Leadership Lessons from Santa Claus
California Intercontinental University
MGT 610 - Mastering Leadership: Theories and Concepts
Introduction
Today, during Christmas, most people or families exchange complimentary gifts amongst
one another. Children go to bed on Christmas eve with the expectation that on Christmas day,
Santa Claus or Father Christmas has left presents under the Christmas tree for them. During
Christmas, most people are encouraged to bless others that are less fortunate. But most people
don't know where all that tradition came from. Nicholas of Myra, otherwise known as Santa
Claus (lived between 273-343), was born into a very wealthy family. Upon the death of his
parents, he used his inheritance to help the poor and the less fortunate following the doctrine of
Jesus' teachings of selling one's possession and using the proceeds to aid the poor. “Perhaps there
is no greater example of a charitable life than that of Nicholas of Myra – a man who was later
sainted because his giving would go on to inspire an enduring Christmas tradition” (Thiran,
2017). This analytical essay intends to use the case study on Santa Claus' unparalleled leadership
lessons with three other credible sources to establish or instead describe a great leader with its
quality traits. Also, this paper will demonstrate why leaders who give are great. This paper will
argue in the defense or favor of great leadership.
Power of Giving through Leadership
Nicholas used his inheritance to support the poor in Myra, today's modern-day Demre,
Turkey. The author's connection between Nicholas' power of giving and leadership; when a
leader’s give, others tend to look out for those leaders. Fred Goldner, the world-renowned
sociologist, describes it as pronoia, which is the idea that other people are preparing good fortune
on behalf of those that give. The sociologist claims that it is true. For instance, Bill gates is a
, modern-day selfless leader that consistently offers vast portions of his fortunes, and as a matter
of fact, people say beautiful things about him. Thus, leaders are encouraged to provide always
according to the author (Roshan Thiran) of the "leadership lessons of Santa Claus." One of the
many assumptions of leadership is bossing people around, which is not what leadership stands
for. For instance, in the United States Navy, most leaders believe the way to reach their
subordinates is by being intrusive leaders. Conversely, most of those leaders are unable actually
to gain the trust of those subordinates. Which brings the next point; then, the question becomes
whether or not self-efficacy and emotional intelligence have the potential to impact leadership
effectiveness?
Self-Efficacy and Emotional Intelligence with Leadership Effectiveness
Modern-day South Africa considered being a violent society due to challenging crimes
taking place. Nonetheless, the police force charged with curtailing crimes, but on the same token,
the organization faced with its unique challenge on leadership. In other to combat the police
forces' leadership challenge, research was conducted on developing or appointing individuals for
leadership positions in the South African police force. The study centered on finding the
relationship between these three mental constructs: self-efficacy and emotional intelligence,
while stimulating leadership effectiveness from the standpoint of policing. The research used a
quantitative approach to determine whether there is a correlation linking self-efficacy and
emotional intelligence as traits of leadership efficacy. One hundred and seven police leaders
participated in the research survey. The outcome of the research demonstrated that self-efficacy
and emotional intelligence are must-have when developing or appointing individuals for
leadership positions in its police force. Ramchunder and Martins (2014) concluded that there is a
positive relationship between specific inner constructs, such as self-efficacy and emotional
intelligence, stimulating leadership effectiveness. Generous leaders give their employees a sense
of importance while they feel equally essential employees of the organization.