Beauty and Leadership
Hello Aesthetics Advocates!
I’ve been thinking about what makes someone a good leader. Anyone can have a position of authority, a title, or be a boss. But not everyone makes a ‘good’ leader. Probably, if asked about the qualities of a good leader, most people would not list beauty. I might not either, largely because it seems ambiguous, and beauty is often associated with someone’s looks.
Let’s think about the related idea of someone’s character and whether beauty and morality are linked. Past philosophers, especially during the 18th century, connected beauty and morality, which less people seem to believe now. However, what if you’re asked to name someone you would describe as a “beautiful person”? It would be strange to think of an evil person as a beautiful person. More than likely, anyone who would be described as a beautiful person would also be regarded as having, in some sense, good character. So, it appears that we uphold some connection between the concept of beauty and other qualities about a person.
Each leader has a different approach; for instance, people often contrast the leadership styles of Steve Jobs and Tim Cook at Apple. Each leader emphasizes distinct aspects of a company or organization’s mission or goal. This might prove to be good or bad, in terms of their strategy, but this still doesn’t get to the point about whether someone is a good leader. After all, a good leader may occasionally make a mistake or a bad decision, yet still be good.
Francis Hutcheson, an 18th century philosopher, connected beauty with the idea of “unity amidst variety.” Even though a leader maintains a particular focus, that goal can’t be the only thing. Good leaders are not one-dimensional. They possess a unity in their approach that sends a consistent message to their employees, clients, and stakeholders. However, good leaders draw from a variety of sources and approaches to push the creativity, curiosity, and knowledge of their organization.
Without this kind of leader, an organization is likely to become or remain “deformed.” Some philosophers have asserted that beauty implies that something is well-formed; thus, the opposite of that idea is what it means to be deformed. To be a good leader, someone must maintain order and consistency, while encouraging creative experimentation. This embodies Hutcheson’s notion of beauty as “unity amidst diversity.” Someone that rigidly applies systems without reassessing them or allowing for some differences may force unity, but it is at the expense of fostering change. Someone that encourages too much experimentation could find it devolves to chaos.
Aesthetics, rather than being merely abstract thoughts about beauty, can provide some needed practical advice, if only we know where to look. The history of aesthetics in philosophy supplies a vast repository of ideas that can connect with current practices. And Hutcheson’s idea—unity amidst diversity—highlights only one aspect of how aesthetics can be applied to principles of leadership ad business.
What I’ve been up to.
I chatted with Karen Adams from The Circularists about the necessary connection between beauty and sustainability.
Two of my recently published articles: Digital Depictions of our Identity on BeautyMatter and The Classical Vs Modern Debate in Art and Design in Splice Today.
I’ll be speaking at the inaugural Intentional Spaces Summit in Washington DC, November 9 & 10, 2023.
To invite me to speak or write to your group or organization, please email me at michaelrspicher@gmail.com