Leaders Contribute to the Destiny of Their People

               Is a leader a person who holds a position in office? Or, is leadership something that comes natural to people? Who defines who our leaders are? Leadership has a large amount of meanings for everybody seems to have their own definition of what a leader is. There are people who hold positions of leadership but are not necessarily qualified leaders. The position of leadership just allows people to be heard by those who are followers. According to the dictionary leadership is defined as the capacity to lead. I personally feel that a leader is one who goes first and then leads by example, in order to motivate those who follow them. A leader must have a commitment to the goal that they are striving to achieve regardless of how many follows they have accumulated. In essence, a leader should lead based upon what they think is right and not for the status, recognition, or any other perks that a leader receives.

            In today’s society people do not know what to do unless somebody tells them what to do, what to believe in, what to wear, what not to wear, what is deemed as acceptable and unacceptable, etc. Where people look for these answers is from their leaders. Leaders can be presidents, teachers, peers, celebrities, etc. is all considered to be leaders. If people do not have someone to look to for advice then they become lost and some are struck with a feeling of panic. This is the reasoning why leaders are so important to society because they maintain justice, order, and provide people with a sense of security.

            People follow their leaders religiously causing their destiny to be defined by their leader. If a leader does poor job leading then society will come crashing down. Leaders have to fight for their people even if it means they must put themselves in harm’s way. Leaders must have the ability to take risks and not be afraid of the possible repercussions.

            In the poem Beowulf the main character, Beowulf, is the leader to his people, the Geats. Beowulf battles three antagonists throughout the poem. In his first battle Beowulf defends his people by killing Grendel. Grendel is a beast who has killed several Geats and has been attacking the home of warrior in mead hall.  In Beowulf’s third battle, he puts up a fight against Grendel’s mother because she is threatening to attack the Geats. In order to protect his people from being harmed, Beowulf kills Grendel’s mother. Beowulf’s third battle is against an unnamed dragon. However, the outcome of this battle is not favorable for Beowulf as he ends up dying as a result. Beowulf refused to accept help from his warriors in this battle because he wanted to fight the dragon himself so that he would be harmed instead of any of his people.

               Beowulf exemplified leadership qualities numerous times throughout the poem. He was constantly risking his life in order to save his people. These acts that Beowulf performed were crucial to the destiny of his people, the Geats. If Beowulf had not fought in these battles then the Geats would have been in danger. This shows how the destiny of society can be dependent upon the actions of a leader.