Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt

Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt

~Constructing Charisma~

By:

Sarah K. Ober

Dipl 3101ZA

Concepts In Leadership

Professor: Ambassador Kamal

Teaching Assistant: Jacek Hurkala

11 December 2000

Table of Contents

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….…page 3

Ronald A. Heiftz’s Theories of Leadership…………………………....……page 4

Heiftz’s Correlation to Cleopatra’s Case Study………………….…….…page 5

Badaracco’s & Ellsworth’s Notions of Leadership…………….………..page 6

Badaracco’s & Ellsworth’s Relevance To Cleopatra…………………….page 7

John W. Gardner On Leadership……………………………………….………..page 8

Gardner and Cleopatra…………………………………………………………………page 9

Brief Summary of Cleopatra’s Case Study………………………………….page 10

Failures in Book/Case Study Comparisons………………….……………..page 11

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………..…………….page 12

Works Cited…………………….……………………………………………………………page 13

Introduction:

Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, was an extremely charismatic leader and quite a revolutionary woman, comparative to her times. She is one of the few remarkable women leaders throughout history. Her strengths are quite unique and she utilized them at her will. Interestingly, she possessed a strong ability to charm those around her, and her wit was always astute. Cleopatra was an extremely beautiful women and she employed her ability to seduce strategic men throughout her life, to further her advantageous position in her society. It was through this seduction that she secured and increased her individual power.

This young woman leader broke the mold of her time period’s contemporary leader profile. It is interesting to examine the case study of her life and her role as queen. In the evaluation of her life and reign, it is important to take a look at the works of various notable authors on the topic of leadership. While it holds true that many parallels may be drawn between her unique leadership and the theoretical components of leadership presented by various texts, it must also be stated that existing books on leadership do exhibit defects in their attempts to fully encompass all aspects, as applied to this case study.

Three important books will be applied to the case study of Cleopatra. First, Ronald A. Heiftz has produced a book entitled Leadership Without Easy Answers. This book offers much insight into the understanding of Cleopatra’s supremacy. Secondly, Joseph L. Badaracco Jr., and Richard R. Ellsworth have collaborated to produce Leadership and the Quest for Integrity. This publication is accompanied by John W. Gardner’s book On Leadership, as a student of leadership attempts to attain a comprehension of the case study of Cleopatra, presented by Hartwick’s Classic Leadership Cases.

Ronald A. Heiftz’s Theories of Leadership:

In Leadership Without Easy Answers, presented by Ronald A. Heiftz, there exists many lessons concerning leadership. Heiftz presents a comprehensive outline of multiple issues, dilemmas, and relevant concepts, which are easily applied to Cleopatra’s story of power and leadership. Furthermore, this work identifies the many contradictions or conflicts within the leadership role. It is the manner in which a leader approaches these choices, which distinguishes a specific leader from those of his/her counterparts. In looking at the overall themes of Leadership Without Easy Answers, the case study of Cleopatra is clarified and put into proper theoretical text.

Ronald A Heiftz recognizes the difference between formal and informal authority. This is in direct correlation to the possession of a badge of rank, or lack there of. In addition, the author isolates the great importance of time management for leaders. This pertains to the ability to distinguish the difference between short and long term solutions to pertinent issues of the respective society, or the led. This concept deals with the ability of a leader to prioritize the social dilemmas and the stress level of the led, and display such priorities through his/her leadership choices.

Heiftz also identifies further important concerns, notably the personal challenges of leaders. The author outlines several necessities and abilities a leader must execute to be considered to be a successful leader. Leadership Without Easy Answers contests that leaders take many risks, and in the process place themselves above the rest, thus becoming possible targets. Furthermore, it is logically impossible to please everyone; a leader must understand this unfeasibility.

A successful leader displays bravery in the face of danger and must be able to stand back from the crowd and observe the current events, as if an out-of-body experience were occurring. Heiftz refers to this as “standing on the balcony”, as a leader must rise above the distress level and examine the situation from a different perspective. The leader must also possess an understanding of his/her association with partners and allies, and have a clear and precise ability to distinguish trusted friends from fatal enemies.

Heiftz’s Correlation to Cleopatra’s Case Study:

As applied to Cleopatra’s situation, she was a leader of formal authority. Despite much turmoil over the monarchy of her time, she attained respect and reverence in securing her position of leadership. She possessed tangible rank and used her inherent power accordingly. In addition, Cleopatra was faced with the challenge of securing her own position of power, as well as, protecting the prominence and survival of her people. This dilemma guided many of her leadership choices and served as a catalyst for her personal sexual relationships with strategic powerful leaders of her time.

Furthermore, Cleopatra did place herself above the mass population of Egypt. She chose to isolate herself in a position of power and much pressure. She assumed this position, while her county was in much distress and in need a legitimate ruler. She ceased this need for reform and obtained the crown. In doing this, she took a huge risk and placed herself in much danger of persecution, as she relentlessly ceased the crown.

Quite notably, she stood apart from her own person and examined what was necessary to secure the prosperity of her people. She assessed the situation from a perspective, other than that of her own and managed to arrive at a logical conclusion that an alliance with Greece (in truly every sense of the word) was important for her people. With this thought process, she secured a successful alliance with Greece and served her people quite well.

Badaracco’s & Ellsworth’s Notions of Leadership:

Joseph L. Badaracco, Jr. and Richard R. Ellsworth collaborated to produce the text entitled Leadership and the Quest for Integrity. This work presents many concepts and theories, which are relevant to an understanding of the case study pertaining to Cleopatra. This text is mainly centered upon the study of managers. However, certain lessons can be applied to the current case study.

The authors identify multiple philosophies of leadership. The book concentrates on the dilemma of leaders to decide between enforcing a leadership style that commands performance or is flexible in nature. In correlation to the approaches of leadership, the book also outlines three philosophies of dealing with the respective led: political (believes that precision and clarity can be dangerous), directive (encourages open discussion and allows the led to make decisions), and values-driven (asks what actions reinforce key values).

This book also discusses the importance of prejudice. This refers to the leader’s necessity to rank accordingly their agendas and is considered to be a positive force in allowing the leader to distinguish between important goals and prioritize his/her actions. Furthermore, it is stipulated that a prejudice for clarity makes achieving integrity of values, aims, and actions much easier. The integrity of a leader is thought to be an adherence to a moral code and an allegiance to principles. This correlates with the leader’s ability to deliver the needs of the led.

Badaracco’s & Ellsworth’s Relevance To Cleopatra:

It is difficult to apply different approaches to leadership to this specific case study for an important reason. Cleopatra’s situation must be placed into proper text. She was a queen who possessed absolute power and reign. As a monarch, she expected her orders to be carried out, without question. The results of the led’s failure to comply with her wishes were fatal.

Concerning the prevalent issue of prejudice, Cleopatra possessed a keen sense of prejudice. She recognized the vast importance of placing the survival of her people at the forefront of her concerns. She dealt with matters accordingly and exhibited wisdom far beyond her years. In doing so, she adhered to a specific moral code with glamorized the need to have her people retain prosperity, and the need to secure her own individual position of power. She consistently delivered the needs of the led. Under this theory, as presented by the authors, Cleopatra can be considered to have integrity.

John W. Gardner On Leadership:

Gardner presents a notable book on the topic of leadership, accordingly entitled On Leadership. The author identifies the distinction and relationship between leadership and status or rank. In addition, the relationship between power and leadership is discussed. It is stipulated that just because an individual possesses status and/or power does not mean that said individual has leadership skills. It is important to note that Gardner identifies the possibility that leaders can be very diverse. They are all ages, both sexes, all nationalities, and hold different strengths and weaknesses.

Gardner discusses the need to place historical leaders in the context of their time. The setting of the leader must be examined in the study of the actual leader. The study of the setting includes: the makeup of the led, the qualities of the leader, the social constructs of the society, and the prevalent need for change. In addressing the institutionalization of leadership, the author identifies the inherent desire of the leader to establish systems that will survive themselves, so the system will not falter upon their inevitable exit.

Importantly, Gardner provides a useful list of attributes of successful leaders. He identifies multiple attributes with hold consistency for triumphant leaders. The book outlines the following notable characteristics: vitality and stamina, intelligence and good judgment, willingness to take responsibility, task competence, understanding of followers, people skills, need to achieve, capacity to motivate, courage, confidence, and assertiveness.

The author also presents a working definition of leadership. He correlates leadership with the ability to persuade others to follow a specific mindset and act accordingly. This definition holds a definite parallel to the case study at hand.

Gardner and Cleopatra:

In comparison with the other three books presented within this paper, James Gardner’s On Leadership is the book, which holds the most relevance respectively. The author identifies the existence of leaders with rank, who posses power and addresses the necessity of the leader to possess attributes of a successful leader. This theory is linked to the logical possibility that leaders come in all shapes and sizes.

Cleopatra was a leader with rank and power. She was defiantly a diverse leader, being that she was a young woman. Her years, her sex, and the fact that she was not an ethnic member of the Egyptian led exemplifies the fact that she was a unique leader and she strayed from the social norm of her time. Most pertinent to this specific case study, Gardner addresses the need to conceptualize the study of historical leaders. Without an understanding of the time period of Cleopatra’s life, it would be impossible to obtain a comprehension of her case study.

Cleopatra further demonstrates many attributes of a successful leader, according to the author. The queen was young and vital and displayed much stamina in the causes that she sought to address. Cleopatra was highly intelligent; she spoke many languages and indefinitely possessed a high IQ.

She exercised good judgment in the strategic alliances she formed with beneficial heads of states, which were quite powerful at the time. The accepted responsibility for all of her choices and she held an understanding of the desires of her people. Her people skills were extraordinary, as she is correlated with much charisma. She displayed an inherent need to achieve and a wonderful ability to motivate her people, largely due to her strong charismatic charm. She exemplified courage with every decision and consistently asserted her dominance.

Brief Summary of Cleopatra’s Case Study:

Cleopatra is one of the greatest women in history. She was a young pharaoh; she was queen at the age of 18. Notably, she was a foreigner, as she was Greek. She successfully established a relationship with her subjects, centered around their deep love for her. She broke the mold of the traditional pharaoh.

There are many confrontations prevalent within this case study. The confrontation of man verses woman and foreigners verses locals are the most obvious. She wavered from the social norm and expectation that pharaoh was to be a man who was Egyptian. In addition, there is the conflict between power and intelligence and antogomy and exogamy. Cleopatra’s children were not fathered by a family member. The final conflict prevalent within this case study is single leadership verses dual leadership. Cleopatra was a co-regent of Egypt.

Cleopatra possessed a vast knowledge of many languages and was bold with her actions. While in exile, she snuck into Caesar’s palace in a linen bag. It was this boldness, in combination with her great charm, which convinced Caesar to come to her aid. She got his attention with her boldness and held his attention with her charisma.

The planned strategy of achieving an alliance with Caesar and Mark Antony secured her power. However, there were many challenges with her leadership. She was living in a time period dominated by men. There was a bloody rivalry for royal power in her family. She dealt with the conflicts between herself and the patriarchal tradition, brother verses sister, and the Roman manipulation to overthrow Ptolemy VIII and gain Egyptian power. Cleopatra was also faced with the reality that Egypt was weaker than Rome. This prompted her desire to form powerful alliances. In addition, the Queen of Egypt was faced with competition with other women for admiration from the other wives of Caesar and Antony.

Failures in Book/Case Study Comparisons:

It is important to note that all three of the books presented in this paper fail to adequately address the role of women in leadership positions. Another crucial characteristic possessed by Cleopatra, which the books do not address, is her age. There is no discussion dedicated to leaders who are not of the socially required age constraint. Both of these characteristics held much influence upon Cleopatra and the choices she made.

Heiftz dedicates much of his book to focusing on leadership without authority. While this remains beneficial to the overall study of leadership, this aspect is defiantly not relevant to the case study at hand. Badaracco and Ellsworth center their publication on the examination of managers, not leaders. Again, this aspect of the book does not hold application to Cleopatra’s case study. Gardner presents the most relevant issues utilized by this paper. However, he does fail to address Cleopatra’s sex and age.

Conclusion:

Cleopatra presents a fundamental case study to any analysis of leadership. She is unique in many ways. Her charisma yield the devotion and love of her subjects and served as a useful tool, enabling her to form vital alliances to secure the survival of her people and her power. She reached out to her people, with the knowledge of their language, among other languages. She employed her physical beauty to promote her political stability.

While there are many notable publications on the subject of leadership, three are applied to this specific case study. They all possess relevant parallels and important defects. While they offer insights into the understanding of Cleopatra’s case study, they inevitably lack the ability to address all of the pertinent concerns of Cleopatra. Cleopatra did truly construct charisma.

Works Cited

Badaracco, Joseph L., Jr. and Ellsworth, Richard R. Leadership and the Quest for Integrity. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1989.

Gardner, John W. On Leadership. New York: The Free Press, 1990.

Hartwick Classic Leadership Cases. “Constructing Charisma: Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt”. Oneonta: The Hartwick Humanities in Management Institute, 1994.

Heiftz, Ronald A. Leadership Without Easy Answers. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1994.

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