Stanton as a Leader
Leadership is an exercise in power. The quality of leadership depends on the individual’s ability to use it. Everyone at some point and time in life experiences failure. Just the mere thought of failure can prevent some people from attempting things in their lifetime. Stanton embraced the importance and value of having a true purpose in life and remained dedicated to realizing this purpose. Elizabeth Cady Stanton had the ability to lead a group of women and develop a women’s organization through demanding, changing and unprecedented conditions. She uncovered the deeper levels of her purpose and vision and this sustained her through times when it seemed impossible to go on. Elizabeth Stanton’s vision was driven by her imagination. It colored the landscape of her day to day existence and provided an outlet for her passion and creativity. Without imagination one cannot feel empathy or sorrow for another person’s circumstances.
Sadler (1997) described challenges in a leader’s early life that appear to be a pattern present in the majority of leaders. These challenges include childhood isolation and a stressed relationship with the parents fostering a strong sense of self-reliance and a strong drive to achieve. Stanton came from a complex familial situation. Her father once admitted to her that he had wanted a boy, and her mother’s constant childbearing precluded much affection for her.
At the turn of the last century a leader was considered rigid, patriarchal, and often oppressive. Stanton was none of these things. Stanton knew her group. She was part of the group and she led her group. The image of a bold, charismatic leader is ingrained in our national psyche, but it may well be that those who lead through the force of their personality can only do so when the people needing leadership seek such a powerful leader. Stanton was a great fit with the time, place and needs of her group. Her leadership style fit the needs and values of her group.
Baker discusses in her book, Sisters: The Lives of America’s Suffragists that these women leaders all demonstrated qualities of leadership, optimism, stamina, and remarkable longevity and their activities shaped the goals of the first wave of feminism, (Baker, 2005). Stanton emerged as the most complex of these figures. Stanton projected the capacity to respond in an adaptive manner to emergent, dynamic and complex situations. Perhaps this was due to her feminine personality and feminine response to leadership.
“The term personality has two different meanings, and it is important to keep them separate. On the one hand, it refers to an individual’s social reputation and to the manner in which she is perceived by others. This is personality from the observer’s perspective, and it concerns the amount of esteem, regard, or status that the person has within his or her reference groups. On the other hand, personality can also refer to intrapersonal structures, dynamics, processes, and propensities that explain why a person behaves in a certain way,” (Pratch & Jacobowitz, 1997, p.1).
Stanton was an effective leader because she understood the values and opinions of her followers. Rather than assuming absolute authority she conducted dialogue with her followers about what the group embodied and stood for.
Stanton had the ability to change prevailing mental models and was able to foster more systematic patterns of thinking. She used empathy and emotional intelligence to achieve this result. Empathy involves the notion of identification (Horn, 1997). It means one can identify with another, can see the world from their perspective, and identify with the feelings they are having. Horn describes empathy as an other-oriented gesture that creates a sense of commonality between you and the other person. Leaders tend to be more effective when they move between the two poles of empathy and focus, (Horn, 1997).
Emotional Intelligence is a term first coined by Daniel Goleman. Emotional Intelligence is a person’s ability to read other people empathetically and perceptively (Horn, 1997). Well developed emotional intelligence enables a leader to be empathic with followers yet still focused on the goals and tasks involved.
“The moment we begin to fear the opinions of others and hesitate to tell the truth that is in us, and from motives of policy are silent when we should speak, the divine floods of light and life no longer flow into our souls, (Stanton 1890, Quotations Page).
Stanton had the mental skills to create a compelling vision. She had a sound awareness of the women’s problem of her time, and the practical ability to carry out certain actions which led to the vision becoming a reality.
Was she a successful leader? Yes. I and countless other women stand in testimony to Stanton today. If it were not for Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her vision become reality, I would not be in this class today.
References
Baker, J. H. (2005). Sisters: The Lives of America’s Suffragists. New York:
Hill & Wang.
Bennis, W. (2003). On Becoming A Leader. New York: Basic Books.
Horn, A. (1997). Gifts of Leadership: Team Building Through Focus and
Empathy. Toronto: Stoddart Publishing.
Murphy, J. P. M. (1999). Library: Modern Documents: Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
Retrieved February 12, 2009 from http://www.infidels.org/library/
Modern/john-murphy/Stanton.html
Pratch, L. & Jacobowitz, J. (1997). The Psychology of Leadership in Rapidly
Changing Conditions: A Structural Psychological Approach. Genetic,
Social and General Psychology Monographs, 123 (2), May. 169-198.
Quotations Page, The (2009). Quotations by Author. Retrieved from http: www.
Quotationspage.com/quotes/Elizabeth-Cady-Stanton/
Sadler, P. (1997). Leadership: Styles, Role Models, Qualities, Behaviors.
London: Coopers & Lybrand.
Stanton, E. C. (2009). Elizabeth Cady Stanton: Excerpts From Her
Autobiography. Scholastic Teaching Resources. Retrieved February 16,
2009 from Http://www2.scholastic.co/browse article.jsp?id=4962&Full
BreadCrumb=%3Ca=hre%3…
Stanton, E. C., 1895. Elizabeth Cady Stanton Papers. Words and Deeds in
American History: Selected Documents Celebrating the Manuscript
Division’s First 100 Years. Retrieved February 9, 2009 from http://
Memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mcc@field(DOCID+@lit
(mcc/049)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Jan,
ReplyDeleteWow! What a fabulous overview of a very powerful woman. I have often thought of the women in the suffragist movement and wondered if I would have had their courage and strength. The pain and imprisonment that they experienced in order to open doors for future generations of women is overwhelming.
As I was reading your post, I was thinking of the study referred to in the Bennis book regarding married women vs. single women. It suggests that married women are stifled in their ability to be true leaders and that only single women without children can truly explore their own identities. I was talking with my husband about this last night and telling him that because of his encouragement, I feel that I have strived for goals that I may not have attempted without a supportive partner. It seems that Stanton had a similar experience. Although her husband was not able to outwardly embrace Elizabeth's cause, it appears clear that he did not stifle her either. When she traveled with him to Europe for his cause, she gained a great deal of energy for her own. If we could travel back in time and be a fly on the wall of their home, I think that we would find that Henry was one of her greatest cheerleaders.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJanet,
ReplyDeleteYou have done a wonderful job in introducing Ms. Stanton to our group. She was a leader who was self made and she continued to develop her leadership style througout her life. Bennis stated that a leader is best known by the leaders he/she helps to nurture. By the shear example of her courage to lead women and empower them to lead, Ms. Stanton is an inspiration for all women who are finding thier voice in this world.
Stanton listened and understood the values of her followers. This is probably the reason she was successful in her quest for women's rights. You stated that she conducted dialogue with her followers. I imagine, in this period of rigid leadership, this form of communication was unheard of. Her success was most likely due to her willingness to hear these people and feel what they felt.
ReplyDeleteAs I read about Ms. Stanton I could not help but believe she must have been an excellent listener. This is critical and so often a fatal flaw of leaders; the inability to leader. She is a prime example of Fullan's leadership capacities. She had a moral purpose, was constantly building relationships and creating coherence among individuals. She was an agent of change and demonstrated many leadership qualities during this process. I am very thankful to you for introducing her to us.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Dave