Discuss about the Regional Autocratic Linkage and Regime Survival.
General George Smith Patton was the great-grandson of Welsh family and holds strong military background. He was the US army officer and also an outstanding practitioner of mobile tank warfare at the time of World War II. His discipline was strict and also due to his self-sacrifice he had received exceptional pride in his rank. In his lifetime he earned a various award like Silver Star, the Purple Heart, service medal and so on. In his lifetime in the army was referred to as the “Old blood and guts.” Patton was one of the great leaders who had the skill to motivate the army officials and the militants to perform their duty most suitably. The paper aims to analyze the leadership[1] skill of Patton in the view of psychobiography, then personality, worldview, and so on. The paper thoroughly discusses on the leadership skill that helps Patton to perform his best in this life as an army officer. The leadership analysis tool that is being utilized in this paper is the critical analysis. It helps to understand the nature as well as characteristics of Patton as a leader in World War II.
General George Smith Patton, Jr. was born in San Gabriel, California on 11 November 1885. He was the son of George Smith Patton Sr. and Ruth Wilson. The great-grandmother of General Patton belongs to Welsh family, and they had a strong military background. In his childhood days, he heard many stories of his ancestors during the Civil war and American Revolution[2] that inspired him to choose the military as his profession. Patton was a voracious reader and also published numerous articles on military, but in his early life he had dyslexia and did not started his education till the age of 11. Later on, at the age of seventeen, he got an appointment letter from the US Military Academy and decided to join in the Virginia Military Institute in 1904. After spending a year in the institutes due to his poor academic results, he was transferred to United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. In 1912 he participated in the Pentathlon Olympic Games that was held in Stockholm, Sweden where he came fifth among the 42 military contestants.
In 1916, when the Mexican army attack Pancho Villa at Fort Bliss, Patton joined the military group as leading cavalry patrons and faced his first battle against the Mexican army[3]. Though the mission was failed and Patton killed three of the military for entering the Villa. Brig. General John J. Pershing was the mentor of General Patton, and under his leadership, Patton was promoted as the captain of France in April 1917. After few months in November 1917, he left the group and became the first officer of US Army Tank Corps[4]. Under his leadership, in 1943 the 7th US army get the victory at the invasion of Sicily. Thus in 1944, he became the military commander of 3rd US army, and in 1945 he captured 10,000 square miles of Germany due to his extraordinary leadership quality.
George Smith Patton, Jr. was born in a military family, so from his early age he wanted to be an army man. Thus he joined the US Military Academy at West Point and graduated from there in 1909. After that, he became the second lieutenant in the cavalry of US Military team. Patton is considered as one of the great leaders in the world because he had inspirational quality as the team management. He used to serve for the country for 24 hours, but when he came back from work after many months, he gave all his time to his wife and children and managed his work life and maintain a balance very efficiently. Patton liked Olympic Games and thus he participated in US Olympic Games. Patton principle was always to motivate juniors by simple life experiences.
Patton had the view that the leader needs to be selected for gaining achievement and not for affection[5]. He also had the perception that the body of a human being should hold the command over mind so that they can easily survive in any severe condition. On the other hand, he did not takes decision too early or too late, and before making any decision, he used to talk with his troop. Patton came from a military background family so from the early days he learned to control his emotion, and this helped him to motivate his junior in the troops. He was an exceptionally driven man, and his family background influenced him to take effective decisions and motivate his troop. His hard-driving personality, the colorful image made him a successful commander[6], and this helped him to control his ego and increases his consciousness and ability to put forwarded his idea towards his juniors. All the procedures help him to maintain a good relationship with political subordinates and allies, and thus his leadership style makes him one of the best leaders in the nation.
Patton was a highly skilled professional and a very enthusiastic[7] and engaging person. He was a self-centered person and he used to provide a marvelous demonstration of his thoughts and opinions. Patton had many different qualities like a well-known swordsman, horseman, sailor and navigator, an athlete and sportsman, an airplane pilot and also an amateur poet and about sixteen articles of him were published in newspapers and magazines. He believed in hard work which helped him to reach his destiny and in the long run it also helped him to motivate the army officials. By this process, he made himself a critical person and an effective leader, gain fame, recognition, and achievement and received applause for his excellent work. As per Patton legal philosophy, to develop the military system, a military government law had to be implemented so that the militants do not face any problem in military activities. General Patton formed a security team of Military Commander for security and to defend the country from foreign invasion. At that time politicians were the most potent person so maintaining a good relationship with them; Patton arranged meetings for discussing the national situation and also provided his view for improving the situation.
According to Patton ideology, he used to think the politicians[8] as the worthless part of the society and so the liberal democrats. He also provided personal evidences of his thinking regarding different activities. From the younger age, he decided that his goal in life was to be a soldier and to serve for the country. He was greatly influenced by his ancestors’ victory in Civil war[9] and American Revolution. He decided to be a soldier and serve for the country and protect the people and nation from terrorists and attackers. To fulfill his goals, he joined the Virginia Military Institute and continued his study in the military institute and finally graduated from United States of Military Academy in 1909. After that, he joined the army and became the second lieutenant in the 15th cavalry regiment[10]. Patton served for his country and became the senior commander of new tank corps in France during World War I. After that, he joined armed force and reassigned from the cavalry. Thus in World war II he was the army general officer and commanded North Africa, France, Sicily and Germany military troops. All the quality of General Patton made him one of the great leader of the nation.
General George S Patton Jr. had the responsibility to inspire an army to participate in war during World War II. He had strict control over his fellow officers[11], and he asked them to serve the military with hundred percent commitment. He was a determined leader and did not accept any shortcomings. His communication style while communicating with his soldiers was typical downward and linear. The leadership model used by him was authority, presence and impact model to influence fellow soldiers. During his time in the military, he was able to inspire the soldiers serving in the army with him. He had great oratory and rhetorical skills, which helped him to be the most effective leader in the Army. He did not care about the feelings and rank of the officers, resulting in outright dissatisfaction in the military. Despite his military successes, he was not very popular with the general public and the elites. His attitude and his aggression resulted in alienating himself from the audience. He did not care about what other people thought of him and never intended to meet their expectations. The incident in Sicily[12] resulted in the biggest blunder of his military career. His exceptional oratory skills played a crucial role in influencing the troops to participate in World War II.
Patton addressed the troops in a down-to-earth and straightforward language; he also used to profanity while treating these soldiers. These skills allowed him to succeed as a leader and military personnel. He gave his most famous speech to Third Army of United States in 1944. In this speech, he urged the inexperienced soldiers to fight for their motherland irrespective of their fears. His speech encouraged them to use aggression in the field and implement consistent offensive actions. Some of the officers thought his communication style as unprofessional[13] due to the presence of profanity. However, it became the most famous motivational speech in the history. He used pathos in his speech to motivate the troops of the Third Army of United States. He used the emotion of anger in most of his statements to drive the men and to convey[14] that losing the war was not acceptable. The words used by him was powerful enough to encourage the men and participate in the battle. He used the Aristotelian model of rhetoric in his speech to influence the men in the uniform.
General Patton is famous for his aggressive and quirky attitude and his unpredictable behavior. He did not tolerate any shortcomings from his subordinate officers, and he certainly did not accept cowardice. He was a disciplined and fierce leader. However, his career was full of brash decisions and controversies. During his childhood years, he had difficulty in reading and writing, which could be a symptom of undiagnosed dyslexia. In the military, he influenced his soldiers to participate in the war actively. He was not satisfied when it ended; he thought he would never fight another battle. He was depressed and due to this depression, his started behaving irrationally. During this time, he suffered from several physical and psychological stress, which contributed to his behavior. He did not care about what others were thinking about him and disregarded social rules and regulations. His actions were impulsive and aggressive, and he had taken some wrong decisions. His outspoken nature and his strong opinions caused him to face problems on multiple occasions. He did not have any regard about rank or position in the army, which resulted in dissatisfaction among the other high ranking officials. From his behavior, it can be said that he had an antisocial personality disorder.
People with an antisocial personality disorder do not have any regard for any social rules and regulations, and they often have a charming personality. General Patton also had similar traits during his time in the US army. In most of his speeches, he used profanity and verbally abusive language to influence the military. He also wanted constant attention[15], fame, and praised from his superiors as well as his fellow officers. During the last days of the war, he was suffering from depression and mood swings. The setback in both his personal and professional[16] life resulted in this depression. He had dyslexia which can be a cause of his low self-esteem and these fluctuations in mood. Thus he was prompted to make some rash decisions and actions. Due to his efforts, he had faced numerous troubles in his life. His angry and aggressive behavior can be a symptom of bipolar disorder. People with this disorder exhibit symptom of mood swings, aggression and they have a problem maintaining both their personal and professional relationships. During depressed state, they can feel hopelessness, sadness, and lack of energy. Towards the end of the war, General Patton was exhibiting this kind of symptoms, so it can be said that he had bipolar disorder.
According to Four framework Approach leadership model, successful leaders display leadership qualities in one of the four frameworks; political, human resource, structural and symbolic. Political leaders use power and interests to persuade, negotiate and coerce to get the desired results. Human resource framework leaders empower and communicates with their followers and believe in their capabilities. Structural leadership style focuses on analysis and designing, and it also focuses on strategic implementation. A symbolic leader[17] is a type of leader who inspires and provides vision to their respective followers. The behavior of General Patton can be described as a nominal leader. He motivated an inexperienced Third Army to involve in the horrible business of war with the help of his fiery speech. He was a very energetic and visible leader, which helped him to encourage the soldiers to carry out attacks repeatedly actively. He directly communicated with his followers and used obscene language during his service. He did not tolerate the idea of losing, cowardice and made it very clear to his troops. The slapping incident in Sicily is considered to be one of the biggest blunders of his career. His speeches were often laced with pathos, a primary rhetorical device to encourage and motivate his soldiers.
He did not display the characteristics of a competent human resource manager at that time. Autocratic style of leadership was used by him, as he did not ask for opinions of others while making a crucial decision. He was a hardworking and self-centered[18] person and did not care about the sentiment of other people. According to his beliefs, the politicians are the lowest form of life, and liberal Republicans are the lowest form of politicians. He did not have a great relationship with the general public as well as the elites of the society. In spite of his achievements, he was not a famous public figure. His authority and his presence had a significant impact on the overall enthusiasm of the troops. His straight-forwardness and his thoughts were some of the reasons for dissatisfaction within US army. As a symbolic leader[19], he used profanity in his speeches to spark aggression among the soldiers. He provides the vision of winning the war for their motherland. He also used personal experiences to motivate the people serving with him in the troops. Sometimes, he verbally abused his subordinates to get active participation from them. He behaved erratically as he was suffering from personality issues like dyslexia, antisocial personality disorder and bipolar disorder.
The personality and leadership skills of General Patton also fulfills the criteria of a structural leader[20]. A fundamental leader focuses on strategy, structure, and experimentation after analyzing and the situation. This type of leaders clarifies the goals of the entity to their followers and develop appropriate strategies to solve the problems. They also explain the lines of authority within the existence. They did not focus on the emotions of the followers, just on the completion of the task. General Patton exhibited all these qualities of a structural leader[21] during his time in the military. He established a clear line of authority and also clarified the goal, which was to win the combat. He did not care about the emotions of others; he just focused on completion of the task[22]. Whenever the army faced any serious issue, he developed strategies to deal with those issues. He ensured that the troop engages in repetitive offensive actions, despite their inexperience regarding combat in the field. This strategy played a crucial role in securing victory in the battlefield. He used facts and logic during deciding and implementing the winning strategy, thus fulfilling the criteria of a structural leader.
Conclusion
The paper eventually concludes the facts that Patton was a great leader and he had an autocratic leadership style. He was having the absolute power in his lifetime and also have the proper working function in the world as an army officer. It can also be seen from the assessment portion that Patton was a symbolic leader who had the useful view on inspiring others. He was one of the best militants that encourage his officials to perform their activity during World War II. He was also a structural leader where he primarily focuses on the task and the action rather than on emotions. The paper also concludes the view that General Patton has the motivational skill and even he is a robust and discipline leader who gave significant priority to the militant job rather than anything else.
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