Abstract

This study examines how the leadership qualities of the UN Secretaries-General affect how they address threats to peace and security. The personal traits of all seven Secretaries-General are measured and categorized into one of three leadership styles: managerial, strategic, and visionary. A framework of the influential activities available to the office is linked to each leadership style to establish a series of behavioral expectations. The connection is supported through a close examination of three office-holders: Dag Hammarskjöld the visionary, Kurt Waldheim the manager, and Kofi Annan the strategist. This study demonstrates the impact of personal qualities on the operation of the Secretary-Generalship, provides a wealth of information on the office and the tenures of Hammarskjöld, Waldheim and Annan, and extends knowledge on political leadership in the realm of international organization.

Contents

1. Introduction
2. The Secretary-Generalship: The Individual behind the Office
3. A Secretary-General's Avenues for Influence
4. The Visionary: Dag Hammarskjold
5. The Manager: Kurt Waldheim
6. The Strategist: Kofi Annan
7. From Manager to Visionary: Contrasting the Secretaries-General

Quotes

"From Manager to Visionary provides a first-rate analysis of leadership at the United Nations. Using a novel assessment approach, Kent Kille conducts a content analysis of all U.N. Secretaries-General, coupled with comprehensive and comparative case studies of Dag Hammarskjold, Kurt Waldheim, and Koffi Annan to make a compelling case for understanding a leader's personal characteristics in shaping how the United Nations promotes peace and security. This book is a must read for all students and scholars of the United Nations."

-Ryan C. Hendrickson is Associate Professor of Political Science, Eastern Illinois University, and author of Diplomacy and War at NATO: The Secretary General and Military Action After the Cold War

"From Manager to Visionary provides a truly unique and innovative study of how the individual personalities and styles of UN Secretaries General matter in the real world. Kent Kille’s rigorous scholarship, linking carefully measured leader characteristics to specific patterns of behavior across a series of past UN leaders, opens wide a window to anyone interested in obtaining a better view of how the UN really functions, and how the individual styles of secretaries general often shape their subsequent decision making and performances in office."

-Thomas Preston, Associate Professor of Political Science, Washington State University

Purchasing Information

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