| SHU-A6-GS George Seraphim DIPL 3101ZA Concepts in Leadership October 22, 2000 Ambassador Kamal Explain the meaning of Marshall McLuhan's phrase "The medium is the message" with reference to the theory and practice of Leadership Introduction A Canadian author and teacher, Herbert Marshall McLuhan said the famous quote “the medium is the message.” This quote means that the content is as important as the deliverer or even more. With reference to leadership however, the crowd more often pays attention to the presentation instead of the content or even sometimes the content is equally important with the way it was presented. Thesis For the past few decades the appearance and impact of media in every day life has become tremendous and is a major source of information. This perception has established its meaning and many examples of this can be given. The existence of free press sometimes gives out a different impact on the people. An example of this concept and the media’s impact is the latest presidential campaign and specifically the last two presidential debates. During the first debate the people’s reaction was that Governor Bush demolished his opponent, vice-president Gore. A main reason is the simple fact of his body language. But when the second debate came along, Gore was the media’s favorite because he is the one that seemed to have total control over the debate. During the process of both debates, both candidates were giving out the same information but their body language is what emphasized their appearance and gave them the upper hand. Another example is when JFK was running against Nixon and JFK won on TV and lost on the radio simply because of his appearance. The medium is the message. Whether what either candidate was saying was valid or not, it was more easily accepted by the crowd because of his appearance. Antithesis The leaders, such as Gore and Bush, need to understand the importance of this concept in order to be successful. A leader needs to be able to realize when he becomes more important than his vision and do something about it. If the leader becomes too essential to the people he will have trouble accomplishing his goals since the people will expect everything from him. But at the same time the people have to know when a leader is trying to hide weaknesses or bad news and not be mislead to the leader’s trap. Being a flashy leader is very common nowadays and the media is playing a serious role in such. Conclusion The way the media presents a person or idea directly impacts on people's perceptions. For effective communication and leadership to occur, it is important that both the leader and the led understand the concept of “the medium is the message.” |