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Research Paper
Leadership Philosophy Assignment

Daniel Blanco Uribe

Liberty University

PADM 510: Fundamentals of Public Safety Leadership

Professor Fred Newell

March 31, 2024

Throughout time, the world has seen countless personalities with great accomplishments in the

field of leadership who have contributed to shaping the course of our world. Looking back on

history and reflecting on these remarkable individuals and their trajectories, it is possible to learn

a thing or two from them; this includes their successes, as well as their failures. On this occasion,

we will discuss Simon Bolivar.

Who was Simon Bolivar?

Simon Bolivar was born on the 24th of July in the year 1783 in Venezuela, specifically, in the

province of Caracas. He is most commonly known as The Liberator, for being an outstanding
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leader in the process of liberation of South American countries from the Spanish reign. (Minster,

2019)

Family Background

He came from a family with a significantly wealthy background, given that his father, Juan

Vicente Bolivar, was not only a merchant but also a colonel, positioning him well within the

colonial administration at the time. Additionally, Simon’s father belonged to a social group

known as the criollos, or the creole, which was made up of those born in colonial territory that

were also descendants of Spanish individuals. This group was the second most powerful and

influential group within the colonies’ limits. It is worth mentioning too, that Juan Bolivar

happened to inherit a family fortune. (Perpuli, 2023)

Early life

His upbringing was particularly difficult, especially during the early years. He lost both of his

parents, at different times during his childhood. His father passed away when Bolivar was very

young, at two years of age, and he was left in charge of his mother, Concepcion, who also passed

away a couple of years later, when he was nine. (Beyer, 2023)

Due to being left an orphan, Simon’s maternal grandfather took him under his care, but

unfortunately his grandfather also died shortly after. He was brought up by Hipolita, his nurse,

who, despite being considered just a house slave, became the closest thing to family he had

growing up. (Beyer, 2023)

Some time after, Bolivar left home to go live with Simon Rodriguez, the man in charge of the

school he would eventually attend. Rodriguez ended up mentoring young Simon and is now

considered to be significantly responsible for the political views that Bolivar developed. Starting

in 1804, he decided to travel across Europe for a couple of years, where he was exposed to the
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revolutionary liberal mindset that was popular at that time. It was his first-hand experiences that

resulted in the idea of liberating the colonies in South America that were under the domain of the

Spanish crown. (Beyer, 2023)

Bolivar’s trajectory

Bolivar went back to Venezuela in 1807 only to find its people divided in two groups with

different ideals. Some people felt like they still owed allegiance to the Spanish and some others

felt a desire to separate from them. In 1808 the independence movement had already picked up

momentum, and in 1810 Caracas declared that they were going to be provisionally independent

until the political situation in Spain improved. Bolivar was an advocate for absolute separation,

later on, he was offered to become part of the government of the young republic. In 1811, what

was then called the First Venezuelan Republic voted to become fully independent from Spanish

rule. In 1812, he went to New Granada, territory currently known as Colombia, to ask for an

officer position in order to be part of the Independence movement. With the men he was given,

they took down all the Spanish forces they encountered, and with this, his prestige grew, along

with his army. (Minster, 2019)

By 1813, he was already capable of leading a large army into Venezuela. Since the members

from the opposing side knew they could not take him head-on, they tried to surround him, but

Bolivar adopted an unexpected approach and made a run towards Caracas. Later, that same year,

he entered Caracas, leading his army triumphantly. Quickly after, he founded the Second

Venezuelan Republic. (Minster, 2019)

As a sign of gratitude, he was named The Liberator and the people made him dictator of the

young republic. In 1814, an army of Spanish men was being led by Tomas Boves to assault the

new republic. Boves defeated Bolivar and forced him to flee Valencia, and following Caracas,
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consequently being the end of the Second Republic and Bolivar was exiled yet again and fled to

Jamaica. (Minster, 2019)

The time from 1814 through 1819 was a very rough one, not only for Bolivar but for the

countries of South America as well. In 1819 he returned to Venezuela to find it devastated, so he

went to New Granada, where he adopted different warfare strategies to become more effective

against larger Spanish forces. He also achieved several victories in New Granada, which ended

with the famous Battle of Boyaca, that happened to be the one that liberated the region. (Minster,

2019)

Bolivar, then, moved to Venezuela where he won the Battle of Carabobo and secured the

country’s independence. During this period of leadership, he also secured recognition across

many of the emerging South American nations and created a sense of unity throughout the

numerous independence movements. (Minster, 2019)

Bolivar’s vision

Once he had liberated Venezuela and New Granada, he had a vision. He started dreaming of

unifying a great new nation, he called it the Gran Colombia. This new republic was meant to

encompass Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama. His goal was to create this union in an

effort to solidify their independence, while preventing a reconquest from the Spanish. (Masur,

2024)

In 1824, Bolivar led campaigns to liberate Peru and obtained victory in the Battle of Ayacucho.

Yet, he failed in his attempt of uniting Peru with Gran Colombia. Years later Gran Colombia

started to disintegrate due to internal conflicts, mainly in the political aspect. He eventually

resigned his dictatorial position in Peru, and sometime after the presidency of Gran Colombia

too. (Masur, 2024)

Simon Bolivar’s leadership style

Defining with full accuracy the leadership style that Simon Bolivar utilized is a difficult task.

Nonetheless, if we study the history and look at the facts, it is possible to determine the most

similar type of leadership to the approach Bolivar would take. It is important to remember that

good leaders know better than to stick strictly to a single type of leadership, since effective

leadership is achieved when the leader is able to adapt their behavior based on the situation itself

and what it demands from them and their team. (Northouse, 2021)

I found Bolivar’s leadership style to be the most similar to transformational leadership. This type

of leadership behavior is present in many aspects. First off, it was known that Simon Bolivar was

a visionary guy, he possessed a crystal-clear vision about what he wanted for the future; in this

case, he dreamed of the South American countries being free but also united. He was a true

leader who knew how to use this vision and exert his influence to inspire and motivate his

followers to fight for independence. His charisma as well as his powerful speeches were some of

the tools that aided him in igniting in people, the drive and desire to achieve something greater

than themselves. (Simon Bolivar and the Spanish Revolutions, n.d.)

Apart from motivating his followers, Bolivar would also empower them and encourage them to

take initiative for their growth as individuals and to contribute their talents in a way that could be

beneficial for the common good. However, Bolivar was a man that not only talked the talk, but

he would also walk the walk. He was someone that lead by example, meaning that he did not just

inspire others to go out and fight for a cause, he would always go out there on the battlefield,

leading his men and fighting for his ideals and the vision he so firmly believed in. (Simon

Bolivar and the Spanish Revolutions, n.d.)

He also had other relevant traits that appealed to different styles apart from the transformational

leadership one. For one, he had the ability to analyze and understand a specific situation that was

presented to him and how respond to it strategically, making him a flexible and adaptable leader.

Bolivar might have embodied some aspects of transformational leadership, but he still possessed

certain characteristics that set him apart from this approach, like his authoritarian tendencies,

especially towards the later stages of the revolution. (Simon Bolivar and the Spanish Revolutions,

n.d.)

He would display behaviors of adaptive leadership multiple times throughout his trajectory since

the political scene was constantly changing and so were the circumstances he encountered, and

yet he was agile enough to work his way around it and be successful with it. This adaptability

trait could be a somewhat grey area since it can also be considered a characteristic that some

transformational leaders tend to portray. (Simon Bolivar and the Spanish Revolutions, n.d.)

Transformational Leadership

For this paper, Simon Bolivar appeared to be a fairly good choice given the fact that, as he was a

military leader, he knew the right way to share his ideas for the future and use it so that he could

influence and inspire large groups of people to follow and accompany him in the journey of

pursuing those goals. His main leadership style appeared to be transformational leadership,

which is highly valuable for the public safety field. (Simon Bolivar and the Spanish Revolutions,

n.d.)

This leadership style is about using the power of influence that the leader possesses to achieve

positive change within the members of the team in order to benefit the organization. These

positive changes are obtained through the inspiring and motivating of the followers; because by

doing this, they will develop an internal drive that pushes them to improve in their performance
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and to do better in general, therefore, excelling beyond the previously set expectations. An aspect

that makes this type of leadership different from many others is its intent; transformational

leadership is not focused mainly in completing specific tasks, but in creating a vision, a shared

goal or set of goals that the team, as a unit, can work towards. (MSEd, 2023)

A transformational leader must have certain elements like influence, for example, which is a

basic leadership trait. Influence is a common characteristic in charismatic people who have not

only gained other people’s trust and respect by actively listening to them and what they have to

say, but also know how to communicate and transmit their ideas and opinions with tact. When a

leader tends to display charisma, it normally encourages their followers to want to be like that

person, which is why it is important for people in leadership roles to give others a good example

to follow. (MSEd, 2023)

A second element transformational leaders should possess is inspirational motivation, meaning

that said leader must be committed to their vision in order to make others commit to it too. This

commitment on the leader’s part can be expressed by creating a sense of community and raising

the spirits. By being there for team members, a leader prioritizes their well-being, which

consequently affects their performance as well as their engagement with their work in a positive

manner, prompting them to want to reach their full potential. (MSEd, 2023)

Another key aspect when it comes to taking care of the team members’ well-being is to give each

one of the members individualized consideration, because every single person is different, their

weaknesses and strengths, needs and aspirations. For this, the leader must have emotional

intelligence that can help them provide the necessary support for each individual to learn and

grow in a safe and comfortable work atmosphere. When leaders learn how to validate other
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people’s feelings and take them into account, they engage with them in a better way, leading to

deeper, more meaningful connections and stronger bonds. (MSEd, 2023)

Lastly, leaders must also stimulate their team members’ intellect and encourage creativity and

innovation, leading to them developing critical thinking skills, better problem-solving skills and

overall, their capacity to come up with creative ways to tackle emerging issues. (MSEd, 2023)

Advantages and disadvantages of Transformational Leadership

Among the many advantages this leadership style brings to the table, the first and most talked

about one is the increase in the team’s motivation. It is known that public safety is easily one of

the most stressful and demanding fields; therefore, it is important to keep up the morale and the

motivation so that every member feels inspired and gets a more positive outlook about the field

and their work. This directly impacts the successful achievement of organization goals and the

effective team response in situations where the pressure is very high. (Ugochukwu, 2024)

Motivation also comes with innovation, when the leader presents the members of a team with

challenges that encourage the use of critical thinking skills and the defiance of the status quo,

team members often get more in touch with their creative side, this pushes them out of their

comfort zone, makes them think outside the box and ultimately, helps them understand that there

are infinite paths one can take in order to accomplish a goal. That is what innovation is all about.

An innovative work environment becomes useful for public safety during times when the

personnel is expected to come up with solutions to complex problems they encounter on the job.

(Ugochukwu, 2024)

Given the fact that transformational leaders are, more often than not, charismatic individuals,

they tend to be good at communicating. This is a powerful tool in more ways that just one. First

off, they are able to give out clear and concise instructions to their team and avoid unnecessary
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confusion when it comes to the tasks assigned to each member. Good communication is

beneficial during high-pressure situations where the scenario can be chaotic and unpredictable

because the circumstances call for a coordinated, efficient response from the team to avoid

hazards. On a more externally focused point of view, it is also essential for the leader to be able

to properly deliver messages to the public, like the one of the organization’s mission and their

values. This is so the team can develop and maintain good relations between the community that

they are serving, which are vital so that trust can be built, and cooperation can be obtained.

(Ugochukwu, 2024)

While this type of leadership has quite a few advantages, it is not a perfect approach nor a

universal solution. It still has its disadvantages too. For example, the is a risk of burnout. It

happens when there is a constant pressure on the team members to innovate and improve

because, while this can drive motivation, it can also easily lead to a stressed, burnout team.

Since the field is already exhausting, the expectation of raising the standards time after time can

wear down people’s mental and physical health, and this applies for both, leaders, and followers.

(Ugochukwu, 2024)

Another downside of transformational leadership is the risk of creating and overdependence on

the leader. Because the focus of this type of leadership relies on the leader and their duty as the

team’s role model, it can contribute to developing a hero mentality in which the followers start to

view their leader as the one who is supposed to do all the problem solving. This is harmful in

several ways since it downplays the collective capabilities of the team, and it can also discourage

its member from taking ownership of their roles. (Ugochukwu, 2024)

After briefly reviewing the positive and negatives that involve the transformational leadership

style, it can be said that, even though it is a powerful asset, it can still have its flaws.
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Selection of leadership style

In the given scenario of assuming a leadership role, I would choose the supportive style as my

main leadership style. Firstly, I consider it important for the team to feel like a family, if not a

community. The work environment is an incredibly important aspect to consider because it

affects the development and performance of every member; it should be a safe and healthy so

that everyone can feel comfortable. Every individual has the right to feel seen and heard, and feel

like they matter and so do their opinions and concerns. For this, all members must practice

tolerance and cultivate respect. All of this helps create trust and strong bonds among the

members, which aids in achieving effective collaboration. (Northouse, 2021)

Being part of a team, you know you can count on, and that will have your back helps to relieve

the pressures that the field exerts. A person’s work team should become a support system of

sorts. Having a safe space, full of people that experience the same things, can be a valuable

resource to help reduce stress and prevent burnout. It allows officers to discuss the difficulties

they might be experiencing and seek out to others for help when they need it the most.

(Northouse, 2021)

This comes in hand with communication, yet another powerful tool. It is not just useful to

express feelings or emotions, but also transmit ideas, concerns, instructions, and information of

many sorts. Plus, it helps in case of emergencies and improves the decision-making process.

(Northouse, 2021)

Another aspect that contributes to making better, more sound decisions is the supportive system

that encourages them to develop skills and be more independent; therefore, allowing them to step

into their roles confidently and be assertive with their actions and their decisions. (Northouse,

2021)
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Supportive Leadership vs Directive Leadership

A supportive approach has some advantages over the directive one, especially in dynamic

environments with certain level of complexity, like public safety. While the directive leadership

may come in handy in the case of emergencies or one of an inexperienced team, the supportive

style empowers people, and encourages their creativity and problem-solving skills, leading to a

more engaged and motivated workforce, which are crucial for innovation and long-term success.

(Northouse, 2021)

Supportive Leadership vs Authentic Leadership

If a comparison between supportive and authentic leadership is made, it will be evident that these

two are not exactly opposing styles. In fact, authenticity can even be considered an element that

supportive leaders possess, but if we focus on the differences, we will find that the edge that the

supportive style has over the authentic style is that it prioritizes team growth. While the authentic

approach promotes genuine leader-follower relations, the supportive approach goes just a bit

further, emphasizing the team’s development and the well-being of all its members. In order to

accomplish this, the leader must offer mentorship and coaching to those who might need it and

provide equal opportunities for every member to grow; this promotes skill development, having a

direct and positive effect on the team’s performance. (Northouse, 2021)

Supportive Leadership vs Servant Leadership

These two styles both have an element in common, which is that they both prioritize the well-

being of the team members. They have other similarities, but a big difference between the two is

that the supportive style gives the members a sense of ownership. It encourages the followers to

take initiative, it also teaches them about accountability. When they become invested in the

team’s success, they start to take pride in contributing to it. (Northouse, 2021)
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In the making of this paper, the transformational style called my attention the most, hence why I

chose a leader that opted for said leadership style. In the Bible, in Mark 6:7-13, the disciples had

been learning from Jesus for some time as he slowly ignited their passion for spreading his

message. He invited them to become part of the mission of building God’s Kingdom on Earth, he

called them to be, not only his followers, but also future leaders of the movement. He provided

them with mentorship and equipped them with his message and authority so they could go out

into the world and fulfil their roles of spreading the gospel. (Mark 6:7-13 (NIV), n.d.)

Conclusion

Despite studying multiple leadership styles, what they involved, their advantages and

disadvantages, comparing some of them to others, the bottom line is that there is not a best

leadership style, just more suitable ones than others. The criteria to determine which one of all is

the most effective one to exert in a specific situation will rely on the circumstances, what they

call for and what the leader decides its best. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each

different style, whether it is transformational, supportive, or directive, it allows leaders to adapt

their approach to optimize team performance and accomplish goals. Ultimately, the most

successful leaders are those who can inspire, empower, and support their teams, and also create

an environment where everyone can thrive and become the best version of themselves.
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References

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ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/biography-of-simon-bolivar-2136407

Perpuli, F. (2023, August 24). 5 Interesting Facts about Simon Bolivar. TheCollector.

https://www.thecollector.com/simon-bolivar-facts/

Beyer, G. (2023, October 13). El Libertador: Who was Simón Bolívar? TheCollector.

https://www.thecollector.com/who-was-simon-bolivar-el-liberator/

Masur, G. S. (2024, February 21). Simon Bolivar | Accomplishments, Death, Route, Revolution,

Biography, & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica.

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Northouse, P. G. (2021). Leadership: Theory and Practice. SAGE Publications.

Simon Bolivar and the Spanish Revolutions. (n.d.). History Today.

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MSEd, K. C. (2023, February 24). How transformational leadership can inspire others.

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Ugochukwu, C. (2024). Transformational Leadership Style: How to inspire and Motivate.

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Chicangana-Matthews, J. (2019, August 2). 23 Leadership Lessons from Simon Bolivar. By Judy

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lessons-from-simon-bolivar-by-judy-chicangana/

Mark 6:7-13 (NIV). (n.d.). Bible Gateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?

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