CHE GUEVARA – A LEADERSHIP STUDY

Introduction
“The first thing to note is that in my son's veins flowed the bloodof the Irish rebels, the
Spanish onquistadores and the Argentinean patriots. Evidently Che inherited some of
thefeatures of our restless ancestors. There was something inHis nature which drew
him to distant wanderings, dangerous adventures and new ideas. “
- Ernesto Guevara Lynch ( Che’s Father )
Background
1. Ernesto "Che" Guevara ( June 14, 1928 – October 9, 1967), commonly known
as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician,
author, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist. A major figure of the Cuban
Revolution, his stylized visage has become a ubiquitous countercultural symbol
of rebellion and global insignia within popular culture. As a young medical student,
Guevara traveled throughout South America and was radicalized by the poverty,
hunger, and disease he witnessed. His burgeoning desire to help overturn what he saw
as the capitalist exploitation of Latin America by the United States prompted his
involvement in Guatemala's social reforms under President Jacobo Árbenz, whose
eventual CIA-assisted overthrow at the behest of the Company solidified Guevara's
political ideology. Later, while living in Mexico City, he met Raúl and Fidel Castro, joined
their 26th of July Movement, and sailed to Cuba aboard the yacht, Granma, with the
intention of overthrowing U.S.-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Guevara soon
rose to prominence among the insurgents, was promoted to second-in-command, and
played a pivotal role in the victorious two-year guerrilla campaign that deposed the
Batista regime. Following the Cuban Revolution, Guevara performed a number of key
roles in the new government. These included reviewing the appeals and firing
squads for those convicted as war criminals during the
revolutionary tribunals, instituting agrarian land reform as minister of industries, helping
spearhead a successful nationwide literacy campaign, serving as both national bank
president and instructional director for Cuba’s armed forces, and traversing the globe as
a diplomat on behalf of Cuban socialism. Such positions also allowed him to play a
central role in training the militia forces who repelled the Bay of Pigs Invasion and

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bringing the Soviet nuclear-armed ballistic missiles to Cuba which precipitated the
1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Additionally, he was a prolific writer and diarist, composing a
seminal manual on guerrilla warfare, along with a best-selling memoir about his youthful
continental motorcycle journey. His experiences and studying of Marxism–Leninism led
him to posit that the Third World's underdevelopment and dependence was an intrinsic
result of imperialism, neocolonialism, and monopoly capitalism, with the only remedy
being proletarian internationalism and world revolution. Guevara left Cuba in 1965 to
foment revolution abroad, first unsuccessfully in Congo-Kinshasa and later in Bolivia,
where he was captured by CIA-assisted Bolivian forces and summarily executed.

Guevara remains both a revered and reviled historical figure, polarized in the collective
imagination in a multitude of biographies, memoirs, essays, documentaries, songs, and
films. As a result of his perceived martyrdom, poetic invocations for class struggle, and
desire to create the consciousness of a "new man" driven by moral rather than material
incentives, he has evolved into a quintessential icon of various leftist-inspired
movements. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people of the
20th century, while an Alberto Korda photograph of him entitled Guerrillero
Heroico (shown), was cited by the Maryland Institute College of Art as "the most famous
photograph in the world".

2. Across the globe, there is only one man whose face is associated with, and
immediately recognized as part of, revolution. Renowned as a folk hero to some, while
branded a ruthless monster by others; his name will be synonymous with rebellion for
years to come. As a child, his asthma left him frustrated and weak, but increasingly
stubborn, while determination and desire for social justice persuaded him to join the
Cuban revolution. When Cuba was secured, it was clearly not the Utopia he had
dreamed of, and he vanished, only to reappear in Bolivia “importing” revolution. There
he was assassinated by the CIA in a clandestine cooperation assisting the Bolivian
government.This was the life of Ernesto “Che” Guevara, a folk hero, a socialist, and,
forever, a revolutionary. This paper will analyse the leadership qualities of Che Guevara
and determine exactly what qualities he did possess. The paper will then examine in
detail the leadership qualities of Che Guevara to determine what leadership qualities he
did and did not possess. The analysis will focus on Guevara’s relationship with ‘his
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people’, that is the leadership that existed between Che Guevara and the people of
Cuba. This paper will show that, when Guevara’s leadership qualities are analysed
against a recognised leadership model he was not a good leader. Indeed he was not a
leader at all but rather a brutal, ruthless and lacked flexible attitude.

The late Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara was a genuine leader. His cause was to
liberate Cuba from a corrupt military dictatorship, and resist United States interference
in Cuban political affairs (“More or Less”, 2002). In the beginning this cause was just,
but his passion grew to hatred, which inevitably consumed him. Che personified a
collectivist but real concern for people, and truly came to believe that the key to
realising that concern was through armed, savage, anti-imperialist political action 

3. Nature of Leadership
a. Effective leadership is a key factor in the life and success of an 
organization
b. Leadership transforms potential into reality
c. Leadership is the ultimate act which brings to success all of the potent 
potential  that is in an organization and its people.
d. Leaders propose new paradigms when old ones lose their effectiveness.

4. Elements of Leadership
a. Leader-follower
b. Influence
c. Organizational objective
d. Change
e. People

5. Elements of Leadership of Che Guevara

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 a. Leader-follower- The widespread poverty and oppression he witnessed,
fused with his interest in Marxism,convinced him that the only solution to South
and Central America's problems wasmed revolution.
b. Influence- After the success of guerrilla war, people started believing that
Guvera will always do things that will bring profit and prosperity to Cuba.

6. Traits of Leaders of Guvera

a. Confront reality head-on
b. Seek feedback and listen
c. Say what needs to be said
d. Encourage push back
e. Take actions on performance issues
f. Communicate openly and frequently
g. Lead change
h. Make decision and move forward
i. Give credit to other

7. Strengths
a. True to his cause
b. Honest
c. Empathetic
d. Learned from experiences
e. Led by example

8. Weaknesses

a. Brutal & Ruthless

b. Lacked Flexible attitude

9. Summary of Che Guevara ’s Leadership

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From the brief discussion above of Guevara’s leadership characteristics it is clear that
on most criteria defined in the leadership model Guevara failed to be an effective leader.
There is no doubt he had some redeeming leadership qualities but on balance the
negative by far outweigh the positive.

10. Conclusion
Through a balanced assessment, against a recognised leadership model there is no
doubt that Che Guvera was not a good leader because he undoubtedly agreeable
leader as he failed as a visionary leader and failed to forecast the change. Indeed,
based upon the significant leadership flaws in Guvera’s personality the author argues
that he was not a leader at all.