Chase Whipps

Prof. Trotter

English 1201

20 Jan 2019

Leaders create the history we tell and the way our societies work today. This is

what has propelled me to ask the question “what makes a great leader”. I have always

admired those who can get large amounts of people to organize and accomplish a goal.

Leadership is defined by the people who were most influential to our human civilization.

All peoples look up to someone to guide and lead them. Not only are leaders found

amongst humans found in our human civilization but also amongst the various groups of

the animal kingdom. The most effective groups in history were lead by great leaders. I

wanted to define what puts someone in that category and what traits they have to put

them in that position. I have always been amazed and motivated by the people in my life

who can make things happen with groups of people. Why do people look up to one

specific person when their are many others willing to take the same role? Why are some

people bad at these roles; why are a small group of people great at them? These are

the questions I have been asking for a long time and I felt that choosing it for a large

research project would be the perfect way to answer them.

I feel very strongly for this question because it has been so important to our

history and our societies today. The majority of people that I look up to are strong

leaders and the people that I look up to have shaped me into the person that I am

today. I think that this topic is something individuals should look into more often when
trying to accomplish goals. Life is like a long to do list and if you can not lead your own

self then you are not going to be able to do the things in your control that you want to be

done. I believe that strong leaders are the people most people influential to our society.

The traits that they have should be studied more often by groups and individuals. I do

not know much about the topic yet. But what I do know is that leaders affected a lot of

the way we live today and the way we will for years to come. That fact fascinates me

day in and day out.

There is a lot psychological studying of these leaders that I will have to do. The

mind that makes these people who they are is most important to the question. Many

leaders have bad traits but the most important ones got them into their leadership

position. I am hoping to learn how they act relating to what made them make the

decisions that they did. I also want to learn how people can implement these traits to

make them better people and leaders. Most of the places I will look to find my answers

will be biographies and other books studying a similar question about leaders. There are

many places I can look to find out something about important leaders and what made

them who they are. Two big questions I have are “what is a common theme between

great leaders?” and “how do great leaders react to the problems that they face in their

position?”. With this research project I hope to answer the big questions I have

proposed and learn a lot from them.