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According to the neo-emergent leadership theory, leadership consists of information put forth by the leader or other stakeholders, rather than specific behaviors. This results in a plethora of historical and even present day heroes that may be undeserving. There are plenty of celebrities and other public figures that are not necessary good role models or even responsible for the things they are credited with. This may be disheartening but is a part of being a good leader. A good leader has the right person working for him/her in order to come off the in the best possible light.
The first person who came to mind when thinking of a neo-emergent leader is “Teflon Ron”. During his administration, Ronald Reagan was given the aforementioned nickname. No matter how many times he slipped up his record could not be smeared. The Reagan administration was chock full of scandal. One of these scandals was the rigging of the Housing and Urban Development grant to favor campaign contributing Republicans. Another was the EPA scandal causing over 20 employees to be fired for receiving kickbacks. There is also the almost unheard of “debategate” where Reagan gained access to incumbent President Jimmy Carter’s debate notes prior to the final debate. Perhaps most notably is the Iran-Contra Affair. Despite all of these scandals and more, Reagan is always noted as one of the greatest American Presidents.
Bill Clinton is another example of a Teflon president. Clinton did many great things while he was in office but was also involved in one of the most memorable scandals of any US president. Everyone knows the name Monica Lewinski and that President Bill Clinton “did not have sexual relations with that woman”. At the most recent Democratic Convention, former President Bill Clinton gave President Barack Obama a run for this money. His speech received mass approval just as his presidency is remembered.
On the much smaller scale such as the class presidencies here at RPI, neo-emergent leadership theory is still present. I am the president of the class of 2014. As class president, I have class council members who all have assigned positions. At the end of the day, I am consistently thanked by outsiders and members of the administration for things that I actually had very little to do with. I am always involved in every project but many decisions are left in the hands of the class council. At the end of the day, this improves my reputation as the known leader.
I believe neo-emergent leadership theory is very valid. It is essentially validating the idea of public relations. There is a reason why every person in the limelight has a publicist. Much of the public’s opinion on a person is really the doings of his/her entourage and publicist creating that idea for you. It is very difficult to form a genuine and correct opinion of a distant leader today.
Neo-Emergent Leadership theory says that leaders can only be recognized after a goal is met, and that our perception of leaders is heavily influenced by the accounts of how those goals are accomplished.
neo-emergent leadership theory, leadership consists of information put forth by the leader or other stakeholders, rather than specific behaviors. This results in a plethora of historical and even present day heroes that may be undeserving. There are plenty of celebrities and other public figures that are not necessary good role models or even responsible for the things they are credited with. This may be disheartening but is a part of being a good leader. A good leader has the right person working for him/her in order to come off the in the best possible light.
