The Path of a Leader: Maya Angelou and Nicolae Ceausescu Case Study

This presentation provides a comparative analysis of the leadership styles of Maya Angelou and Nicolae Ceausescu. It begins with an introduction to leadership, followed by the backgrounds and professional and political lives of both leaders. The presentation then explores their leadership traits, including trait approach, and leadership skills, examining how they align with different leadership theories such as the Great Man theory and Katz's three-skill theory. The leadership styles of Maya Angelou and Nicolae Ceausescu are analyzed, contrasting transformational and autocratic approaches. The presentation concludes with a reflection on their strengths, weaknesses, and a comparison of their leadership styles, offering valuable insights into effective leadership practices and theories. The presentation also includes a detailed list of references.

The Path of A Leader” The Case
Study Of: Maya Angelou And
Nicolae Ceausescu

INTRODUCTION
 Leadership is quality or a skill which denotes individual ability to frame and
execute decision for group of people.
 Valuable leadership comprise inspiration, communication and ability to delegate.
 The presentation will outline background, professional and political life of two
incredible leaders that is Nicolae Ceausescu and Maya Angelou
 Assessment will present skills and styles of both the leaders to reflect on their
strengths and weakness.

BACKGROUND OF MAYA ANGELOU
 She was an American singer, poet, civil rights activist and memoirist.
 Maya Angelou was born on 4th April, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri.
 She was named by her brother after the end of their parents’ marriage.
 During her learning years she appeared in many fields like contributed
in articles, was an associate editor of The Arab Observer, etc.
(Source: Maya Angelou Biography. 2018. [Online]. Available through: https://
www.biography.com/people/maya-angelou-9185388).

BACKGROUND OF NICOLAE
CEAUSESCU
 He was a Roman Communist Politician and was general secretary from 1965 to 1989 in
Romanian Communist Party.
 Nicolae Ceausescu was born on 26 January, 1918, he used to rule Romania according to
principles of orthodox community.
 He used to force export of agricultural products of country which led to food shortages in
Romania.
(Source: Nicolae Ceausescu Biography. 2017. [Online]. Available through: https://www.biography.com/people/nicolae-ceausescu-38355).

PROFESSIOANAL LIFE OF MAYA
ANGELOU
 The African American lady was notified by her best seller “I Know Why the Caged
Bird Sings”. The book was story of her life which remarked her success.
 The lady received honours like NAACP image and literary work award entire her
life.
 Maya Angelou issued 5 books of poetry. Her collection comprises, Oh Pray My
Wings Are Going to Fit Me Well, And Still I Rise, I Shall Not Be Moved, A Cool
Drink of Water 'Fore I Diiie, etc.

PROFESSIOANAL LIFE OF NICOLAE
CEAUSESCU
 In mid 1930s Nicolae Ceausescu was mounting leader of Union of Communist
youth.
 He joined underground Communist party for which he was sentenced to 30
months in imprisonment.
 In 1945, he became Brigadier general in army of Romania. By 1955 he was
recognised as full time member of Politburo where Ceausescu was responsible
for managing cadres and structure of organisation.

POLITICAL LIFE OF MAYA ANGELOU
 The African American lady involved in political awareness after writing poetry on Bill
Clinton’s which was titled as “On the Pulse of Morning”
 She advocated in Baton Rouge where she told that according to her Racism is still ugly in
America but situations have changed after publish of her poem “Why the Caged Bird
Sings”.
 Maya Angelou admired president Obama for doing good for African American.
(Source: Fuller, J., 2014. What Maya Angelou wrote and said about race and politics. [Online]. Available through: https
://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/05/28/what-maya-angelou-wrote-and-said-about-race-and-politics/?noredirect=on
&utm_term=.

POLITICAL LIFE OF NICOLAE
CEAUSESCU
 Nicolae Ceausescu was known for thirst for power due to which he used to force workers
to work day and night and demolished historical parts of Bucharest.
 He joined communist party where he involved with illegal revolutionary activities.
 During his imprisonment Nicolae met Gheorghiu-Dej, who was a persuasive activist
leader. This prison mate introduced him to elder people who instructed him Marxist-
Lenin theories.
(Source: Lambru, S., 2014. Strategies used by Nicolae Ceausescu to legitimise his power. [Online]. Available
through: http://www.rri.ro/en_gb/strategies_used_by_nicolae_ceausescu_to_legitimise_his_power-15945).

TRAIT APPROACH
 Trait approach is the concept which emphasize on individual’s personality and way of leading.
 Big five personality approach is a five factor model and denotes five distinct abilities of one person
like Maya Angelou who is an influential personality known for its various abilities like poetry,
drama, activist etc.
 She is inspiration for society and African American who suffered discrimination on the basis of race.
(Source: Maya Angelou Biography. 2018. [Online]. Available through: https://www.biography.com/people/maya-angelou-9185388).

TRAIT APPROACH
 Great Man theory represents influential personality which can be due to various
trait that is political, wisdom, intelligence, etc.
 Nicolae Ceausescu holds characteristics of great man theory as he was known
Romanian political leader and was focused on personalisation of power and
ruling.
 He controlled crises like agriculture, foreign trade, industrial revolution and
drive a shift from extensive to intensive growth.

LEADERSHIP SKILLS
 Leadership skills are the core personality trails which reflects influence and
power of certain person.
 In accordance with skill based model, it can be said that Maya Angelou was
focused on improving her skills in order to become inspiration for all.
 Her leadership performance reflects her different individual skills like,
competency, career experiences, environmental influences, own attributes and
outcome of leading.

LEADERSHIP SKILLS
 Katz's three-skill theory represents 3 specific skills of leaders that is human, conceptual and
technical.
 The theory directly links to leading performance of Nicolae Ceausescu, he was the man of
concepts and technicality of certain situation.
 Romania was known for its political power and foreign policy which were governed by
leadership techniques and priorities of Nicolae.