Eleanor Roosevelt – A Perfect Role Model Of A Great Leader
Eleanor Roosevelt was born in 1884, in New York City, and she completely redefined the role of the first lady, as she advocated for human and women's rights among many other social causes. Other than changing the social perception of a First Lady, she was a perfect role model of a Great Leader to man and woman all over the world.
Even before being first lady, as her husband achieved success in politics, Eleanor started to dedicate her work to public service, working for the American Red Cross during World War I. The war liberated Eleanor from her executive and home services, it gave her the opportunity to have an impact in society. She provided emotional support and investigated the poor conditions of St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, where sailors who returned from war with mental illnesses were treated by the government. This was something very difficult for Eleanor to do, given her family history of mental diseases and alcohol problems, however as Eleanor once said, “You must do what you think you cannot do”, as she did, all her life. After investigating the medical care facility, she prompted the Navy Red Cross to create a recreation center there and a commission that improved the facility’s services.
In the decade of 1920, Eleanor gained more free time, as one of her husband’s secretaries assumed many of the traditional responsibilities of an official’s wife. Because of that, she spent her time pursuing an increasingly independent career in reform politics, writing and teaching. As First Lady of the New York State, between 1929 and 1933, Eleanor had a bigger platform and she used it to advocate that more women should develop lives, interests and talents that might take them beyond traditional women’s roles. Eleanor dramatically changed the role of the First Lady. She was the First Lady that served for the longest period, more than twelve years, and she served through two American traumatic events, the Great Depression and World War II. She was never happy to stay in the background and handle domestic matters, she gave press conferences and spoke out for human rights, children's causes and women's issues, as well as she focused on helping the country's poor and stood against racial discrimination.
After her husband’s death, contrary to what she stated that she wouldn’t continue her public service affairs, Eleanor Roosevelt continued to be a public figure in American society, where her activities were focused mostly in the areas of international peace and civil rights. She served as the only woman among the five American delegates to the United Nations, from 1945. She drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, probably the most enduring legacy of her life, that has been kept as the principal guide to assess a country’s treatment of its people. Eleanor Roosevelt did it all. She always followed her values and helped those who needed to be helped. She had a life that most women from her generation couldn’t, but the truth is that she paved the way for women all over the world, including myself, to feel empowered and capable of doing anything, nowadays. But the truth is that she didn’t only fight for gender equality, she fought for all types of equality, trying to make the world she was living in a better place for everyone. The way in which she lived her life demonstrates many powerful leadership lessons that anyone can learn from. Eleanor had a social conscience, a passion for politics and when combined with her gift of leadership, she was able to affect positive changes in the world.
Eleanor Roosevelt was a Great Leader for many reasons, among them is her capability to stand up for what she believed in. The greatest leaders take a stand for what they believe in even if it means taking risks, like Eleanor many times did. Eleanor many times used her position of power and influence for social change. Through her newspaper columns and radio broadcasts, she became the voice of many in need, such as working women, African Americans, youth and farmers. She created equal opportunities for women and made sure that there were appropriate jobs for artists. More so, Eleanor Roosevelt was instrumental in shaping the New Deal, a program aimed at helping those in need during the Great Depression.
Eleanor Roosevelt was a great leader because she embraced challenges and used her influence to make positive changes in the world. These are traits that successful leaders possess, so anyone that aspires to be a leader, should learn from Eleanor Roosevelt. When using the Trait Theory to analyze Eleanor Roosevelt’s leadership, she has all eight characteristics focused by the Theory: drive, leadership motivation, integrity, self-confidence, cognitive ability, knowledge of the domain, openness to new experiences and extraversion. All her life has clear examples of how she is defined by these characteristics. Eleanor Roosevelt had a lot of drive during her path, before, during and after being First Lady. In less turbulent time and in more turbulent time, like her role in the Great Depression and World War II. She also showed drive, during all her live, for everything she believed in, specifically general equality, to which she never stopped fighting for until she made a big positive impact in the world. Eleanor clearly had a leadership motivation and she used it in many social matters, but more so with the feminist movement, of which she was one of the main faces. She joined several women’s organizations and influenced the integration of women in many positions of the media, with her conferences that could only be attended by women, or the integration of as many qualified women into the Roosevelt Administration and the federal government in high- and mid-level administrative posts as possible. Her own career was a public example of what women could be capable of, if they were given the opportunities.
Integrity was also something that the “World’s First Lady” really focused on. She only did what she believed in and never supported what she was against. An example of that is when the Daughters of the American Revolution denied African American singer Marian Anderson from performing at the Constitution Hall, Eleanor resigned from the Association, because she was completely against racial prejudice. Self-confidence was also something that Eleanor didn’t lack of. All her courage to draw the path of success to women all over the world couldn’t have been done without confidence in herself. Eleanor was also a very intellectual person, she was a writer and lecturer. All her knowledge and passion for politics also allowed her to achieve everything she did, without ever doubting her own capability to solve national social problems (cognitive ability and knowledge of the domain). She was very flexible to all situations and her actions on World War II were an excellent example of that, as she didn’t fear being the first national figure who spoke with the people about what the Pearl Harbor Attack would mean, in terms of the changes of normal life and particularly for women and young men of enlistment age.
Lastly, she preferred to be among the people, instead of keeping to herself in the White House. She always visited all places that represented her beliefs, for example in 1938 she showed her opposition to segregation laws when she visited the Southern Conference for Human Welfare, where she moved her chair to between the “whites-only” and “colored-only” sections of an aisle. She also went to African American Howard University and got photographed with two uniformed male honor guards that escorted her. These are only two examples, but Eleanor always tried to be seen in places that were the representation of her values and fight for social equality.
Looking at another model, the Transformational Leadership Model, we can conclude that Eleanor Roosevelt was a truly Transformational Leader, she was visionary, inspiring, daring, a risk-taker, and a thoughtful thinker. Transformational Leaders are defined by inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, idealized influence and individualized consideration. All these marked Eleanor’s path and I will describe how in the next paragraphs. Eleanor always thrived to provide an inspirational motivation, always trying to inspire society to accept equality of all types, or to support those in need in the most difficult situations of her country. During her life, she kept a defined vision, mission and values, that always influenced her actions in the most diverse matters. Because of that, she had an impact in society and influenced people to change their mindsets in a time where mindsets weren’t easily changed. The “First Lady of the World” was also defined by her intellectual stimulation, by having no hesitation in discarding old beliefs of her won, after finding them unacceptable, such as her view on racism. Eleanor didn’t always understand the effect of racism on society, but by 1933, when her husband took office, her views had evolved to the point where equality of all races had become one of her core values as a person. She showed courage to accept new ideas in many other occasions throughout her live.
As for idealized influence, Eleanor clearly believed that only if she practices what she preaches, will others do the same, and that’s how she won the trust of American people, through her actions. There are countless examples of this, there are probably less examples of times when Eleanor preached something, and she didn’t do the same. An obvious example took place during World War II, Eleanor was the first one to talk to the people directly to explain the consequences of the war, but she didn’t stop there and went to the White House eat and drink everything she was able to. She actually put the entire White House system on the same food and gas rationing as the rest of the country, participating in air raids and learning how to use a gas mask, she made certain that her life in the White House mirrored that of the general population, something that most “leaders” don’t do.
Lastly, Eleanor Roosevelt showed great individual consideration to the American people. She spoke directly to women, to African-Americans, to farmers, to those in need and to artists. She always looked at her people as a group of different people that needed different attentions, she never though they were all the same. She also showed her appreciation for minorities, herself included as a woman, and tried with her power to include those minorities in high positions of the government and other influential organizations. Everything so that she could achieve her vision and have the biggest positive change in the world, her world, our world.
People who aspire to be leaders one day, myself included, should read about Eleanor Roosevelt’s life, her aspirations, her actions and her accomplishments for society. She stuck to her beliefs and never betrayed them. She acted so she could see a change in a world she believed was still very unperfect. And the truth is that she never gave up on trying to change the world, not even after her husband’s death and the end of her position as First Lady, as she was one of the creators of the Declaration of Human Rights, something that completely represents Eleanor’s vision, a documents that defends people’s wellbeing, rights and opportunities, independently of who we are talking about.
