Volodymyr Zelenskyy, heroic leadership, and the historical gaze

Abstract

Since the onset of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a great many people have cojoined their admiration for the grit and determination shown by the Ukraine people with their esteem for the nation’s formal leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He has been constructed, particularly in the Western press, as kind of larger-than-life hero, displaying physical courage, resilience, and a brilliant use of communication skills to help mobilize world opinion. But the construction of heroic leadership raises concern within the framework of critical leadership given the often-accompanying characteristics of worshipful acquiescence, hyper-masculinity, and an overly individualized view of causation. In addressing the tension between holding Zelenskyy up as an admirable, even heroic leader while simultaneously harboring a deep distrust of any notion of heroic leadership, the essay examines the historiography devoted to an earlier heroic leader, Martin Luther King, Jr. The goal of this essay is to provoke thought and deepen an appreciation for the complexity of the heroic leadership construct.

The return of the hero-leader? Volodymyr Zelensky’s international image and the global response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

“…However, the nature of the challenge faced by the leader has been completely transformed since Russia finally began its invasion in February 2022, after a long period of military build-up on the Ukrainian border and many assurances that this would not lead to aggression on its part. Zelensky accepted the challenge of history and overnight rebuilt his authority and united the nation in a huge, unexpected scale of resistance by embracing a leadership style that has been globally recognised as heroic: “He has been constructed, particularly in the Western press, as kind of larger-than-life hero, displaying physical courage, resilience, and a brilliant use of communication skills to help mobilize world opinion” (Spector, 2022). Both, message and media have served Ukrainians as a tool of war, along with tanks, drones and rockets. Message : since the very beginning of the conflict, Zelensky recognised his role as the communicator in chief.…”

“…It has been noted that descriptions of heroic leadership rarely convey any ambiguity of meaning, contradiction, doubt or tension rooted in the competing demands and limitations that frame the leader’s own actions. As Bert Spector (2022) comments: “the construction of heroic leadership raises concern within the framework of critical leadership given the often-accompanying characteristics of worshipful acquiescence, hyper-masculinity, and an overly individualized view of causation.” As a result, the world in which leaders operate is increasingly dynamic, both in politics and business; however, the leaders’ actions are often described as straightforward, firm and determinate, so the heroic image does not in any way reflect the nature of the surrounding social world.…”

Leader-in-context and historical leadership research

“…Situating an individual leader within his or her context leads to a more realistic appraisal of what is truly special or remarkable about that leader, and throws a more equitable light on the contribution of followers. In this respect, ‘warts-and-all’ approaches pointing out the ‘feet of clay’ of leaders (Spector, 2022: 10) should be encouraged (rather than discouraged). The depth and substance this adds holds up very well to the excessive faith in the explanatory value of ‘positive’ leader attributes - drive, energy, being ‘good’ and authentic.…”

“…The idea that the source of impact may lie in agency imposes itself, if one is driven by the notion that leadership can be unraveled on the basis of making causal claims. As Böhm and Pfister (2015, quoted in Spector, 2022: 4) note, ‘(c)ognitive psychologists have long understood that people tend to prefer cause-and-effect explanations that emphasize individual causation, at least in explaining the behaviors of others’.…”

“…The major conclusion he draws from the comparison is that both dictators were driven by a ‘sense of mission’, a point of view that Kershaw also integrated in his Hitler biography. A second example of what can be done with comparatism is Spector’s (2022) recent article, in this journal, on president Zelensky of Ukraine. Spector’s point of departure is different from Bullock’s: whereas the latter operated from a position where sufficient source material on the two dictators was available, Zelensky as a leader is a blank slate.…”