The Qualities of Leadership

Hi my name is Bella and today I am discussing the topic of leadership and the
qualities involved tying the examples represented in Animal Farm. In particular
relation to the prompt:
The pigs became leaders, and the other animals accept them because the pigs
are cleverest. Should intelligence be the primary qualifications for leadership?
What other qualities are important for a leader to have?
In this essay I will discuss the leadership represented in Animal Farm, how the
pigs in Animal Farm represented poor leadership and the qualities that define a
good leader. Firstly I would like to give a little background information regarding
the text Animal Farm.
The 1945 text, Animal Farm, by George Orwell with a genre of political satire
and is an allegory for the Russian Revolution of 1917. It holds the theme of be
careful what you wish for and shows a society ruled by pigs who deceive the
other animals on the farm.
Now back to the qualities of leadership. The leaders in Animal Farm are the
pigs, particularly Snowball and Napoleon. The pigs are chosen to be the authority
figures due to them being recognised as being the cleverest of the animals.
Throughout the text they control most of what happens on Animal Farm through
their higher intelligence. For example the Seven Commandments that the pigs
wrote were changed to suit the pigs wants and due to the other animals lower
intelligence they were none the wiser. One scene in particular Clover asks Muriel
to, read me (Clover) the Fourth Commandment. Does it not say something about
never sleeping in a bed? It turns out that the pigs have changed the wording for
the Fourth Commandment and due to this they have changed the rules. These
pieces of evidence show us that the primary qualification for the pigs is only
intelligence but it also shows that the pigs are poor leaders.
The pigs were not good leaders as even though they kept the farm running and
had fairly successful years of produce they were not treating the other animals
on the farm in a fair and respectful manner. The pigs stole the cows milk as
shown in chapter two, when they came back in the evening it was noticed that
the milk had disappeared. We are lead to assume that it was in fact the pigs
which took the fresh milk. Further on in the book we find out that the pigs not
only took their meals in the kitchen and used the drawing-room as a recreation
room, but also slept in the beds. This shows how the pigs are using comforts
that the other animals dont get too use. Another example is when the pigs yet
again deceive the other animals in order to get rid of a horse named Boxer. After
Squealer gives his speech on Boxers death some of the animals notice that, the
van which took Boxer away was marked, Horse Slaughterer, which reveals
that the pigs intended for Boxer to be killed. With the evidence we can conclude
that even though the pigs got somethings done as leaders they were selfish and
didnt embody what it really meant to be a good leader.

With all of this information we know that the pigs werent good and that the
primary qualification for leadership shouldnt just be intelligence, but if this all
stands then we need to ask, what other qualities are important for a leader to
have? We know that the pigs did get somethings done so we can say that
intelligence should be a quality or access to knowledge but we can then add onto
that, the ability to apply that knowledge in a beneficial and rewarding way.
Closely related to that is wisdom, whos definition is the quality of having
experience, knowledge and good judgment; the quality of being wise. This
quality would be essential for a leader in having the ability to make good
decisions. Another quality that a good leader should possess it that of empathy,
the ability to understand and share feelings of another which would be essential
when taking in the thoughts and ideas of those who follow you and those who
you lead. The last essential quality that a leader should possess is the quality of
being honest and having strong moral principles otherwise known as the quality
of integrity. As shown in Animal Farm the pigs are constantly lying to the other
animals meaning that their leadership is not an honest one and this means that
the followers of the pigs are being exploited. This means that that the pigs are
doing a poor leadership job, strengthening the argument that integrity is an
essential quality of a leader.
In conclusion the three main, important qualities that a good leader should
possess is wisdom, empathy and integrity as they all contribute essential values
to a person. The leadership represented in George Orwells Animal Farm by the
pigs is insufficient to a capable, competent authority figure and is simply
deceitful and unethical. Overall in direct response to the prompt, intelligence
should not be primary qualification for a leader and it should in fact be replaced
by the three key qualities, wisdom, empath and integrity.
Thank you for listening to my presentation.