Hitler Better Leader Than Blair According To British Poll [Archive]

Gold9472

08-19-2005, 08:40 AM

Hitler better leader than Blair: official

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/08/18/blair_poll/

By Lester Haines
Published Thursday 18th August 2005 12:44 GMT

As Tony Blair celebrates 11 years at the head of the Labour Party he will doubtless be delighted to learn that he has been beaten by Adolf Hitler in a poll of "most impressive" leaders through history.

The poll, conducted (we think) by PR and marketing outfit Taylor Herring in advance of its 2005 "Leaders in London 2005" beano this autumn, asked 1,000 "high profile business executives, Chairmen and Company Directors, the predominant age group being 30-50, 65% of whom were male and all with businesses employing over 500 personnel" to name their favourite political go-getter.

Winston Churchill unsurprisingly emerged as top dog, closely followed by Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, in that order.

Maggie Thatcher, meanwhile, scored a creditable eighth spot, presumably for her simultaneous liberation of the UK from the forces of Scargill-driven tyranny and las islas Malvinas from the forces of corned-beef-driven tyranny, while the ever-popular Hitler ranked 20 on the most impressive leader board, soundly beating Our Tone into 25th place.

It's clear then, that few if any of the "high profile business executives" polled have read Anthony Beevor's Stalingrad - a case study in how not to run your business (in this case the German 6th Army) - which outlines how Adolf's highly individual management style sent the share price of the Third Reich into a tailspin.

Mind you, the voters rated Hitler above both the Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa. And Saint Lord Sir Bob Geldof, who just scraped in at number 50.

We say we think it's Taylor Herring who are behind this illuminating study because to get the full gen from the Leaders in London website we'd need to register and then we'd just get pestered for our vote in the "Most Impressive Most Impressive Leaders Poll of all Time - Ever!" poll. For the record, we rate this poll above the poll in which 500 PR bunnies voted Robbie Williams the man most likely to restore peace and democracy in Iraq, but well below that which unanimously declared Bill Gates "Top Jumper Wearer of the Year 2001" - an accolade he shares with previous winners Giles Brandreth and Albert Speer. ®

Partridge

08-19-2005, 10:18 AM

well hitler was supposidly a very charismatic person.

And very pro-capitalist. One of the first things he did when in power (and in fact, even before) was use his goons to destroy the German trade unions. In fact, its unsurprising that he'd make a poll that counts among it luminaries Maggie Thatcher, Bill Clinton and Ronnie Reagan.

Shocking really that Churchill, an overt admirer of Mussolini, and an advocate of gassing inferior races (such as arabs in Iraq - the more things change... eh?) should be voted Greatest Leader of All Time. Especially as, after the War he was booted out by the public and a social-democratic government voted in (probably the best government the UK has ever had!) I note with interest that niether Attlee or Bevan made it to the list, surprise surprise! Obvioulsy implementing a free health service for poor people and using the UK's natural resources for the benefit of its population rather than a few rich bastards in suits is not a 'good leadership' skill.

Also, I kinda find it funny that 'God' makes the list, albeit at number 50, While Jesus comes in at 4! Can you imagine the ribbing the aul fella must be getting in heaven?

I gotta admit, I'm truly puzzled by the inclusion of both Mao Tse-Tung and Fidel Castro in the list (although I'll be the first to admit that as revolutionary guerrilla warfare leaders they were astounding). It's just that, being communists and all, they don't seem be the kind of people who would pop up in a rich peoples' list - Gorbi and Mandela I can understand, but not them.

Anyway, here's the full list and breakdown off that site (yeah I registered, hope my spam guard is good!).

TOP 50 LEADERS OF ALL TIME!
[Partidge notes: As voted for by 1000 RICH people]

‘Winston Churchill – Greatest Leader Of All Time’
‘Nelson Mandela – Greatest Political Leader’
‘Bill Gates – Greatest Business Leader’
‘Dalai Lama – Greatest Religious Leader’
‘Lance Armstrong – Greatest Sporting Leader’
‘Margaret Thatcher – Greatest Female Leader’
‘Mel Gibson Playing William Wallace –Film/ TV Character
with Greatest Leadership Qualities’
‘Jack Welch – Most Influence on Leadership Styles’

LONDON – 12TH August 2005; In a recent survey to source the Top 50 Leaders Of All Time, commissioned by the organizers of the ‘Leaders in London International Leadership Summit’ in association with The Times, 1,000 industry leaders, high profile business executives, Chairmen and Company Directors, the predominant age group being 30-50, 65% of whom were male and all with businesses employing over 500 personnel, voted as follows:

Top 50 Leaders of All Time in order 1 – 50.
1) Winston Churchill
2) Gandhi
3) Nelson Mandela
4) Jesus
5) Martin Luther King
6) Alexander The Great
7) Bill Clinton
8) Margaret Thatcher
9) Napoleon
10) Abraham Lincoln

11 – 50 – Mikhail Gorbachev/ JFK/ Ghengis Khan/ Pope John Paul II/ Julius Caesar/ Elizabeth I/ Richard Branson/ Jack Welch/ Lord Nelson/ Franklin Roosevelt/ Adolf Hitler/ Mother Teresa/ Ronald Reagan/ George Washington/ Tony Blair/ Bill Gates/ Moses/ Prophet Muhammad/ Dalai Lama/ George Bush Jnr/ Mao Tse-Tung/ Duke Of Wellington/ Kofi Annan/ Tom Peters/ Charles De Gaulle/ Christopher Columbus/ Eleanor Roosevelt/ Lenin/ Rudolph Giuliani/ Albert Einstein / Fidel Castro/ Henry VIII/ William Wallace/ Lou Gerstner/ Aung San Suu Kyi/ Marvin Zonis/ Benjamin Franklin/ Bob Geldolf/ Henry Mintzberg/ God.

Bob Geldof just about makes it in to the Top 50, slightly disturbing to see him beaten by Adolf Hitler in at number 20, who also ranks higher than both The Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa whilst God rounds up the survey in 50th place. Ranking in the Top 50 Leaders of All Time are Lou Gerstner, Tom Peters, Bill Clinton, Sir Ranulph Fiennes & Mikhail Gorbachev, Marvin Zonis and Henry Mintzberg who will all be speaking live at The Leaders In London International Leadership Summit on 18th & 19th October 2005 at Barbican.

When asked which non British person they would like to see as Prime Minister of Britain Bill Clinton came out top of the poll with over 20% of the votes, closely followed by wife Hilary. Whilst American Leaders were most favored to lead the UK, Bob Geldof, Bono, Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Dalai Lama all just missed the Top 10 which ran as follows: (1 – 10) Bill Clinton/ Nelson Mandela/ Hilary Clinton/ Colin Powell/ George Bush/ Kofi Annan/ Rudolph Giuliani/ Bill Gates/ Condoleeza Rice/ Jacques Chirac.

While not making it into the Top 10 both Madonna & Kylie both received votes for Greatest Female Leader which saw Margaret Thatcher come out on top at number 1, followed by Queen Elizabeth 1/ Mother Teresa/ Indra Gandhi/ Golda Meier/ Boudica/ Joan Of Arc/ Cleopatra/ Hilary Clinton & Queen Victoria.

When asked which TV characters showed the best leadership qualities votes came in thick and fast for the Star Trek commanders, but winning overall was Mel Gibson as William Wallace in Braveheart, very closely followed by Oprah Winfrey with under 1% difference in the votes. Captain Jean Luc Picard came third followed by Aragon (Lord Of The Rings)/ Maximus (Gladiator)/ James Bond/ Captain Kirk/ Forest Gump and Gandalf (Lord Of The Rings).

Jack Welch and Management guru Tom Peters were both highly praised, coming out top of the polls for their influence on leadership styles.

Nelson Mandela/ Bill Clinton/ Margaret Thatcher/ Tony Blair and Mikhail Gorbachev form the Top 5 Political Leaders.

Lance Armstrong/ Sir Ranulph Fiennes/ Pele/ Lord Sebastian Coe & Mohammed Ali come out as Top 5 sporting leaders.

Dalai Lama/ Desmond Tutu/ Pope John Paul II/ Billy Graham & Pope Benedict XVI come out as Top 5 Religious Leaders.

Bill Gates/ Richard Branson/ Jack Welch/ Warren Buffet & Lou Gerstner come out as Top 5 Business Leaders.

Leaders In London Summit 2005 follows the success of the inaugural event at Earl’s Court in 2004 where Rudolph Giuliani, Jack Welch and Sir Terry Leahy appeared in front of a sell out audience. Now in its second year and featuring speakers such as Bill Clinton former USA President, Lou Gerstner, Former Chairman & Chief Executive of IBM, author and business guru Tom Peters and the last President of the Soviet Union and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mikhail Gorbachev with a formidable line up of additional speakers (listed below). The Leaders In London Summit will take place at The Barbican on 18th & 19th October 2005.

Each of the speakers will deliver an address focusing on a particular aspect of business leadership to an audience of the UK and Europe’s leading businessmen.

The Leaders In London Annual Survey 2005 was conducted via email, by the organisers of the Leaders In London 2005 summit in association with The Times. Between 1st July and 5th August 2005, 1019 senior business leaders from UK & European blue chip companies responded to a detailed questionnaire on attitudes and views on leadership. Leaders In London is Europe's premier leadership forum featuring 17 leadership experts including: Mikhail Gorbachev, Lou Gerstner, The Honourable William Jefferson Clinton, Tom Peters, Clayton Christensen, Henry Mintzberg, Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Madeliene Albright.