Leadership & Creative & Critical Thinking

The answer to the question posed in the title of this essay likely depends on oneÆs definition of a leader. The really great an successful leaders in throughout history most certainly applied critical thinking to the situations confronting them as a part of the process of developing creating strategies that not only solved the immediate problem demanding attention, but also transformed the ways in which people addressed situations. These characteristics applied to leaders of society (political leaders, such as Julius Caesar), to leaders of armies (military leaders, such a Napoleon), and leaders of industry (business titans, such as Henry Ford). Did all leaders throughout history practice leadership in this way? The answer is ôof course notö.

Most leaders throughout history have lurched along from one crisis to the next in much the same way as most leaders behave today. At times, such leaders attain some of their goals. Seldom, however, do any of these leaders transcend the mundane or transform the way situations are confronted.

Did Julius Caesar, Napoleon, and Henry Ford know that they were applying the process of critical thinking to arrive at a creative solution? The likely answer is ôprobably notö, as they had more important issues to consider than such twaddle as managerial guru concepts such as critical thinking and creati

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ot surprisingly, Vaill (1996) and hundreds of other management gurus have the solution ù enroll in the latest leadership development course, buy the latest books on leadership, learn the newest jargon ù so that you can successfully travel through the ôwhite waterö. This approach, regardless of what Vaill (1996) might want one to think, is a part of the age-old issue of whether leadership is an art or a science. If leadership is an art, one is inherently capable of leadership. If leadership is a science, then leadership can be taught. One message that permeates VaillÆs (1996) Learning as a Way of Being to the same extent that it is permeated by ôwhite waterö is that effective leadership can be learned. To his credit, Vaill (1996) promotes ôexpressive learningö as opposed to ôinstitutional learningö (p. 136), but a basic message remains ù effective leadership can be learned. A generally accepted agreement on the definition leadership has eluded theorists and practitioners alike for scores of years. As might be expected of any concept that has appeared to defy definition, there is disagreement among the experts as to just what it involves. Some people contend that while leadership is of the utmost importance, and that no substi
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Approximate Word count = 1382
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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