As stated previously, effective leadership is inclusive of providing vision, which is clearly evidenced in the actions of Lee. Critics of Robert E. Lee would even have to agree that his aggressiveness is a positive trait of a general. The lessons and skills General Lee displayed during the Battle of Antietam are still recognized today and can be beneficial for leaders of any organization during the 21st century. Similarly, there are lessons that can be learned from the mistakes of General McClellan during his time as the Commander of the Union Army. For example, General McClellan's greatly misjudged the Confederate Army’s strength in numbers; which happened to govern his military career. Because of this he is known as a timid leader that …show more content…
Lee’s approach to generalship was very effective. Within his leadership, he can be best described as a transformational leader. According to Beurge, Acar & Braun (2006), transformational leadership refers to a style in which leaders use a diverse variety of mechanisms to promote vision and greater innovation within followers (p. 54). General Lee exemplified these qualities by conveying the importance of the task and goals of the Confederacy and inspiring his troops to believe in his vision in an attempt to further the interests of the Confederacy. According to Nahavandi (2012), transformational leadership is comprised of three elements: charisma, intellectual stimulation and individual consideration. General Lee encompassed some, if not all, of these elements. General Lee provided intellectual stimulation to the troops and used intellectual stimulation to push troops to win battles that may have been thought of as impossible by inspiring them and being an example of courage and dedication for them. As a leader he had his troops use ingenuity and goal setting practices to achieve goals beyond their normal abilities. From this, his troops gained a sense of empowerment and they believed they were a part of the bigger picture (p. 194). Overall, the successes of General Lee and the Confederacy stemmed from his devotion to duty, his subordinate leaders, the trust he placed in his men and the trust his men had in him. As a general; Lee was resilient …show more content…
Lee’s plans were often described as bold and aggressive, but Lee practiced leading this way on the battlefield daily and made it a point to attempt to seize each day as the commander of his troops. This leadership style he often had was similar to that of an entrepreneur that was starting an overnight business. The similarity in the American Revolution and the confederacy’s bid for independence was that they both had smaller armies that had opposing forces that outnumbered them. If General Lee would have taken note of this, his aggressiveness could have focused on breaking the northern will by attacking smaller detachments to gain moral victories as opposed to focusing on larger armies where he risked his army in exchange. This proved to be very dangerous because decisive battles of annihilation did not give him the victory he