Juan Carlos Character

The Connection Between Character and Leadership: King Juan Carlos as Case Study

The notion of having to administrate a political regime that is contrary to the beliefs of one own is the weight that current King Juan Carlos faced in the history of his throne. Despite this notion, Juan Carlos was able to implement his views of democracy into Spain’s dominated dictator political apparatus through his character and leadership; specifically he had the values of being authentic to his own beliefs of democracy. He encompassed integrity when making decisions, and was courageous in actually executing his beliefs under the supervision of loyal falangists/members such as prime minister Carlos Arias Navarro, General Francisco Coloma Gallegos and other

Although Juan Carlo had Arias as Prime Minister; he did not let Arias political beliefs of dictatorship influence his actions, therefore demonstrating his integrity and self-discipline. Nevertheless, Juan Carlos was put in a predicament where he had to endure an immense amount of stress due to the battle between the left and the right, and having to cope with Arias. Despite this expressive stress Juan Carlos commitment to democracy did not stop him in pursuing his purpose of reaching government reform. In fact he worked harder towards his purpose; for instance, he put a great amount of time in establishing loyalty with armed forces; as well as traveling to different parts of Spain to demonstrate his loyalty towards democratization (Preston 354). This commitment to working as hard he could represents his practice of solid values and self discipline; this in turns results in recruiting a higher amount of followers. As Bill George states, “ If you do not exercise complete integrity in your interactions, no one will trust you. If they cannot trust you, why would they ever follow you?” (George 21). This is exactly what Juan Carlos did he gained the trust of advocators and there was an increase in workers, students, and nationalists strikes for change and the

He encompassed one of the most essential traits of being a leader, which is being authentic. This is evident in him understanding his purpose of being king; which was to bring change into the dictator political infrastructure. He practiced solid values such as integrity through demonstrating to people that he is not deviating from his purpose of bringing democracy as well as demonstrating self-discipline through adjusting his actions to meet his purpose. He established enduring relationships to ensure that people know that he cares about what they want and how he is going to do it. And lastly, he demonstrated courage through standing up against the bunker whom embraces an opposite political mindset as the one he envisioned for the future. Without authencity and courage; Juan Carlos would have failed in being an effective leader because he wouldn’t have the framework or base necessary for people in society to actually trust him. Like he said to his son, “If in this life it is as important to form and strengthen character enough to permit us to lead” (Govan 1). This demonstrates how the formation of character is imperative to leadership, in which he demonstrated through meeting the criteria of authencity and courage; and finally bringing democracy into