“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them” (Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, III.iv.39-43).
Replace “greatness” with “leadership,” and the meaning of these famous lines remains intact: leadership is a complex, multi-facetted concept that arises from many different situations. The born leader, or great man, is believed to have innate leadership skills. The “Great Man theory” created by Thomas Carlyle “assumes that the traits of leadership are intrinsic. That simply means that great leaders are born, not made” and “great leaders will rise when confronted with the appropriate situation” (Leadership Theories- Leadership Central). Those who achieve leadership often undergo some form of training to develop strong leadership skills. Where does that leave those with leadership thrust upon them? They could find themselves in a precarious situation in which followers rely on them for direction, but they may not have extensive experience with leadership. Henry IV is one of these leaders. Henry was born into a royal family and grew to be a wild adolescent, but found himself crowned as king of England after his father’s sudden death. Diana, Princess of Wales was in a similar situation after her marriage to Charles, Prince of Wales. She was suddenly a public figure subject to the scrutiny applied to royalty. Henry and Diana dealt specifically with social issues and the politics related to those issues, both of which were thrust upon them after they assumed a position of power. They developed a leadership approach based on inspiring their followers to action.
Henry and Diana’s responses to being thrust into a position of power speak volumes about their strong leadership abilities. Although Henry was a royal by blood, he showed no signs of being a born leader, and as a youth, he favored associating with lowlifes and getting into mischief over his duties as a future king. His reputation precedes him, as the clergymen Canterbury and Ely marvel at his sudden turnaround from reveler to ruler: “The breath no sooner left his father’s body / But that his wildness, mortified in him, / Seemed to die too.” (Shakespeare, Henry V, I.i.27-29). The clergymen are not the only ones who recognize this change. The French king and his son, the Dauphin, doubt Henry is capable of ruling England. The Dauphin says England “is so idly kinged, / Her scepter so fantastically borne / By a vain, giddy, shallow, humorous youth” (Shakespeare, Henry V, II.iv.27-29) but a Constable quickly rebukes them, saying they “are too much mistaken in this king” (Shakespeare, Henry V, II.iv.32) and mentions how well he treated the French ambassadors: “with what great state he heard their embassy, / How well supplied with noble councillors, / How modest in exception, and withal / How terrible in constant resolution” (Shakespeare, Henry V, II.iv.34-37). The popular opinion of Henry was not in his favor at the beginning of his rule, and he would have to prove his ability as a leader when France and England clash later on in the play.
Diana grew up in an aristocratic family. Despite her socio-economic status, her home life as a youth was rather tumultuous, thanks to her parents’ divorce and her struggles in school (Panorama Interview, BBC). When she married Prince Charles, she had no intention of using her marriage as a means to gain power. In an interview for the Panorama series on BBC, she said “as for becoming Queen… it was never at the forefront of my mind when I married my husband: it was a long way off, that thought” (Panorama Interview, BBC). The most troubling aspect of her rise to the title of Princess was the drastic amount of media attention she and her husband received. She describes an incident where a personal remark became wildly circulated in the media, “I made the grave mistake once of saying to a child I was thick as a plank, in order to ease the child’s nervousness, which it did. But that headline went all round the world, and I rather regret saying it.” (Panorama Interview, BBC). This harsh scrutiny worked against her because the media tried to paint her as foolish and incapable of having the same leadership abilities as any other royal. She was determined to define herself beyond what others said about her create an honest public image, so she looked to humanitarian efforts to show her gifts for compassion generosity, and inspiration.
Both Henry and Diana had tumultuous upbringings that did not include fostering of innate skills or extensive learning of leadership. Their public image was not highly favorable at the beginning of their ascent to power, but they recognized the deficit between their real character and the one the public perceived, and sought to close the gap. Their method of gaining and building trust with their followers was to inspire others to unite for a cause. As they became more accustomed to their leadership roles, both leaders had visions for their followers- to create social change. Not only did they inspire their followers to unite over their causes, but they also backed up their visions with actions and leading by example.
The most decisive moment for Henry was his inspiring speech at the Battle of Agincourt. His address to his troops in the face of near-certain defeat is probably one of the most well known motivational speeches of all time. Henry understands the fear of slaughter at the hands of the French and seizes that moment to lead his troops into battle. “If we are marked to die, we are enough / To do our country loss, and if to live, / … the greater share of honour” (Shakespeare, Henry V, IV.iii.20-22), and encourages his troops that if they succeed in this battle, every Saint Crispin’s day “[f]rom this day to the ending of the world / But we in it shall be remembered” (Shakespeare, Henry V, IV.iii.58-59). He motivated his troops to fight, and also fights alongside them in battle so that he places himself in the same danger as his troops, which shows how he values England and his subjects over his own life. Business expert John Whitney analyses why this speech is so effective in his book Power Plays (co-authored by Tina Packer): “A great leader must persuade his followers that they are a part of a team with a joint mission. He must convince them that at the end of their labors, there will be large rewards.” He continues, “most employees want to be inspired; they would prefer their work to have meaning” (Power Plays, 170). In Henry’s case, his employees are his troops. He uses the power of persuasion to inspire and lead his troops to victory.
A major goal of each leader is to create social change for the benefit of their respective subjects. Henry V wanted to protect England from destructive forces and allow the country to prosper under his rule. In order to further protect his subjects from threat of foreign powers, namely France, he negotiates a marriage between himself and Princess Catherine of France. “Take her, fair son, and from her blood raise up / Issue to me, that the contending kingdoms / Of France and England, whose very shores look pale / With envy of each other’s happiness, / May cease their hatred” (Shakespeare, Henry V, V.ii.360-363).
This union allows Charles VI to keep his throne over France while keeping France under English control. Thanks to Henry and his leadership and decisive victory at Agincourt, England no longer feels the unrest of civil wars and tensions with France as they did when Henry assumed the throne. The favorable result will also inspire faith and support for Henry from his subjects because he has successfully proven himself as a leader who puts his country before himself.
While Diana did not lead troops to battle as Henry did, she led another valiant front line effort in the forms of humanitarian work and championing social change. During the height of Diana’s publicity in the late 1980’s to mid 1990’s, the HIV/AIDS epidemic was at crisis levels, especially in developing countries. The belief that the disease could be spread through brief physical contact (such as a handshake), combined with inaccurate media coverage of the issue, created a widespread panic. Those suffering from the disease were subject to immense scrutiny and shame, which prevented them from seeking testing and life-saving treatment. (Witness, BBC). Media, technology, and the fast-paced culture of the late 20th century made information travel much faster than in the days of Henry V, meaning information could reach just about anywhere in a short amount of time. Unfortunately, this lightning fast communication also worked to spread inaccurate information, which is one of the main reasons why the AIDS epidemic caused such widespread paranoia.
In an interview for the BBC series Witness, John O’Reilly, who was a nurse in the HIV/AIDS ward of London Middlesex Hospital in 1995, describes his firsthand account of how Diana helped to dispel inaccurate information about the disease and caused immense social change for the better. “The headlines were scare-mongering, ignorant, misleading to the public… the ‘gay plague’ was the homophobia, not the virus,” (Witness, BBC) O’Reilly said of the social attitudes at the time. He witnessed Diana shake the hand of an AIDS patient and described the effect she had on how the public viewed AIDS and those who suffered from it. “If a royal was allowed to go in and shake a patient’s hand, somebody at the bus stop or the supermarket could do the same, that really educated people” (Witness, BBC). One simple act of human kindness in her own nation sparked a global awareness of the reality of AIDS and inspired people to treat others with compassion. It also encouraged those who were bombarded with misinformation about AIDS to seek facts about the disease and the social stigma surrounding it.
While leadership is a dynamic concept that can be examined from many different perspectives and theories, the truth of the matter is if a leader has characteristics such as intelligence, determination, awareness, motivation, persuasion, etc. but does not inspire followers to action, that leader is simply not effective. It takes more than checking boxes on a list to incite followers to unite over a cause and make an effort to achieve a goal. Ideally, these individuals who truly embody the requirements as well as the spirit of a leader will inspire their followers and create a lasting impact on them. As Henry inspired his soldiers to fight at Agincourt for themselves and their country and Diana brought about significant social change, they have created a legacy of strength, goodwill, and encouragement because they proved their worth as leaders by backing their statements up with action. They pushed their followers to unite for a cause that would benefit their society. Even though they did not ask for or seek a position of leadership initially, they rose to the challenge when they were put in that role and succeeded. Their successes as leaders through inspiring followers required them to set an example for others to follow, and even today, people still look up to Henry and Diana as visionaries of their times because of the tremendous impact they had on their societies.