What makes margaret thatcher a good leader

Margaret Thatcher was Britain's greatest 20th-century peacetime prime minister. In the s, the near-simultaneous crisis of communism in the east and social democracy in the west gave her the opportunity to do great deeds. But it required a great leader to take advantage of it. Her relationship with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev opened up the way to ending the cold war; her privatisation policies showed the world how to dismantle state socialism.

The neoliberal revival of the s will always be known as the Reagan-Thatcher revolution. She was also the most divisive British prime minister of modern times, admired and reviled in equal measure, owing as much to the self-righteous way she pursued her policies as to the policies themselves.

She rightly described herself as a "conviction politician". A conviction is a settled belief that brooks no argument. And she did not deign to conciliate, instead dividing the political world into "us" and "them". Thatcher was brave and resolute, but she was not magnanimous.

She won famous victories, but showed no generosity to the defeated, in word or deed. As a result, she failed to create harmony out of discord.

Her mission was projected from a narrow ideological base. In instinct and language, she was a follower of Friedrich von Hayek. For Thatcher, as for Hayek, the great intellectual error of the 20th century was the belief that the state could improve on the spontaneous efforts of individuals. What others saw as the state's role in elevating the condition of the people, she saw as the insidious road to serfdom. It is easy to see why this message resonated in eastern Europe. Translated into British terms, it meant releasing the impulse to wealth creation from the dead hand of socialism, bureaucracy, and trade unions, which in her reading of history had brought about Britain's decline.

The country was in need of a credible alternative, and free-market economics was beginning to look like an attractive option. Enter Thatcher. As a student at Oxford University, she graduated with a degree in Chemistry, and later went on to study Law, qualifying as a barrister in She was first elected to the House of Commons in , and was made a junior minister for pensions in by the then Prime Minister, Maurice Harold Macmillan.

One of her key strengths was communications. She always managed to communicate really well with humour and candour. When asked what she thought of being powerful, she said:. Thatcher believed that great leaders never needed to declare their greatness. People know they are great by their actions. While there is plenty of commentary on the many political challenges she faced and the decisions she took such as privatisation, education reform and the Falklands War , there is no dispute that Thatcher was a strong leader who knew exactly what she stood for.

As leaders, one of the hardest things to do is to do the right thing. Doing what you truly believe and are deeply convicted about is scary and tough. Usually, these are things no one wants to hear. As parents, it is to discipline our children when needed. It is to restructure and reshape the business when needed.

We have many politically-correct leaders, but we need leaders who go against convention and stands firm. Great leaders like Thatcher had the clarity of vision and conviction to ensure impact. Nearly 15 years after resigning as leader of the Conservative Party and two years after her death in , Thatcher remains one of the most divisive politicians in recent memory. And while she has many detractors, I'm not ashamed to say I think she was outstanding!

Admittedly, she made mistakes, and her uncompromising demeanour may have played a part in her eventual ousting as prime minister. But it's difficult to argue with some of the results she achieved in office. So what were some of Maggie's most notable leadership qualities?

And how did they have an impact on how she ran the country during her year tenure? Political analysts typically describe Thatcher's approach to leadership as autocratic. In other words, it was her way or the highway! Autocratic leaders are characteristically authoritarian and tend to take on the majority of decision-making responsibilities themselves. Thatcher turned the UK from a country with a three-day working week to the AAA-rated financial powerhouse it is today.

The biggest benefit of this style is that decisions are implemented quickly, without the delays and debate that often go hand-in-hand with a more democratic process. An autocracy can be great in high-pressure environments, enabling powerful, confident leaders to take charge of crisis situations and bring greater stability.

The downside? Well, once the panic is over, colleagues can get disgruntled if their opinions and ideas are being ignored.