Essay About The Sacred in Leadership

Heroic leaders like David and Ged both display strong qualities that guide their journeys. There are many quotes from both The Bible and A Wizard of Earthsea that convey the necessity of certain qualities required to be a powerful and kind ruler. “It is one thing to read about dragons, it is another to meet them (Le Guin 107).” This quote from A Wizard of Earthsea describes the difference between leaders and followers. Le Guin explains how a leader seeks out their problems to meet them head on while a follower waits for their problems to solve themselves. Another quote that displays qualities necessary for a leader is Romans 12.21 “Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.” A strong leader must be determined to finish their quest while staying true to their morals. This quote expresses caution to the dangers of corruption. Where power goes, corruption follows, however heroic leaders like David and Ged not only avoid corruption by trying to do what they believe is right, they also acknowledge it when they have made hurtful decisions. For example, in A Wizard of Earthsea, Ged acknowledges he has made a mistake by working magic he had little knowledge of. He then tells the Archmage Gensher that he wants to stay at Roke and learn how to fix what he has done (Le Guin 90). Heroic leaders like David and Ged, who face adversities, require remorse, a strong will, and humility to see their  journey through in the name of goodness.  

An important quality often seen in leaders is remorse, guilt, or the ability to understand when you have made a mistake and try to make amends. “Guilt, in contrast, focuses on behavior and is linked to making amends ( Tangney et al).” Nobody is perfect and humans frequently make errors for many reasons, such as pride, jealousy, or as a result of simple misunderstandings. David and Ged are good examples of this leadership quality since they have both made major mistakes and later rectified those errors. Ged, in an effort to prove his worth to his classmates, tries to cast a difficult spell. It fails and unleashes an evil demon which poses a threat to the world. After this incident, Ged returns to his old teacher and says “I have come back to you as I left; a fool (Le Guin 176).” In this quote, Ged acknowledges that he has made foolish mistakes and requests the advice and guidance of someone he respects on how to correct his mistakes and make amends. David has a similar experience when he lets his envy for his close friend corrupt his morals ultimately resulting in the death of his friend. More death is caused when Daivd is punished by the Lord for his sins and his son passes away. Like Ged, David admits he has made a mistake when he says in 2 Samuel 12.13 “I have sinned against the Lord” and pleads for forgiveness. These leaders spend the rest of their respective tales fixing the mistakes they have made and attempting to make amends and, in the end, both have fully repented for their errors.

Another crucial quality in a leader is strong will and a determination to complete their heroic journey. In the Bible, James 1.12 says “blessed is the man who perseveres in temptation for when he has been proved he will receive the crown of life that you promised to those who love.” This shows that God will reward those who have the determination to fight temptation while also continuing on their journey.

“That is, self-determination is not achieved simply because an individual has certain requisite knowledge and skills; it is also important that key people and institutions in the person’s life provide a context conducive to self-determination. Abery and Stancliffe (1996) have noted that even when youth have excellent self-determination skills, they can be thwarted in their efforts to become self-determined by people and institutions that present barriers or fail to provide needed support (Bremer et al).”

In both David and Ged’s lives they both were given the ability to prove themselves and had people in positions of trust to guide and encourage them. Ged fights off an invasion of his village protecting his friends and family. In addition to this, his teachers approve and encourage his want to learn and let him go ahead of his peers. David is given the opportunity to prove himself by Samuel, who also advises David's later decisions and protects him. “When David got safely away, he went to Samuel and Ramah informing him of all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to stay in Naioth (1 Samuel. 19.18).”  Along with this, David defeats the giant Goliath earning the respect of the king and saves his town from the Philistines. This confidence boost is important for their willpower, since you must believe in yourself to have the determination and willpower to accomplish your goals.

Another beneficial quality that leaders should possess is humility. Humility is the ability to view yourself modestly which Daivd and Ged both do in the Bible and A Wizard of Earthsea. Ged displays humility multiple times throughout A Wizard of Earthsea. For example, when he works for passage on a ship instead of demanding free passage because of his wizardry, which is common on Earthsea. “So laying his staff and his bag of books under the rowers’ bench Ged became for 10 bitter days of winter and oarsmen of that Northern ship (Le Guin 141).”  Ged was a very powerful wizard being told later in book by his old master that his many achievements were very impressive, however Ged still stays humble throughout all of the praise he is given (176). An example from the Bible when David shows humility is when King Saul offers David his daughter's hand in marriage. However, David refuses saying “Who am I? And who are my kindred or my father's clan in Israel that I should become the king's son-in-law? (1 Samuel. 18.18).” In this quote, David is telling King Saul that he is not of a high enough status to marry his daughter and join the royal family. Even though he had defeated Goliath and proven that he is worthy of the King’s admiration. Another quote from the Bible, not related to David, showing God’s respect for humility is from James 4.6 “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.”However, humility is hard to measure and has little research into it. This is because there is no one way to define and make a scale capable of measuring a quality (Davis Jr. and Hook Joshua). While humility is hard to evaluate, it is undoubtedly a commendable quality and one essential to the leadership potential of any given person of power.  

Ultimately the world is very hectic and the best way to fix these problems is for people in positions of power or leadership to guide their people. Skills like humility, remorse, and will are very important in stories and real life. Humility helps the hero be able to relate to everyone through the story. It also helps the people that the hero meets and leads to be viewed as charming and trustworthy. Remorse guides the hero or leader to fix mistakes they may have made along their journey. Lastly, will keeps the hero going and gives them the strength and drive to complete their quests. Leaders with these quailties like David and Ged are not difficult to find but are usually not in the spotlight since it is easier to gain power with money instead of a kind heart in the modern world.  Knowledge of leadership qualities is important since anyone can be a leader or notice and support their peers with leadership qualities. People with these kind traits and the skills to guide the world are essential to helping the world become a better place. There are many other skills just as important as humility, remorse and will. However, these three traits are good building blocks for any hero.