Leadersip Excellence

A leader can be portrayed in numerous ways. Two leadership types that will be examined in this essay are the narcissistic and the authoritarianistic. The narcissistic leader, as proposed by the American cultural historian Christopher Lasch, is dependent on the glorious warmth of others combined with a fear of dependence, a sense of inner emptiness, boundless repressed rage and unsatisfied oral craving (Gabriel, 1999). The authoritarian leader is defined as a person who likes order and predictability, is rigid, intolerant, and has stereotyped thought patterns (Adorno et ali, 1950). Although these two genres are seen as being complete opposites of each other, through further analysis one can say that although they are different certain similarities can also be seen.

One of the reasons that have led to a leader’s development as an authoritarian or as a narcissist is their family background. Authoritarianism is said to be a result of hyper-critical, disciplinarian parents unable to display affection and love reflect on stereotyped thinking and conventional thoughts. AH is a perfect example since he led some lonely and isolated years during his adolescence during which he was abused by his short-tempered stepfather. In the contrary, excessively narcissistic people grow up in families with a lot of love and admiration and limited discipline with parents who pamper and “worship” them. An example is W. Clinton, who grew up in a family filled with love and warmth (Gabriel, 1999).

To begin, the authoritarian and narcissistic leaders’ expectations from their followers will be compared and contrasted. An authoritarian for instance, demands an overall devotion from his/ her surroundings and absolute obedience to orders and regulations. A vivid example is Adolph Hitler’s, from now on AH, way of ruling driven solely by his mentality. All the decisions made, from the ones that had immediate effect on him to the ones that concerned the actual direction of the armies in the...