ORGANIZATIONAL
BEHAVIOUR
Project
On
Leadership Technique
Of
Adolf Hitler
Born 20 April 1889
Died 30 April 1945 (aged 56)
Führerprinzip
Hitler was, first and foremost, determined to
command personally. According to his so-called
Leader Principle (Führerprinzip), ultimate
authority rested with him and extended
downward. At each level, the superior was to give
the orders, the subordinates to follow them to the
letter. In practice the command relationships
were more subtle and complex, especially at the
lower levels, but Hitler did have the final say on
any subject in which he took a direct interest,
including the details of military operations, that
is, the actual direction of armies in the field.
Headquarters
Throughout World War Two Hitler worked from one of several field
headquarters, in contrast to other heads of state, who remained in their
capital cities.
He held briefings with his senior military advisors, often in the company of
Party officials and other hangers-on, each afternoon and late each night.
His staff would present him with information on the status and actions of
all units down to division strength or lower, as well as on special subjects
such as arms production or the technical specifications of new weapons.
Every point had to be correct and consistent with previous briefings, for
Hitler had an incredible memory for detail and would become annoyed at
any discrepancies.
Hitler's distrust of his generals
Hitler did indeed distrust most of his generals - in part for good reason.
Certainly his operational decisions, especially early in the war, were sometimes
as good as, or better than, those of his generals.
the generals expressed admiration for Hitler's political skills and goals.
Their attitude toward his military leadership, on the other hand, ran hot and
cold.
They often recognized his talents - far more than they later wanted to admit. At
other times they tried to resist him - though less often, less effectively, and
sometimes less justifiably than they later claimed. In any case, he grew ever
more distrustful and contemptuous of them as a group, despite the unflagging
loyalty that most of them displayed right to the end. As early as 1938 he was
heard to say that every general was either cowardly or stupid, and his opinion
only worsened with time.
Reliance on instinct
Whatever the problems with his generals, however, there is no doubt that Hitler
lacked many of the qualities he needed to control military affairs with consistent
success. There have been examples - Churchill was one - of political leaders who
successfully interceded in the details of military strategy and operations, but Hitler
had neither the experience nor the personality for such a role. He shunned serious,
comprehensive intellectual effort and was largely ignorant of military affairs and
foreign cultures. He tended to reject any information that did not fit with his (often
wildly inaccurate) preconceptions. Instead he relied on his 'instinct' and a belief that
the will to win would overcome every obstacle in the end.
His talents - or lack thereof - aside, Hitler took the practice of personal command
much too far. No military leader can hope to understand the realities of the situation
on the ground from hundreds of miles away, and yet he came to believe that he could
control all but the smallest units at the front. At the end of 1942, for example, during
the battle of Stalingrad, he actually had a street map of the city spread out before him
so that he could follow the fighting, block by block.
Similarly, near the end of the war he
ordered that no unit could move without
his express permission, and he demanded
lengthy reports on every armoured vehicle
and position that his forces lost. Such
methods guaranteed that opportunities
and dangers alike would go unnoticed,
that good commanders would be trapped
in impossible situations and bad ones
allowed to avoid responsibility.
Hitler also combined his insistence on
personal control with a leadership style
that often consisted of equal parts
indecisiveness and stubbornness. He
sometimes put off difficult decisions for
weeks, especially as the military situation
grew worse.
Strategy The image of Hitler as a meddler in military
operations is powerful and persistent. One should
bear in mind, however, that his desire to control
his armies' movements was not the most
important factor in Germany's defeat. Hitler's truly
critical decisions concerned strategy, that is, the
war's timing, targets and goals. His was the only
voice that counted at that level, and it was his
strategy that led inevitably to Germany's eventual
defeat.
This was a situation that Hitler created. Where the
Allies had a clear strategic concept, he had none.
Ultimately he believed that war was his only tool,
that his armies would win the war simply by
winning battles, and that they would win battles in
large part because of their racial and ideological
superiority. He never balanced ends and means at
the national level, and no matter how many
battles he won, there always seemed to be
another one to fight. In the end, his was the nation
that exhausted itself.
Sharing the blame
A final judgement on Hitler's role is one that calls for some balance.
No commander works in isolation, no matter how absolute his
power might appear. Germany's senior military leaders bear a large
measure of responsibility for the onset, character and outcome of
World War Two.
The fact remains, however, that Hitler was the driving force behind
the war. It was Hitler that provided its ideological basis and its
strategic direction; his generals merely went along, however
willingly. Hitler also had a hand in nearly all the major operational
decisions concerning Germany's running of the war, and his was the
leadership that took Germany and Europe into the greatest
catastrophe of modern times.
Leadership Qualities
Through All This We Get To Know That
Hitler Followed Autocratic Leadership
Some Of His Qualities Are-
Patriotic
Passionate,
Determined
Honest.
Made By –
Ankit Sikand
E27
