Adolf Hitler: A Transformational Leader Adolf Hitler: A Transformational Leader If there is such a thing as effective leadership, it involves enthusiasm, inspiration and devotion. Throughout his reign of dominance, the historical and contentious Adolf Hitler had possessed all of the listed traits; qualities in which a transformational leader seizes. Witherbee (2009) revealed that Adolf Hitler was an Australian-born German politician that was highly known as the leader of the Nazi Party. As a fascist and socialist, he took part in the Holocaust and World War II promoting the ideology of a central leadership.
Moreover, Hitler’s ultimate goal was to pursue and total Nazi-German hegemony. Regardless of the blatant amount of wrong doings and destruction that he perpetrated, it is inevitable that Hitler was one of the supreme leaders of our time. In addition, he was able to gain followers due to his influential statements, control his nation through persuasive methods, and achieved domination with an immense amount of determination. Hitler had a precise vision and was indomitable when it came to achieving complete authority over his people.
Furthermore, due to his charismatic speeches, manipulative strategies, and committed attitude, Adolf Hitler became a fine example of a transformational leader. In spite of the fact that he was labelled as one of the most controversial leaders, he was definitely a successful one. It is mandatory for a transformational leader to be able to work an audience through charisma and enthusiasm. Hitler (1933) said, “Let us pray in this hour that nothing can divide us, and that God will help us against the Devil! Almighty Lord, bless our fight! during his speech delivered at Berlin. It is evident that he used the interpretation of the practice of Christianity to influence his audience. Due to the fact that religion is one of the most influential impacts on human beings, it was a clear and wise choice for the dictator to subliminally enforce the influence of religion to interest his followers. Additionally, there is a sense of spirituality and hope from the speech that causes the audience to believe that Hitler would be the one to “help us against the Devil”.
It was clear that he was passionate towards his beliefs and sayings which encouraged people to follow him due to the fact that he seems convincing. Hitler also related his speech to his followers and made it seem as if his reign of authority is to better his people rather than his selfish desires. The dialect and tone used sends out an inspirational theme full of charisma, where he promised his people change to fulfill a better nation. It is essential for an effective leader to start off with effective and prominent words in order to lure in and attract followers.
Thus, a transformational leader must achieve process by injecting enthusiasm within their words – all of which Hitler has successfully achieved. Speech is undeniably powerful, but in order to transform devoted followers, a leader must be able to execute strategic planning. The component regarding charismatic speech is simply to expand followers; however, the ability to initiate process through tactics is crucial. In this case, Hitler used a substantial variety of propaganda to campaign his military and enforce power onto his nation.
Nazi propaganda became a crucial element for obtaining and maintaining the German power. There was a vision enforced and to carry out that vision, he must keep his followers interested and increasing in numbers. Evidently, from a study regarding Hitler on propaganda (Anonymous, 1951), he promoted Nazi propaganda through the newspapers, magazine, books, posters and films. A transformational leader must keep their followers engrossed in order to transform their nation and achieve dominance. He had constant articles targeting his political opponents and the Jewish nation.
The deceiving dictator also published several novels and books that promoted German nationalism and anti-Semitism. Moreover, visual propaganda such as posters was essential due to the fact that they were unavoidable at most times. They can easily distract youth and are memorable, leaving the followers captivated. As a result, Hitler received an immense amount of followers to join his military and it is evident that a powerful military is the foundation of a powerful nation. Therefore, in order to sustain motivation, he continuously broadcasted his campaign through visuals; he manipulated his followers and the media culture.
Hence, a transformational leader is determined to seek various methods to induce followers for further transformation – all in which Hitler has productively attained. Manifestly, for an efficient leader to reach a vision of transformation, a considerable amount of commitment must be involved when strategizing. Now that the transformational dictator had achieved a strong military base, along with a vast amount of followers, Adolf Hitler was committed to improving his nation and dominating countries. In order for any successful leader to achieve authority, they must remain committed throughout the process.
Day (2009) revealed that Hitler gained a passionate hate for people of Jewish decent due to several reasons; one reason concerning opposing religious beliefs and the assumption that Jews have betrayed Germany after their lost in World War I. Therefore, he promoted the stance of anti-Semitism in order to eliminate all Jews and achieve a better nation. In order to manage a better nation, it led to the traumatizing events of the Holocaust. His controversial ways relates to a transformational leader due to the reason that a transformational leader will not admit defeat.
They strive to better their followers and transform their surroundings into what they initially envisioned. Furthermore, due to the tremendous amount of supremacy that Hitler had gained from his commitment to control, he created mass massacre and murdered all homosexuals and Jews to create a superior nation. His confidence triggered a new set of vision and thus, he was committed to going beyond the limit. With refusal to pay his debt from World War I, Hitler decided to continue his process and invaded Poland. Hence, breaking out in destruction in which he initiated World War II where he also was defeated.
Furthermore, this requires for a transformational leader to expect the unexpected and be physically and emotionally prepared for any mishaps. Hitler remained committed throughout a large portion of his time of reign. Unfortunately, the determined leader committed suicide due to his defeat. As a result, Adolf Hitler represented qualities of a transformational leader through his effective speeches, deceiving tactics, and empowering devotion. The use of his powerful vocabulary and influential announcements allowed him to connect to the audience and attract followers.
Thus, was the start of his destruction where he later built a powerful military system due to his deceiving propagandas. He targeted whoever he felt was a threat towards his vision through visuals and texts. He manipulated the youth and the elder through different levels of media culture. Nevertheless, Hitler remained consistent and committed throughout his reign over authority. It is without argument that Hitler is one of the most criticized leaders for the fact that he committed harm to the world for such an extended period of time.
Regardless of the blatant fact that he was destructive and immoral, he succeeded in leading his nation to initiate the Holocaust and World War II – both being some of the most historical moments of all time. It is without question that a man who was able to trigger such controversy and destruction in the world contained enough qualities to be labelled as a superior leader. Conversely, he had a vision; he searched to complete and sell it, and maintained characteristics of a true and definite transformational leader.
As a fine example of a transformational leader, Adolf Hitler also tends to view the bigger image from a bird’s eye view, where close attention to mishaps were not acknowledged. Unquestionably, Hitler transformed not only his nation into what he almost envisioned, but he also transformed other countries and the world of today. References Anonymous, (1941, June 30). Hitler’s Plan of Campaign. New Republic. p. 874. Retrieved April 14, 2011, from EBSCOhost. Anonymous, Hitler on Propaganda. (1951). Quarterly Journal of Speech, 37(4), 440. Retrieved April 13, 2011, from EBSCOhost. Day, D. (2009). Our Brothers, the Jews. In, America (pp. 4-16). America Press. Retrieved April 14, 2011, from EBSCOhost. Ferencz, B. (2005). The Holocaust and the Nuremberg Trials. UN Chronicle, 42(4), 26. Retrieved April 12, 2011, from < http://search. ebscohost. com/login. aspx? direct =true&db=p3h&AN=20832640&lang=en-ca&site=pov-can>. Lerner, M. (1941). Hitler’s American Dream. New Republic, 104(23), 790. Retrieved April 13, 2011, from < http://web. ebscohost. com/pov/pdf? sid=d29900eb-214a-43da-be44-3d4b87b9437d%40sessionmgr110&vid=2&hid=25>. Witherbee, A. (2009). Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler, 1. Retrieved April 14, 2011, from EBSCOhost.
