Kofi Anan

1. “Respect” as defined in the Oxford Dictionary, means to recognize and appreciate. Annan’s 5 virtues of dignity, confidence, courage, compassion and faith largely influence behaviors that promote goodwill, and therefore should be respected. However, unlike virtues like integrity, honesty, and kindness that undeniably contributes to favorable social relations, Annan’s virtues like confidence, courage and faith have a much stronger social character, and therefore depends a lot on the situation and context before they can be recognized and appreciated; they are not respected everywhere.

Virtues in general are not equally respected everywhere. This is especially so in places with diverging cultures (Van Oudenhoven, 2012), between parties with differing age, language and religion, or even when faced with contentious issues that parties have opposing views over. For instance, when Annan wanted to negotiate with Saddam Hussein face-to-face, many identified this as a display of confidence and courage, but other diplomats like Albright did not respect these virtues when exercised in this situation and tried their best to stop him.

2. Annan’s traits, behaviors, and leadership styles should make him a good leader in every culture, regardless of his position in the UN.

Using the trait approach, Annan is a highly intelligent man, who has attained the pinnacle of self-leadership with a clear understanding of his own values and ethics, and an over-arching purpose of existence and life. He is a revolutionary thinker who has a clear vision of what he envisions the world to be, and is clear of what he needs to do to direct the UN towards his aim. Although his critics argue that his dream is too idealistic, it gives his followers a foreseeable future to hope and fight for. Yet, despite his strong belief towards his aim, he is not stubborn – he does not insist on a universal application of his doctrine. Annan also has a sense of humor, listens, and is able to communicate well in an open and expressive manner by creating a comfortable communication climate to send his message across. His high level of tolerance as can be seen from how he reacted to screams from Albright is also a good indication that he is a calm leader who does not get frustrated easily. “…no weather was ever too bad, no road too dangerous, no campsite too open…” suggests that Annan takes problems in his stride and is able to make the best rational decision in every situation.

From the behavior and contingency approach, he adopts a more subordinate-centered leadership – the country club management approach, with a high concern for people. His use of personal touch is extremely relevant in today’s cultures if a leader wishes to better influence, establish connection, and thereby propagate his ideas across. He also leads predominantly with a servant leadership style, as he “regularly put himself in harm’s way to negotiate access for medical supplies, food aid and humanitarian personnel in the world’s hellholes”. This allows him to evoke a sense of higher respect amongst his followers, thereby influencing them to trust and align their self-interests to the collective interests of the group.

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