By Max Miller Feb 3
All of us are subject to leadership in some way, shape, or form, and every single day a leader of our country does something whether it is for better, or for worse, but if we voice out our opinion and it is for the greater good then we are far more likely to have a better outcome, because if you put a good idea into someone’s head and make them realize it’s prodigious why would they dump it? As people under a leadership we need to incite change, we must know that our single opinion does count, a lot of people think that since it’s just one opinion that it won’t amount to anything, or even be heard. If we all envisage this way a leader wouldn’t know what we desire, and we would end up getting what he or she craves, which may or may not be what the majority needs. What we need to do is speak up as a group, a community for it’s the only way to incite change. To give some examples I’ll be comparing events from a book by the name Watership Down by Richard Adams to real world events that have affected us giving examples of what can happen when you give your notation/belief to a leader.
The reason I read Watership Down is my senior year I was assigned to read a book in British literature I was reluctant at the time to read a nearly 500-page book about rabbits, but it turned out to be a good book that was oddly relevant! The story was about a group of rabbits who started off in a powerful warren, but left due to a threat. A rabbit with no authority or power stepped up to lead a group of rabbits into an outside world that they weren’t yet accustomed to. As a constant threat for survival Hazel had to make the right decisions to get his group out in one piece and join or make a warren that would keep them safe, and not just get them by, and of course there was a main enemy in the book by the name of woundwort who would drastically slow their progress down but Hazels adaptation of leadership at that point was too powerful/wise to be outsmarted. In the end Hazel left behind a legacy, and set a huge group of rabbits at piece in a good sized warren that they built.
Brief synopsis (Page 21) Hazels leadership was evidently forming as he assembled a group to leave the current warren they were in because of a threat that his brother Fiver had sensed (A great example of what speaking up can do.) If it weren’t for Fiver much of their group could have been killed.
As we travel through the book Hazel is successfully leading his group and is confirmed to be a recognized leader, many times Hazel has proven to be a successful leader, but when he is recognized as a leader officially begins on (page 71), when he encounters his first warren and cowslip talks to Hazel as he leads his group in. He shows traits of a good leader by thoroughly planning out an escape on (page 72) “if there’s any trouble bring up the rear” This was as they were traveling down dug up holes underground into a warren.
Near the end of the book Hazel has become a fierce leader who leads well with great judgment and is very used to the power he holds. On (page 364) Hazels plan on getting rabbits out of Efrafa, and escaping was successful with meticulous planning from the whole group.
This book is about rabbits, but it can be applied to our daily lives by showing a group of rabbits being led by a great leader and the outcome for them. Personally I am subject to a leadership of presidents in which I watch all of their progression, or failure in their leadership, and I watch how they grow. I live by a set of rules made, which will determine good or bad for me and for you.
A great example of successful leadership outside of Watership down is when Abraham Lincoln was president, he was hated for the change that he had done such as “trying to abolish slavery and declared their secession from the Union on February 4, 1861.” This irritated the southerners. More information can be found here on how government can keep the American people happy
What I’m illustrating is that every leader will be faced with a large problem, but when they go upon changing it people will be upset at first because people can’t always handle change, but now Lincoln is looked upon as a legend, even though he was hated back in his time. Hazel also had disapproval on some of his more dangerous plans, such as getting rabbits out of Efrafra, but this outcome was a greater good for the mass just as Lincolns plan was.
The purpose of me choosing leadership as an issue is because we are all subject to a leader of some sort and we have all seen leadership failures/successes, and this has effected all of us. We need to learn by leadership failures because when a leader fails all of his followers are also effected, so we need to voice out our opinion on certain topics and back it up thoroughly so that not only us, but our children can have a better tomorrow. We are shaping a future for our youth, for them to go off of so it needs to be good. We need to remember a leader always takes into account other people’s opinion whether or not stands by it. This is why I strongly advise that you address issues to our leader and what better way are we to do that than by voicing our opinions. A good leader doesn’t lead just for himself he is leading for us, he wants us to be safe/well, but if we don’t speak up on certain issues then what is he or she supposed to do. A leader will always do what they see best, but can be persuaded and open to what is actually best, if we fuel them with that information. So my purpose is very clear, and it’s that we need to speak up because it’s how things get done in our world.
In conclusion Every single day we face issues that are tied back to our leader in some way, shape, or form a leader can leave behind him a legacy and form something that will stay forever, like Abraham Lincoln freeing the slaves, well that greatly ties back to Watership Down when Hazel saved a bunch of rabbits from Efrafa. What I am getting at is these impactful leaders made many great accomplishments accompanied by the people/rabbits, and what they had to say about it. When Hazel died he left behind a strong foundation and all the rabbits of his warren were comfortable and safe with what he had set up, the same goes with Lincoln when he died all those slaves he freed had it way better than they had before. A strong leader no matter how strong he is will always need us to guide him in the right direction, so we should always speak up for ourselves.
