Leader Profiling – Leadership – Golda Meir

Golda Meir’s Determination, loyalty, integrity and conscientiousness were major leadership traits that will always be respected in the Jewish community. She was described as the “Iron Lady” of Israeli politics years before the term became associated with British prime minister Margaret Thatcher. Former prime minister David Ben-Gurion used to call Meir “the best man in the government”; * Determination: the desire to get the job done (Northouse, p. 25) Golda Meir was determined to overachieve and protect Israel’s interests throughout her life, even throughout her childhood she organized a fund raisers to pay for her classmates’ books.
Another display of determination was entering politics, a male dominated field, and being praised by her subordinates for her decisions. She was determined to lead a change and always sought after leadership positions. “Although she was born in Russia and educated in the United States, where she trained as a teacher, she arrived in Palestine when she was in her twenties and lived on a kibbutz. She immediately became active in the newly-formed Histadrut trade union movement” (Butt, 1998) * Loyalty – Golda Meir’s loyalty to Israel cannot be questioned.
With her family fleeing Russia where she was born in 1898, to begin a new life in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There she developed a passionate commitment to form a Jewish state. She worked tirelessly by raising money and used her gifts of charm and oratory to promote the cause of an independent Jewish state. * Integrity – the quality of honesty and trustworthiness. (Northouse, p. 25) Golda Meir saw integrity as the currency of Israel’s survival (Burkett, 2008). The way Golda spoke with her followers and involved them in decision making built a high level of trust and honesty within the Israeli government.

Meir led by example; she practiced the same morals and beliefs that she preached. * Conscientiousness – the tendency to be thorough, organized, controlled, dependable, and decisive (Northouse, p. 27). Golda Meir’s conscientiousness was shown during her academic career, where she graduated as valedictorian. Moreover she has shown her control, dependability, and hard work On May 10, 1948, four days before the official establishment of the state, Meir traveled to Amman disguised as an Arab woman for a secret meeting with King of Transjordan at which she urged him not to join the other Arab countries in attacking the Jews.
Golda Meir had many of the traits associated with a transformational leader, such as idealized influence, charisma, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. Golda Meir led by the rule of dedication to her country and her personal concern for all people are legendary. Whatever Golda Meir did, she did for the people, always listened to her followers and wasn’t intolerant of opposing views, she considered all options and whenever she had to make a decision she consulted with her team.
Since Israel was established to be a Jewish state, she worked to improve the lives of her people; she created a vision for the young state to ensure that Jews across the world learned of her vision and take the necessary steps to achieve it. Meir was the leader Israel needed in a time of crisis, she was charismatic with exceptional rhetoric skills, and both attributes are crucial to political leaders. “…transformational leadership results in people feeling better about themselves and their contributions to the greater common goal” (Northouse, p. 00) Indeed Jews across the world migrated to Israel in hopes of living in Golda Meir’s overall vision of the state of Israel. Golda Meir’s ability to lead the people to their common goal while keeping a unified nation, not becoming power hungry, and always keeping what’s best for the country first, are the main goals and achievements of an ideal transformational leader.
SOURCES http://news. bbc. co. uk/2/hi/events/israel_at_50/profiles/81288. stm http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Golda_Meir Golda Meir: The Iron Lady of the Middle East: The First Woman Prime Minister in the West, Eleanor Burkett, Gibson Square Books Ltd; (2008)