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Sienna Gardner

Mrs. Jenkins

EBA Honors 10

16 May 2018

The God Complex: How It Makes The Most Effective Leaders

The most effective leaders delineate The God Complex. In history, the most influential leaders

were not necessarily the strongest, most attractive, or even the most intelligent; they were

anomalous and antagonistic. This type of leadership style is most effective due to the leaders

inability to express empathy and tolerance, disconnection to the morals of society, and their

ability to enforce cooperation through fear, hostility, or manipulation.

According to Psychologenie, The God Complex is a psychological illusion that encourages the

notion that one is God; these leaders strive for a quintessential environment, one that is

impossible to attain without recreating themselves. This illusion demands perfection from its

leader and it’s followers, hence why this leadership style tends to be conducted by extremists

who are willing to radically achieve perfection. This illusion disables the leaders conscience and

isolates the leaders ability to connect with society and decipher what is morally ethical. This

leadership quality is often associated with an autocratic style of leadership. According to

Connect Us The Global Issues Blog, characteristics in response of an autocratic leader is no

opposition, absolute power, and instilled fear in others. This type of leader sees no flaws within

themselves, takes no personal responsibility for their actions, and reposes the failure of others

to complete their goals.


The best example in history of The God Complex in an effective leader is Adolf Hitler. Hitler is

responsible for World War II and the genocide against Jews. According to Zaminov in Hitler Had

Developed a 'God Complex,' According to WWII Documents, Hitler believed that he was the

“incarnation of the spirit of good” while the Jews were the “incarnation of evil”. In this article,

Hitler refers to the “Final Solution” being the genocide of the Jews through concentration camps.

Hitler’s ill-perceived notion of the Jews being the ‘incarnation of evil’ blinded his ability to show

tolerance which lead to the massacre of ninety-percent of the Jewish population in Eastern

Europe. Hitler was an extremist whose methods to achieve “perfection” was in reality the

repugnant annihilation of a people. He failed to see his shortcomings and wrongdoings due to

this illusion that the Nazi race was superior and imperfect such as himself. His leadership was

effective because he was psychotic; he was able to annihilate a people without empathy,

without flaw in his personal beliefs, and without exemptions all in pursuit of an unattainable

quintessential world. The leaders that fail are the leaders that portray flaws in their beliefs, holes

in their execution of plans, leaders that are dynamic, and unable to disconnect from their

morals. This is why Hitler was effective because he wasn’t afraid of using power and fear to

manipulate his way into a position of fear which is in part to The God Complex.

In William Golding's fictional novel The Lord of the Flies, the boys are stranded on an island

where they fight to survive against the evil within each other and maintain social order. Golding

demonstrates the power of a psychotic leader through his depiction of the boys progressive

savagery on the island. In the beginning of the novel, Golding establishes three leaders on the

island; Piggy, Ralph, and Jack. Ralph is the elected leader on the island, consequently Ralph’s

inability to be authoritative results in inefficiency and the boys show resistance to his leadership.

Meanwhile, the boys begin to gravitate towards Jack’s leadership because he is fearless and

authoritative and they lose respect for Ralph in the process. Ralph and Jack struggle to have

complete dominance which results in their desperate and savage behavior to prove themselves
the leader. As Jack ascends in power, he becomes even more determined to attain total

dominance on the island, and he begins to ignore his morals in order to attain this. He begins to

threaten, kill, and instill fear in the boys to achieve power. When the boys don’t cooperate he

uses fear, hostility, and manipulation to force cooperation. For example, when he tortured

SamnEric into siding with him after Piggy had been killed and Ralph hid in the woods. Ralph lost

all control because he wasn’t dominant or authoritative, he didn’t enforce rules and that made

the boys lose respect for him and ultimately turn to someone that could, no matter how forcefully

or willingly they went.

The God Complex is the most influential attribute of a leader because it removes the emotions,

the flaws of human nature, and leaves only the willing to succeed. The willing are the ones who

aren’t afraid to stray from what society says is acceptable in order to achieve what they find

‘good’ and ‘acceptable’. Without the God complex there is only human nature and emotion to

make decisions and human nature is dynamic whereas the God Complex is static and stable

and makes no exceptions.

Works Cited

Zaimov, Stoyan. “Hitler Had Developed a 'God Complex,' According to WWII Documents.”
German Dictator Believed He Was The ‘Incarnation of Spirit of Good’, 4, May. 2012,

https://www.christianpost.com/news/hitler-had-developed-a-god-complex-according-to-

wwii-documents-74389/. Accessed 13 May 2018.

“Narcissism is it? What is meant by God Complex in Psychology?” Psychologenie, 13 May.


2018,
https://psychologenie.com/what-is-meant-by-god-complex-in-psychology

“6 Advantages and Disadvantages of Autocracy Government.” Connect Us, https://connectusfu

nd.org/6-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-autocracy-government. Accessed 13 May


2018.

“12 Different Types of Leadership Styles.” Wise Toast, http://wisetoast.com/12-different-types-of

-leadership-styles/. Accessed 13 May 2018.

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