Rose M. Aluotto & Lisette Reyes
DIPL 3102 ZA
Amb. A. Kamal
Class Notes 22nd of January 2002
Introduction
The objective of this summation is to present Ambassador Kamal's Practice of Leadership class held on January 22, 2002, in which significant case studies were discussed, such as Adolf Hitler, the Iliad of Homer, and Carl von Clausewitz's On War. The class also recapped the importance of following procedures regarding assignments.
Facts
The class began with Ambassador Kamal reviewing the enduring important lessons learned by Confucius, Macchiavelli and Rousseau. He further went on to discuss the class' test results, which were not to par, as well as a reminder to follow procedures with assignments and class notes. Then Sara Warynovich and Panayiota Fasitsas presented the first presentation on the Iliad. These two did a noble job on explaining the epic poem about the role of the Greek army in the Trojan War. Panayiota explained the 'facts' portion of the poem, while Sara delved into the business application concerning the controversial "Boss of Beatrice". After the presentation, Ambassador Kamal assigned the grades and then discussed the importance of the Iliad and how it is a great literary work that has endured time. He also stressed the importance of oratory language and how powerful it can be. The next presentation by Alison Buckley and Casey Fry was Carl von Clausewitz's On War. Casey began with a bit of background information on the author and then went on to discuss the important facts and details about On War. She fully elucidated how On War explores the nature of war and its relation to politics. Alison then went on to discuss the analysis, which included the many business strategies and applications. The duo concluded their presentation by amplifying the conclusion together. Ambassador Kamal then assigned grades and paralleled the importance of On War to Sun Tzu's Art of War. He discussed the importance of obedience and strategy as well as velocity and concluded by saying, "It is not about the sword, but the strategy to achieve objectives". The final presentation was by Carlos Perez Arguello and Gladys Henriquez on Adolf Hitler. Although these two were pressed for time (as our class was shortened) on such a vast and significant icon, they did a fine job on describing Hitler's characteristics and traits. They both equally described Hitler's individual ideals and views. Gladys ended by pointing out the similarities of Hitler to Sam Walton, the owner of Wal-Mart in how they were both motivational geniuses. Ambassador Kamal was not able to parley about this case study as time had run out, but he will do so next class.
Analysis
The Iliad by Homer incorporates four important points which are of great importance to leadership. The first, as was addressed by Ambassador Kamal, is fear versus favor or despotism versus compromise. Ambassador Kamal elaborated the fact that people follow leaders because of either fear or favor. An effective leader must be respected by his or her followers in part because they fear him and also because it is a favor to the leader due to the respect he or she has given to the people. A healthy balance must be kept between these two factors, and a leader must learn to modulate in between fear and favor so as not to lose respect among the lead. Ambassador Kamal reaffirmed a great advice to future and present leaders on how they must be prepared for "allergies" which occur in everyone's leadership term. In learning to live and function among these "allergies," a leader must be ready to modulate and allocate resources when necessary. Lastly, Ambassador Kamal stated that leaders must weigh benefit versus allergy which means that a leader must forecast the possibility and weigh in the consequences of his or her actions and compare it to whatever benefits the whole in general. In Clausewitz's, On War, Ambassador Kamal compared this case study with Sun Tzu's The Art of War. He discussed the similarity of these two case studies. First, war is natural because it means conquest and movement. Second, war is a fundamental human behavior based on strategy. Third, in order to win a war, one must have a professional army, which was a novel idea solely because of the prominence of the caste system at the time. Lastly, military must be subordinated to the political life of the country, which was also unheard of during Clausewitz's time. The last case study, Adolf Hitler, will be discussed in the next class.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the three case studies all presented great lessons in leadership. First, modulation between fear and favor is key as well as weighing benefits versus "allergies." Second, military endeavors must be subordinated to the political life of a country. And finally, we must learn to accept war as a fundamental human behavior. All three lessons are vital to health and duration of a leader's term.
