Leadership of Stalin and Hitler Essay

Stalin and Hitler were influential leaders in history. Although Stalin and Hitler grew to have immense leadership powers, can these individuals be considered great leaders? Based on the grave crimes against humanity both leaders committed under power; Stalin and Hitler should not be considered great leaders, but rather leaders that were excellent at widely influencing and leading masses of people. Hitler led with authoritarian and charismatic leadership styles. Hitler used charisma to attract the masses to the ‘Fuhrer party’ for many diverse reasons; including ethnic, economic, religious and scientific reasons. Unfortunately, the type of charismatic leadership Hitler exhibited would be better characterized as hero worship. â€Å"Under clouds of uncertainty, many people look to heroes who can bring comfort and assurance, and who can inspire and explain the future (Raelin 2003). † Although Hitler’s main goal was genocide, many of his followers were unaware of his long-term intentions. As Hitler’s charisma drew in more followers, he was able to dominate lower levels of leaders â€Å". . . who were influenced by the great charisma of the ‘great’ leader . . . (Eatwell 2006). † As Hitler’s power grew, he began to use authoritarian leadership to force the genocide policies he desired on his followers. With grave threats of death and injury, Hitler was able to influence large numbers of followers to carry out the holocaust and many other crimes against the Jewish people. Stalin led by dictatorship. Stalin inspired incredible loyalty and devotion among subordinates simply by â€Å". . . terrifying everyone around him and creating an aura of infallibility, invincible power, and wisdom (Naimark 2006). † Subordinates respected Stalin out of fear for their lives and lack of knowledge of any other choices available. In all, Stalin and Hitler were not great leaders that inspired good. Stalin and Hitler were evil leaders that used influence and leadership to commit grave crimes against humanity for their own personal gain.