. The truth is that one of his main personality qualities was paranoia: this is not a good quality to have in a leader. He suspected everyone around him at all times, including the leaders of other countries with which he made deals, such as Stalin. Since the remilitarization of the Rhineland in 1936, Hitler had been on a roll, winning success after success. He had successfully taken over Czechoslovak ia and Austria, and he had done what seemed impossible: the invasion of Poland and France. His western front could be threatened only by Britain, which was in no position to do so. His major concern was with the Eastern front. That was not a problem because he had made peace with Stalin in what was called the Ribbentrop-Molotov compact. This had divided Poland. The truth was that Stalin didn't care what Hitler did to Europe. Stalin didn't care if Hitler took the whole continent so long as there was peace between the two