Lester Bowles Pearson
Jasmine Syed's Leadership Assignment
Who was Lester B. Pearson?
Leadership Involvements
Acts of Leadership
Leadership Traits
As a successful leader, it is your responsibility to guide your people in the right direction and almost act as a role- model so that learn to make good decisions in order for them to become better people. This is a trait that Lester B Pearson possessed as a leader. Pearson promoted diplomacy to Canadians as the best and most effective way to handle external affair which really had an impact on the way the more recent generations of Canadians decide to handle external affairs. Pearson had made many of his fellow Canadians believe that diplomacy and acts of peace are the best methods for resolving world affairs. Due to the diplomatic ideology that Pearson left Canadians with, Canada had become and Icon of peace for the way that it has handled a majority external affairs and negotiations. Thus Pearson has been Central player in forming Canada's peacekeeping identity.
Nothing is black or white
When making decisions, it is not either/ or it is what ever is the most efficient and practical way to resolve the issue. This is trait that Lester B Pearson had which he utilized during his time as the Secretary of State for External affairs, it was his responsibility to make tough decisions upon Canada's external affairs. For example, during Suez Canal Crisis Pearson was put in a decision where he had to chose on behalf of Canada whether or not they would attack Egypt. Although Pearson had decided that diplomacy would be the most effective and practical way to handle the crisis thus he decided to handle the affair in that manner. Therefore, Lester B. Pearson made decisions based off of efficiency and practicality which is a trait in which makes him one the most profound leaders in Canadian history.
Keep your friends close - and your rivals closer
By neutralizing your relationships with your rivals, you are able to prevent any un-necessary attacks or conflicts for yourself and people that you are leading. Through his roles as the secretary for external affairs and as Prime- Minister, it was important for him to get to know Canada's enemies in order to better negotiate with them and prevent any sort of confrontation. As a leader Pearson tried to understand the weaknesses of Canada's enemies as an alibi in case of further confrontation or issues. Pearson also tried to make alliances with other countries through his diplomatic efforts in order to create a group of supporters for Canada that could be relied on to help Canada in case of any major external affairs.
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Sources
nobleprize,org:
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1957/pearson-facts.html
wikipedia.org: