Jacob Pierce Military Science 1202 Mr. Leard April 29, 2013 Napoleon Bonaparte Leadership Analysis Emperor of the French Empire in the 19th century, Napoleon Bonaparte is widely revered as a military and political genius. His leadership prowess is shown by how quickly he rose through the ranks of the French Army, as he was a Brigadier General by the age of twenty-four. Napoleon utilized aspects of the various theories of leadership in order to become one of the greatest leaders in the history of the world. The various theories, which include trait, behavioral, transformational, transactional, and situational theory, will be analyzed according to how they fit Napoleon along with his ability to adapt. Napoleon was born on August 15, 1769 to a family of minor Italian nobility on the island of Corsica. Corsica had recently been bought from the Republic of Genoa by France. Being of a family with noble blood, Napoleon was afforded more opportunities in terms o f education than most. He learned French and went to the t he military academy in Brienne-le-Château. From there he went to the elite military academy École Militaire. At the academy, he finished the two-year course in one year due to an insufficient amount of funds. He was the first Corsican to graduate and immediately commissioned commissioned in the French Army as an artillery Second Lieutenant. Commissioning so quickly out of the academy was an honor back then and is a tribute to Napoleon’s skill as a leader (“History”; Kreis; “Napoleon”).
Napoleon’s first assignment was in Valence during peacetime. He spent this t ime consuming a
vast amount of literature, primarily on topics regarding history and geography. At the age of twentyfour, Napoleon was promoted to Brigadier General due to the efficacy of his artillery. During his time as
a general, he went on campaigns throughout Italy and Egypt. In 1799, he came back to Paris as the Directory (the government at the time) was losing power. Napoleon helped stage an overthrowing of the government and established the Consulate of which he was the First Consul. While First Consul, he established the Napoleonic Code. He also made the government seem to be a republic, when in actuality he was really running the entire country as an enlightened despot. This appeased the people while he gained power and popularity (“History”; Kreis; “Napoleon”) . In 1804, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor and did aw ay with the Consulate. He went on many successful campaigns throughout Europe that expanded the French Empire. He did this in order to fulfill what he thought was his destiny, to rule the world, while simultaneously spreading the ideals of the French Revolution through means of the Napoleonic Code. In 1814 he was finally defeated in Leipzig. This led to him surrendering the throne and being exiled to Elba. A year later, he escaped Elba, snuck into France, raised an army, and went on the offensive once more. His final defeat was in Waterloo in 1815. He was then exiled to Saint Helena where he lived out the remainder of his days (“History”; Kreis; “Napoleon”).
Napoleon’s traits play a large role in his leadership style. First off, Napoleon was highly
intelligent. This is evident in his time at the military academy from which he was the first Corsican to ever graduate. Not only was he the first Corsican to ever graduate, he did the two year course there in half the time. He was also highly ambitious. While in Valence he obsessed over history and geography books in order to become a better leader. He studied many emperors and kings that went on campaigns with the aims of ruling the world (Kreis). His choice of reading material highlights his ambitions for his future career. Another defining characteristic of Napoleon is his cunning. Napoleon was constantly planning. During the Italian campaign, he directly defied the orders o f the Directory after the victory. Originally, Italy was to be taken as bargaining material. Napoleon claimed Italy to be France’s and that it
would not be used to bargain with for other lands. He knew he could get away with this because of the scale of his victory. He returned to France as a hero (“Napoleon”). Also, while emperor, Napoleon would retreat to his study in order to get away from the formalities of the courts to make plans regarding the empire (“History”). His most defining characteristic would have to be his ego though. He believed that ruling the world was his destiny and that the best form of government is a government led by an enlightened despot (“History”). This was evident primarily when he led campaigns across Europe to gain power and land. These traits describe the “Be” and “Know” portion of the Army Leadership Framework. However, traits alone do not define a leader. According to the managerial grid, Napoleon would have rated as an authority-compliance manager. This is in large part due to his high concern for task, with t he task being taking over the world. His behaviors largely revolved around this as he went on several war campaigns to expand his empire and cover the “Do” portion of the Army Leadership Framework. While First Consul though, he did create
the illusion of a republic by making representative political bodies. However, these bodies held little if any power (“History”). Napoleon did this mainly to appease the people while he gained power. He also gave the citizens basic rights through the Napoleonic Code. This is the most notable thing he did in concern for people. He had to have some concern for people otherwise he would have been overthrown relatively quickly by his people, who had just gone through a revolution. It was rational to concern for the people to some degree and that is why Napoleon did so. Since his main goal was to take over the world, and appeasing the people was necessary for him to make headway on his plan, this concern for people does not raise him into the team manager grid. Every leader needs people to follow them otherwise they are just another common person. In order to get people to follow him, Napoleon primarily used the assumption of transformational theory. While First Consul, he established the Napoleonic Code. Going into his time as
emperor, he used the Napoleonic Code as a means of spreading the ideas of the revolution (“History”). While his true goal was to take over the world, he motivated his people to follow him by highlighting the importance of spreading these ideas. Another way he got people to follow him was through national pride in France’s military prowess. Napoleon won great, heroic victories and this motivated people to
follow him in order to further this military greatness (“Napoleon”). Even after his defeat and exile, he managed to sneak back into France and raise an army. The people of F rance feared that Napoleon’s
replacement, King Louis XVIII, would revoke the Napoleonic Code and reestablish the old laws of the old monarchy. Because of this, they felt that the task of ensuring that these laws stay in place was important enough to follow someone who would not change them, which was Napoleon. However, he did not solely use the transformational theory in order to get people to do what he wanted. Napoleon occasionally used transactional theory to try to g et others to follow his wishes. “Napoleon also had to shape public opinion -- this was accomplished by crude forms of propaganda, but more importantly by the use of sec ret agents, arbitrary arrests, and ex ecutions” (Kreis). This shaping of
public opinion made dissent difficult and made his people follow him in fear of death. An example of this between countries is when Napoleon defeated Russia in 1807. Russia negotiated with Napoleon and what resulted was the Treaty of Tilsit. This treaty allied Russia with France against Great Britain. Russia took part in the Continental System with the rest of continental Europe, with the exception of Spain, in an attempt to weaken Great Britain’s economy. Eventually, Russia stopped participating in this system.
In response, Napoleon sent 600,000 soldiers to Russia to punish Czar Alexander I (“History”; “Napoleon”). This specific attempt at transactional theory failed, as Napoleon lost most of his soldiers to
the harsh Russian winter. There were many situational factors that affected how Napoleon led. For example, one situation he led in was when the Directory was losing power. He helped overthrow the Directory and installed a
new government that used more of the ideals from the revolution. The people followed him because of the impoverished state that France was in after the revolution and because Napoleon was a son of the revolution. Because of this, they thought that he would lead more according to the ideals of the revolution. Napoleon did use many ideas of the revolution in the Napoleonic Code, but the idea of a republic got thrown out when he declared himself emperor. The coup d’état that he was a part of was his best course of action for his personal goals (“History”). If the Directory wasn’t losing power, if he couldn’t convince the people to follow him, he wo uld not have had as much success with the c oup d’état. Another situation which affected his course of action was when he could not directly attack
Britain due to their large navy. The situational factor that was the British navy caused him to find other ways to damage Britain. This eventually led up to imposing the Continental System. It was eventually Napoleon’s lack of adaptation that led to his downfall. When his navy was
defeated at Trafalgar, Napoleon decided that the British could not be matched at sea. He implemented the Continental System since he could not directly attack them, which was an attempt to weaken their economy. However, this largely failed as Spain did not participate, his people grew weary of not having British goods, and the Russians eventually backed out. When he went to punish Russia, he did not adapt to their retreating tactics. This caused a large part of his army to be destroyed which led to his defeat in Leipzig (“History”). Napoleon Bonaparte is regarded as one of the greatest military leaders of all time. He was largely an authority-compliance leader who was highly intelligent and cunning. In o rder to get his people to follow him, he used transformational and transactional leadership, while using transactional leadership to get other countries to bend to his will. However, it was eventually his lack of adaptation that caused his downfall.
Works Cited "History of Napoleon Bonaparte and the First Empire, History of Napoleon III and the Second Empire: Articles, Images, the Key Dates, Family Tree of the Imperial Family, Republican Calendar, Biographies and Books on Napoleon I and Napoleon III." History of Napoleon Bonaparte and the First Empire, History of Napoleon III and the Second Empire: Articles, Images, the Key Dates, Family Tree of the Imperial Family, Republican Calendar, Biographies and Books on Napoleon I and Napoleon III. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2013.
Kreis, Steven. "Lecture 15: Europe and the Superior Being: Napoleon." Lecture 15: Europe and the Superior Being: Napoleon. N.p., 28 Feb. 2006. Web. 28 Apr.
2013. "The Napoleon Series." The Napoleon Series. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2013.
