George Washington: a revolutionary approach to leadership

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to examine George Washington’s approach to leadership through the lens of contemporary leadership theory and practice; and second, to help modern managers further reflect upon and develop their own leadership capabilities through a historiographic examination of Washington’s leadership traits and skills. Design/methodology/approach Combining three different academic disciplines, management, psychology and history, the author utilized a historiographic and interdisciplinary research methodology, conducting a detailed exploration of the life of George Washington through an examination of a wide range of original archival materials, books, journal articles and other sources. Findings The present analysis reveals that Washington demonstrated a variety of well-validated leadership competencies (e.g. emotional intelligence, resilience, integrity, etc.) that are largely consistent with leader-centered theoretical conceptions of leadership. Originality/value This is the first historiographic study of George Washington’s approach to leadership within the management literature. Additionally, through the development of a competency model, the study demonstrates how Washington employed tools and techniques from a host of modern leadership theories to achieve critically important results.