Margaret Thatcher: Team Green

Margaret Thatcher: Team Green

Margaret Thatcher, the first woman leader in Western democracy, committed her life to political service to her country. She served as a Member of Parliament, Secretary of State for Education, and Leader of the Conservative Party for the United Kingdom. Elected to Prime Minister in 1979, Thatcher served in this role for eleven years, the longest term in twentieth century history. Thatcher ultimately strengthened the Western alliance against the Soviets in the early 1980s, awarding her the well-earned title of "The Iron Lady" (Suesse, 1998).

Power Bases, Influence, and Credibility

Early in her career, Margaret Thatcher made a never-ending effort to build rapport with the people of her town to gain support. Through interacting with her voters, she gained pertinent personal knowledge that created a perception of empathy toward her constituents. The referent power base supported constituent identification and liking for the leader (Northouse, 2010). Referent power in particular allowed Thatcher to later build strong social power.

Thatcher added to her reputation by being exceptionally prepared. She put forward compelling speeches based on facts and influenced people by capitalizing on her intellect, education, and work ethic. According to Suesse (1998), Thatcher's passion and expertise created influence, elevating her within the conservative party. As a result, individuals took notice and her knowledge base was respected.

Thatcher's credible qualities began at youth. She participated in meetings and activities associated with her father's position in the city government. She then attended Somerville College and became president of the Oxford University Conservative Association (OUCA). Thatcher continued her studies and joined the Society of Conservative Lawyers. Serving as a Conservative Member of Parliament for Finchley, she became intimately aware of the pressing issues at hand and became self-schooled in the details. Thatcher's ability to present information precisely and as an experienced, intelligent expert, won over constituents and colleagues. Thatcher's persuasive charisma (House, 1976) sealed her influence and generated overwhelming support (Suesse, 1996).

Strengths, Weaknesses, and Lessons Learned

Thatcher's strengths came from the many valuable lessons learned in her lifetime. Under her father's tutelage, Thatcher gleaned the importance of networking to create allies and relationship power (Blanchard, 1995) in order to help leverage her position. Thatcher learned to take advantage of assigned leadership roles (Suesse, 1996) and diligently

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