Leadership Styles. Qualitative Analysis on Romanian Presidents

Abstract

Leadership style has received significant attention in the management literature, but the topic has been studied also by political scientists, sociologists, psychologists, and anthropologists. The authors of this paper provide a general framework for the systematic study of leadership, and then apply various typologies to all Romanian presidents who have servedat least onefull term. After defining leadership and leaders, summarizing leadership principles and features, and examining some leadership studies, four Romanian presidents (Nicolae Ceauşescu, Ion Iliescu, Emil Constantinescu, and Traian Băsescu) are categorized taking into account their performance, but also the constraints and opportunities resulting from the environment and political context. The succinct qualitative analysis presented in this paper is based on the framework and taxonomy provided by Roger-Gerard Schwartzenberg, Richard E. Neustadt, and James David Barber, with focus on Fred I. Greenstein’s qualitative study, who examined various presidents in terms of six qualities: proficiency as a public communicator, organizational capacity, political skills, policy vision, cognitive style, and ability to manage emotions and turn them to constructive purposes.