The Leadership of Beowulf

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.

By Benjamin Paley
August 19, 2024

Introduction

In Bangladesh, we have seen the product of inefficient leadership: student-led protests. Thus, efficient leaders are needed now more than ever.

So how can we learn to become efficient leaders? One option is to look to literature, which teaches us important lessons about many topics, including leadership. In this article, we will look at Beowulf—albeit, we will just be scratching the surface.

Beowulf Summary

For those of you who paid any attention in high school, or at university (if you were an English major), you will remember reading Beowulf—a classic example of Germanic ideals and values. The leadership exhibited by the protagonist of Beowulf (Beowulf—hence the poem’s name) can teach us lessons about how today’s government officials can be efficient leaders. Beowulf, is fearless. He’s brave. And he can clearly articulate his goals. I am going to write about two aspects of Beowulf’s character that showcase his leadership skills: (1) his boasts and (2) his compassion.

Before I get started, it may be helpful to some readers if I provide a brief summary. Generally, Beowulf can be split into three acts: In act one, Beowulf comes to Hrothgar’s kingdom, hears about the attacks of the monster Grendel, boasts that he will defeat Grendel without weapons and on his own and ultimately defeats Grendel; in act two, Beowulf goes to Grendel’s lair (a cave) and kills Grendel’s mother; and in act three, Beowulf, now king in his native land, fights and kills a dragon that has been raging havoc on his kingdom—ultimately, this fight proves to be his last.

Boasting

One of the ways Beowulf shows his leadership qualities is through his boasts, many of which are done in Hrothgar’s mead hall. (A graduate student at North Dakota State University, Emilee Catherine Ruhland, noted this in her paper, “Your legacy is yours to build”: Defining leadership in Beowulf and its adaptations.)

Although boasting is usually defined, according to Merriam-Webster, as “a statement expressing excessive pride in oneself,” in the time Beowulf was written down, boasting was not just showcasing your own ego. It was actually an oath of action, an attempt by the boaster to show that he/she knows what to do. Essentially, it was the gift of oration.

Boasting is an important leadership quality because a leader must know when to act with words, rather than with action. Sometimes it is about getting people excited for something before it happens. Speech has power; the speeches of great leaders inspire people to act. So efficient leaders know that they have to encourage people, through their speeches, to act.

In Beowulf, we see good examples of Beowulf’s boasting. First, we see Beowulf’s boasting when he talks about beating Grendel in a fight; he states that he can fight Grendel alone and without weapons. And second, when Beowulf talks to his men before he fights the dragon, he said, “I’ve never known fear, as a youth I fought In endless battles.”

Compassionate Leadership

According to Forbes, “Compassionate Leadership is the practice of using your head and heart to inspire and influence people so they can, in turn, inspire and influence others. Compassionate Leaders use their influence to positively impact themselves, others, and the planet.”

In 1994, Jay A. Conger and Rabindra N. Kanungo, in their article “Charismatic Leadership in Organizations: Perceived Behavioral Attributes and Their Measurement,” developed a model of charismatic leadership—containing three distinct stages.

These stages are as follows. The first stage is an environmental assessment (a manager’s greater desire to change the status quo). The second stage is a vision formulation (a manager’s formulation of a shared, but idealized future vision). And the third stage is implementation (a manager who is perceived as charismatic is seen to be engaging in exemplary acts).

In Beowulf, the protagonist exhibits all three stages. Beowulf boasts about his confidence (his desire to change the status quo for Hrothgar’s people and his own), he shows his confidence in his ability to defeat the monster Grendel and create a peaceful future (his vision for a future where Hrothgar’s people and his own won’t be terrorized by monsters) and because of Beowulf’s show of confidence, his comrades willingly go with him to the fight because of their confidence in his ability to lead them and to achieve their objectives (their perception of Beowulf as a confident leader).

Beowulf’s people also have confidence in him because he willingly puts himself on the front lines: in Beowulf’s contests with Grendel, Grendel’s mother and the dragon. J.R.R. Tolkien (a Beowulf scholar) wrote that the proper place for a leader “was in the forefront of his troops.” In fact, Tolkien, as noted by Janet Brennan Croft in The Morality of Military History, put many of the leaders in his books on the front lines: King Theoden, Gandalf, Aragorn, etc.

In making the decision to fight the monsters head on, and not behind his men, Beowulf shows his comrades that they can have faith in his fighting capabilities, and know that he is fighting for a noble cause that he himself believes in.

Ending Remarks

It should come as no surprise that Beowulf has lessons for us about leadership. My only hope is we can continue to learn the lessons from it.

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Author: Benjamin Paley graduated in 2022 from the Shepard Broad College of Law in 2022 with a J.D. and in 2018 from Florida Atlantic University with a Master of Public Administration degree. He can be reached at [email protected].

 

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