Greg Mortenson Nye's Ideal Leader

Greg Mortenson: Nye’s Ideal Leader

September 11, 2001. It was one of those days that you can remember exactly what you were doing when you heard the news that planes flew into the World Trade Centers in New York City. I was in my World History class. We turned on the radio to have something to listen to while doing our work, and what we thought was just a fictional story turned out to be extremely real when we then turned on the TV and saw two huge skyscrapers on fire. These events are what caused President George W. Bush to launch the controversial “War on Terror”, which is wreaking havok in the Middle East to this day, arguably causing more harm than good, and disunifying our nation. Taking a leadership role in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Greg Mortenson was able to find a better solution to the “War on Terror” that promoted hope, peace, and prosperity while removing ignorance and illiteracy, which is how terrorism fosters. Mortenson uses smart power, the perfect mix of soft and hard power in order to successfully unify his followers towards the goal of building schools and educating both boys and girls in the Middle East, making him an eventmaking leader and an excellent example of Nye’s ideal of a good leader. Mortenson’s decision to build schools came almost by accident. He had failed to climb the mountain of K2 and failed in his promise to Christa. But as the Persian Proverb goes, “When it is dark, you can see the stars.” Greg, not long after his failures encountered the children of Korphe and saw the light: “… a fierceness in their desire to learn, despite how mightily everything was stacked against them, that reminded [him] of Christa.” (32). It was that desire to learn that inspired him enough to come back with money to build supplies for the first school that would have a balanced education, and put a whole new meaning in his life.

Mortensonhad to have the correct balance of soft and hard power in order to make the drastic changes he did within the Middle Eastern region. Nye’s view is that in order to be a good leader, you must recognize when to use soft and hard power. In Mortenson’s case, more soft power was necessary. Soft power is “getting the outcomes one wants by attracting others rather than manipulating their material incentives.” (29). It includes a vision that gives meaning and inspires others, communication, and emotional intelligence. Mortenson takes it upon himself to raise the initial money for the schools, and makes many promises. He promises Hoerni to use the money towards building schools, promises Haji Ali that he will build his first school in Korphe, and promises Mouzafer he will visit him in his village once he heals, just to name a few. The fact that he keeps these promises doesn’t just make him morally sound, but builds trust within the community, and promoteshis vision of building schools. Jahan, Haji Ali’s granddaughter said, “Many climbers make promise to Braldupeople and forget them when they find their way home. My grandfather told us many times that Doctor Greg was different. He would come back.”(96). The promise of building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan arose from the needs of the group, was attractive to various circles of followers, and was bold enough to make his movement triumphant. Mortenson also makes it a point to adapt his leadership style and adapt his plan to fit the Middle Eastern culture. He lives, dresses, eats, respects, and prays with the people. As he submerses himself in the culture, they do not view him as an infidel anymore, but one of them. “With Manzoorhe knelt and crossed his arms to address Allah respectfully. The men around him weren’t looking at the advertisement on the wall, he knew, they were looking inward. Nor were they regarding him. As he pressed his forehead against the still-warm ground, Greg Mortensonrealized that, for the first moment during all his days in Pakistan, no one was looking at him as an outsider. No one was looking at him at all.” (69).

Because Greg humbled himself in front of the Pakistanis by his simple dress and lifestyle, he was symbolically communicating with them, which helped him gain followers. Because at first he did not know their language very well he showed interest in their lifestyle by drinking tea with the village officials and spending time with them, which were signs of nonverbal communication. Also, Mortenson’s emotional intelligence was authentic in that he was able to successfully balance his private life with promoting peace in the Middle East. He was able to keep things out of his mind that would have hindered his progress, for example, when Marina had left and when had to realize he was not going to be able to see his wife and kids as much as he wanted to. He was steadfast, and made agreements that he kept with his family, which kept him emotionally stable. Tara reminds him, “…I told [Greg] he had a duty to his family, too. He needed to get more sleep, get some exercise, and get enough time at home to have a life with us… We agreed to set the limit at two months, ” (233) which he had agreed to and followed through with. Mortenson mostly uses soft power within the Middle East, in contrast to President Bush’s unjustified war, which was just promoting hatred of Americans. However, there were a few times that stand out when Mortenson had to use hard power, or “carrots and sticks”, towards promotinghis goal of building schools. For example, when Janjungpa and Changazi were scheming and dishonest towards Greg, Greg just about threatened to stop the school project all together. “’Korphe,’ Mortensonsaid. ‘I have nothing to say to you until then.’” (95). Also when Yakub, an old porter, chained up the Halde School because the local government wouldn’t pay him as a watchman, Mortenson made the eight-hour trip to see him after he heard the news: “I’m leaving now for Khandy…When I come back tomorrow, I’ll be bringing a match. If I don’t see that the school is open and the students are going to class, we’re going to make an announcement at the village mosque for everyone to gather here and watch you blow it up.” (306).

This had a trickle-down effect, leading Mouzafer to visit Yakub later, threatening him, “Get your keys and open the school, or I’ll personally tie you to a tree and blow you up with Dr. Greg’s dynamite.” (307). The village council also forced Yakub to sweep the school without pay. Critics may argue that Mortenson was actually an eventful leader, like Winston Churchill or Rudolph Giuliani. A man who “fit the moment”; only the context changed, not the person. Yes, Greg Mortenson was basically nobody before he came across Korphe, but he took it upon himself to change history. He did not wait until a key was handed to him to turn the lock. He wrote 580 letters himself to get funding, altered his way of living, and dedicated the rest of his life to his one goal of promoting peace by building schools. Nye writes, “An event-making leader… doesn’t just find a fork in the historical road: he helps to create it. Such leaders are called transformational in the sense of changing what would otherwise be the course of history”. (6-7) History was changed when Mortensondecided to also promote the education of girls. He states, “Once you educate the boys, they tend to leave the villages and go search for work in the cities… But the girls stay home, become leaders in the community, and pass on what they’ve learned. If you really want to change a culture, to empower women, improve basic hygiene and health care, and fight high rates of infant mortality, the answer is to educate girls.” (209).

With this state of mind, he had to deal with two Fatwas, which would have hindered his work in Pakistan. But because of his involvement in the communities that greatly appreciated and understood his work, the Fatwas were overturned: “Your [Greg’s] work follows the highest principles of Islam… You [Greg] have our permission, blessings, and prayers.” (199). With opposition out of the way, he witnessed full support from many areas of the playing field: “Former Taliban fighters renounced violence and the oppression of women after meeting Mortensonand went to work with him peacefully building schools for girls. He has drawn volunteers and admirers from every stratum of Pakistan's society and from all the warring sects of Islam.” (3).

Women all over were holding village meetings and empowering their daughters. Women like Jahan continued theirschooling and became successful in the workforce. Greg Mortenson correctly used the right amount of soft and hard power in order to accomplish his goal of building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Kevin Fedarko, a journalist who came to Pakistan to write about the conflict between India and Pakistan, witnessed Mortenson paying Jahan’s father four hundred dollars for his daughter’s tuition, and said “it was one of the most incredible things I’ve seen in my life… for the first time in sixteen years of working as a journalist, I lost all objectivity.”(300). He later wrote an article in Parade about Greg’s work, striking a “national nerve” with Mortenson’s quote, “If we truly want a legacy of peace for our children, we need to understand that this is a war that will ultimately be won with books, not with bombs.” (301). The response to the article was overwhelmingly positive; his story creating “one of the most powerful reader responses in Parade’s sixty-four years of publishing.” (301). Mortenson was able to unite an entire nation, if not many nations under his goal of building schools by promoting peace. Although he is a leader we do not frequently hear mentioned, or talked about on our daily news channels, he is humbly yet boldly changing our world for the better for our future generations, making him an ideal leader.