Case Study: Authentic Leadership and Bill Clinton
Introduction
Bill Clinton is among the most notable and recognizable figures in the political landscape of the United States and throughout the world. Clinton was a public servant for over 35 years and was credited with many achievements. He was also the focus of many controversies. Many consider Clinton to be a charismatic leader who has the ability to influence and persuade others through his dynamic and powerful, yet apparently sincere, personality. As a leader, Clinton has been the focal point of much adulation as well as criticism. The events that shaped his political leadership were significant and have impacted the United States and the world in many ways. Clinton remains a leader who rarely creates a neutral impression, as people either love or despise him. As such, Clinton’s accomplishments are shadowed by the questions of his authenticity as a leader. Additionally, Clinton’s inner self has driven many of his leadership behaviors, which have impacted, for good and bad, his ability to influence and lead others.
Authentic Leadership
The relationship between a leader and those they lead is critical to the leadership process and authentic leadership is foundational in building trust for effective relationships. Both practical and theoretical models of authentic leadership have been created to assess and understand its characteristics and its effects.
Practical model
Bill George, the former CEO of Medtronics, developed a practical model of authentic leadership that focuses on the characteristics of a leader. According to George, a leader’s purpose, values, relationships, self-discipline, and heart should drive their leader actions (Northouse, 2016). In his model, these aspects of a leader's drive are important because:
• values drive behavior;
• relationships lead to better connections with others;
• self-discipline creates consistency in leadership;
• heart creates compassion; and
• purpose drives passion for the task at hand.
Throughout Clinton’s political career many have questioned or admired his ability to demonstrate the tenets of authentic leadership according to George’s model.
Theoretical model
A second method for viewing authentic leadership is a more theoretical approach. In this model, espoused in Northouse (2016), the four theoretical components of authentic leadership can be understood in this way.
- Self-awareness:
Self-awareness is the ability of a leader to know their self. This component theorizes that leaders can better influence and lead others when they understand their strengths and weaknesses, have identified and defined their values, know their emotions and desires and can manage them, and have a deeper understanding of who they are as a leader. - Internalized moral perspective:
An internalized moral perspective within a leader guides their actions. Leaders who have reflected on and developed an internal moral compass have established boundaries that they operate within when making decisions. - Balanced processing:
Balanced processing is a characteristic of authentic leaders that are open minded and approach situations without bias, or can manage their biases to ensure they fully consider all information before making a decision. - Relational transparency.
Relational transparency requires leaders to be who they are in their relationships without any inconsistencies regardless of the context or situation. In essence, relationally transparent leaders always portray the old saying “what you see is what you get”.
Bill Clinton has displayed some, but not all, of these authentic leadership characteristics throughout his leadership career.
Psychodynamic approach and leadership
The psychodynamic approach to leadership centers on the dynamics of human behavior. Kets de Vries and Cheak (2016) stated, “In short, leadership involves harnessing and leveraging the different and complex forces and dynamics at play in organizational functioning” (p. 295). The complex forces and dynamics according to the psychodynamic approach consist of three key concepts:
• the inner theater;
• leader–follower relationships; and
• narcissism.
The first concept of this approach is the “inner theater,” which is a construct of personality that consists of the many people who have influenced leaders. Especially important are those who influence leaders early in their lives and that impact the response patterns that leaders tend to repeat throughout their lives. The second concept of the psychodynamic approach is leader– follower relationships. This concept focuses on the psychology of groups and how the resulting dynamics impact a leader’s ability to accomplish tasks and goals.
The third concept of the psychodynamic approach to understanding leadership is narcissism, which can range from a healthy, normal self-interest to total self-absorption. Effective leaders can manage their love of self and focus more on the other aspects of the leadership process to ensure the desired outcomes for the organization. Narcissistic leaders focus on self and, although their behaviors may indicate concern for the leadership process, they are really focused on advancing their own agenda or themselves. Constructive narcissism results when leaders have the right people and support system around them to create awareness and guide them along the right leadership path. Narcissistic leaders either do not have such support or make the conscious choice to advance themselves (Kets de Vries & Cheak, 2016).
An analysis of Bill Clinton’s leadership highlights the sources of energy and conditions that created the motivational forces that drove his behavior from within and affected his relationships as a leader.
Early Years
The people in Bill Clinton’s early life helped to shape the leader’s inner theater as he worked toward becoming a public servant. Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946, in Hope, Arkansas. His father died in an automobile accident three months before he was born. His mother, Virginia Cassidy Blythe, left her son with her parents to attend nursing school in another state. While living with his grandparents in the racially segregated south Bill witnessed his grandparents selling goods on credit to all races in their family-run grocery store. When Bill’s mother returned, she married Roger Clinton and Bill adopted his father’s surname as a teen, even though Roger Clinton was abusive toward Bill.
Clinton did not know his biological father and lived a modest lifestyle while growing up. He had to work hard and rely on his intelligence and ability to win others over to succeed. Clinton displayed this ability when he began his political career at the age of 17 as an active student leader who decided he wanted to dedicate his life to public service. He was inspired to enter politics by John F. Kennedy, whom he met while on a field trip to Washington, DC, and this was a key part of his inner theater. Clinton has stated that although he enjoyed music and medicine, he never thought he could be the best in these fields, but he believed he could be great in public service. He trusted his rhetorical and relational skills would help him succeed (Freidel & Sidey, 2006).
After high school, Clinton attended Georgetown University, and was then selected as a Rhodes Scholar and attended Oxford University, before going on to earn a law degree from Yale. He began dating Hillary Rodham while in law school and the couple moved to Arkansas where Clinton worked as a law professor at the University of Arkansas. The couple married in 1975 and Clinton began his public service in 1976 when he was elected attorney general.
Bill Clinton served as the governor of Arkansas from 1978 until 1992 (except from 1980 to 1982) and then as President of the United States from 1992 until 2000. During his presidency, the
United Stated experienced the longest economic expansion in American history. After leaving the presidency, Bill Clinton was actively involved in many charitable endeavors and has been very active in many public speaking venues.
Achievements
Bill Clinton achieved a great deal throughout his career as public servant. Highlights of his accomplishments include the following events during his presidency: a record 115 months of economic expansion for the United States; the creation of more than 22 million jobs; the lowest unemployment in over 30 years; the highest home ownership in US history; the smallest welfare rolls in 32 years; the lowest federal income tax burden in 35 years; the lowest crime rate in 26 years preceding his entering office; and the most diverse cabinet in US history. In addition, Clinton led the effort to create the Family and Medical Leave Act, and he worked to deactivate more than 1,700 nuclear warheads from the former Soviet Union (The Clinton–Gore Administration: A record of progress, n.d.). Many factors contributed to these great accomplishments, but the primary factor was Bill Clinton’s leadership and his ability to create effective relationships with those he wanted to influence. Those he engaged believed he was genuine and deeply cared about what was important to them. His inner theater and intrinsic motivation to achieve shaped his ability to better understand those he interacted with and he used this to his advantage when leading others.
Aligned with his democratic values, Clinton also pursued a moderate but progressive domestic agenda in which he sought to upgrade education, to protect the jobs of parents caring for sick children, to strengthen environmental rules, and to end racial discrimination. Each of these issues was very important to Clinton and illustrated several of his core values. During his presidency, Clinton’s international achievements also aligned with his values and seemed to indicate balanced processing, as he promoted peace and trade initiatives aimed to end strife in many places, including Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Africa, and the Middle East (Clinton Presidential Library, n.d.). Throughout his presidency, Clinton enjoyed excellent approval ratings and drew large crowds wherever he travelled, which indicated his authenticity or perceived authenticity.
Controversies
Despite the accomplishments of his presidency, Clinton and his leadership were the center of much controversy. The controversies created a sharp contrast to his political achievements and caused many to question his leadership. The cloud of controversy surrounding Clinton highlights his lack of transparency and narcissistic behaviors, specifically during Whitewater, Filegate, Pardongate, the reformation of the US healthcare system, the rental of the Lincoln bedroom for campaign contributions, and the Monica Lewinsky affair and impeachment (Tapscott, 2015).
The Whitewater controversy focused on a previous land development controversy involving both Clintons during the 1970s and early 1980s. The Clintons were not directly implicated in the Whitewater scandal but benefitted financially from key players involved in the controversy. The Filegate incident, involved Craig Livingstone, director of White House security, being given hundreds of FBI background files on Republicans between 1993 and 1994. There was no illegal activity with the files, but Livingstone resigned over the incident. The Pardongate controversy centered on Clinton’s pardon of Marc Rich, a convicted tax evader, whose wife made significant contributions to the Clinton presidential library and Hillary Clinton’s 2000 Senate campaign. During the reformation of the US healthcare system the task force headed by Clinton’s wife, Hillary, kept its meeting sequestered from outside observations despite obvious conflicts of interest. The Lincoln bedroom scandal centered on the hundreds of people who stayed overnight in the Lincoln bedroom during Clinton’s presidency. Approximately $5.4 million in campaign contributions to the Clintons were attributed to those guests. The Monica Lewinsky affair involved Clinton engaging in extramarital relations with a White House intern, an activity that he lied about and was later impeached for by the House of Representatives.
In these controversial events, Clinton damaged perceptions of his apparent internalized moral perspective, called into question his ability to engage in balanced processing, and compromised his relational transparency. These compromises of his authentic leadership can also be understood from a psychodynamic approach. Although Clinton’s inner theater may have influenced him to seek public office in order to help others, and he may have been driven to lift others up by his passion and his moral values, his constructive and excessive narcissism affected his leader–follower relationships and ultimately his leadership.
People want their leaders to lead honestly and to be authentic. Honesty is directly related to authenticity as leaders who are not honest cannot be transparent and those, they lead will question who they are as leaders. The research by Kouzes and Posner (2012) determined that
honesty was the most desirable leader characteristic identified by thousands of participants over 30 years of their research (identified by 89 percent of respondents). Many argue that results are all that matter, but what is the cumulative effect on a consistent pattern of deception and lies in one’s ability to influence and lead others? The litany of controversies surrounding Clinton begs the questions: Were his actions just politics or did Clinton lack honesty and authenticity, and did he have serious leadership flaws that cast a shadow on the many accomplishments he was able to achieve during his presidency? If Clinton was not authentic, did his inner theater affect his authenticity? Did his authenticity affect his relationships and thus his leadership?
The Lewinsky affair and impeachment
The Lewinsky affair was one of the few scandals that Clinton was held accountable for during his presidency. As a result of Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky, Clinton became the second president of the United States to be impeached by the House of Representatives.
Monica Lewinsky was a White House intern hired during Clinton’s first term in office. Lewinsky alleged that she had nine sexual encounters with Clinton from November 1996 through March 1997. The relationship between Lewinsky and Clinton became public when independent counsel Kenneth Starr discovered it. Initially, Clinton denied the affair, but evidence came to light that proved Lewinsky’s claims were true. Specifically, an investigation into the claims was launched, and during that investigation, Clinton lied about his actions to the American people during a televised broadcast. He later apologized to the American people for his behavior when the truth was confirmed (Tapscott, 2015). His wife famously stood by his side at this time and publicly forgave her husband for his marital transgressions.
Despite his apology, the House of Representatives impeached Clinton. The Senate acquitted him of all charges, but Clinton was later found in contempt of court, stripped of his license to practice law, and fined $90,000 (Cnn.com, n.d.). All these behaviors have raised questions regarding Clinton’s honesty, his authenticity, his leadership, and the motives behind his actions. If people could not trust Clinton, how could he be viewed as authentic? How did Clinton’s inner theater impact his leadership? Did Clinton have an effective support network around him to guide his narcissistic behavior or did he ignore those who were trying to help and advance his own desires? None of his actions have stopped him from continuing public service in significant leadership roles, yet questions remain regarding his true intent when leading the American
people. Despite his seemingly inauthentic actions, Clinton was able to retain public approval and successfully pass legislation that aligned with his core values and supported his democratic platform. The question remains: did Clinton’s authenticity affect his leadership?
Discussion Questions
- Analyze Bill Clinton’s leadership using Bill George’s five dimensions of authentic leadership (purpose, values, relationships, self-discipline, and heart).
- Analyze Bill Clinton’s leadership using the four theoretical components of self- awareness (internalized moral perspective, balanced processing, and relational transparency).
- Is Bill Clinton an authentic leader? Why does this matter? Please explain in terms of your analysis in the first two questions.
- Use the “inner theater” construct to discuss the psychodynamic relational themes that affected Bill Clinton’s leadership.
- How has narcissism affected Bill Clinton’s leadership? Did Clinton display constructive or healthy narcissism, or did he display reactive or excessive narcissism during his political career?
Bibliography
Clinton Presidential Library (n.d.) “William J. Clinton Biography.” National Records and Archives Administration. Retrieved from https://www.clintonlibrary.gov/clintons/william-j- clinton-biography/
Cnn.com. (n.d.). A chronology: Key moments in the Clinton–Lewinsky saga. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/resources/lewinsky/timeline/
Freidel, F., & Sidey, H. (2006). “The Presidents of the United States of America.” Retrieved from https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/presidents/williamjclinton
Kets de Vries, M., & Cheak, A. (2016). Psychodynamic approach. In P.G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice (7th ed., pp.295–327). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2012). The leadership challenge (5th ed.). San Francisco: Jossey- Bass.
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Tapscott, M. (2015, April 12). A brief guide to Clinton scandals from Travelgate to Emalgate. Washington Examiner. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/a-brief- guide-to-clinton-scandals-from-travelgate-to-emailgate/article/256906
The Clinton–Gore administration: A record of progress (n.d.). The White House. Retrieved from http://clinton5.nara.gov/WH/Accomplishments/eightyears-01.html.
The White House (n.d.) “William J. Clinton.” Retrieved from https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/presidents/williamjclinton
Sample Solution