Theo Hunt
While much is said about individual political leaders and their distinctive achievements, less is discussed about their fundamental similarities: the responsibilities they have remain generally the same no matter the context, as do the limits and options of their ability as human beings. This creates shared boundaries for all leaders, and demands the same practical skills to secure and retain power. I have therefore found that all successful political leaders share five key qualities – the more successful leaders possess more of them: storytelling, philosophy, empathy, innovation, and management. The individual is important in political leadership; while the institutional machinery and political weather around leaders is relevant, individual leaders’ influence is often misunderstood or downplayed in popular and scholarly observations respectively. All leaders, to ascend and remain in high office must possess some of these social skills in depth to stay in high office. I have drawn on a range of case studies to support my argument: these skills are used by historical (Lincoln) and modern leaders (Merkel), eastern (Xinping) and western (de Gaulle), autocrat (Gorbachev) and democrat (Trump) and a miscellany of others (May & Heath). This is a new approach to political leadership, which simplifies our understanding of events by returning responsibility to key individuals and their personal qualities (or lack thereof). It also allows for direct comparison by scholars, increased depth of understanding by media and popular observers, and for lessons to be learned by would-be political leaders from quarters previously closed to them.