A Leadership Lesson from Captain Kirk

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by VB Honorato

Commander Spock: A calculating machine, logic personified. Doctor McCoy: Passionate and compassionate, often ruled by his emotions. Then there's Captain Kirk: The quintessential leader, the balancing force between the two extremes.

This tug-of-war between cold logic and sheer emotion is one of the things that made the original Star Trek so compelling. In virtually every episode, viewers got to see the tension between Spock's computer-like view of the world and McCoy's heartfelt passions... and through it all, you had Jim Kirk, mediating this conflict and serving as the voice of balance in this precarious friendship.

And a precarious friendship it was. No episode illustrates this better than The Tholian Web, in which Captain Kirk went missing amidst the spatial anomaly known as Tholian space. The crew had justifiably given him up for lost, and without Kirk, we saw the friendship between Spock and McCoy disintegrated as their natures repeatedly clashed. With the two officers at each other throats, it took a heartfelt plea from Kirk himself - delivered through a pre-recorded message - to remind them of how much they needed each other, and how they needed to balance each other out.

This is one of the things that made Kirk such an effective leader. He could act logically, but he also knew how the human heart - or for that matter, the hearts of Klingons and Romulans - operated. His decisions were never based on cold logic alone, nor were they based solely on the heart's dictates. He knew that logic and emotion could complement each other, rather than simply being at odds.

A perfect example of this was the gambit that he played in The Corbomite Maneuver. In this episode, the Starfleet crew faced a mysterious foe in a giant spherical ship--one that had the Enterprise vastly outgunned. Kirk and company had been checkmated; there was no apparent way out.

Or so it seemed. With a flash of inspiration, Kirk changed the game from chess to poker. Playing a carefully calculated bluff, he allowed his foe to overhear a transmission where Kirk threatened to set off a fictional "corbomite device" that would completely destroy any opponents and render that sector of space inhabitable. Kirk knew that they were logically outgunned, but that an emotional ploy--an appeal to fear--would do the trick.

The most effective leaders likewise combine both rationality and emotional intelligence. A manager who operates strictly on logic might emphasize the need to produce the best and most economical products in the market; however, someone with a deep understanding of human nature would understand that purchasing decisions are often made on emotional grounds--rapport with the salesperson, for example, or the aesthetic appearance of the product. Products that sell typically incorporate both form and function, logical and emotional appeal.

A cold, calculating manager might recognize the need to confront employees who underperform or misbehave. A manager with high emotional rapport, on the other hand, would emphasize the need to handle these situations with delicacy, so as to provide correction without losing a valuable employee. Correction is often necessary, but an emotionally aware leader can correct people in such a way that they don't realize they've been corrected.

Logic and emotion. Mind and heart. Rationality and compassion. The very best leaders combine these elements, harmonizing them just as Kirk balanced the tension between Spock and McCoy. It's a lesson that's worth learning.

About the Author
Honorato likes to write on a wide variety of topics, ranging from the deeply philosophical to the utterly mundane. Some of his musings and interests can be found at http://cytokines.1hwy.com, http://immunology.8m.net and http://lymphocytes.741.com

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