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This was originally posted on October 8, 2008. In celebration of HilaryTopper.com’s fifth anniversary, this post is a re-post from HilaryTopper.com. Please be sure to comment to be eligible to win a prize pack at the end of the month! Thanks for reading!
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When I was in graduate school at Baruch College, I wrote a thesis on comparing the management styles of Captain James T. Kirk of the U.S. Enterprise vs. Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the U.S. Enterprise-D.
For those of you non-trekkies, both captains were on the TV show, Star Trek. Captain Kirk appeared on color TV in 1966. (I don’t remember that, because we had a black and white TV until the 1970’s.) Twenty years later, Captain Picard appeared on TV in 1986. (Neither show appeared in High Definition TV, which was a shame because it would have been so cool!)
Both captains had very different management styles. Captain Kirk was a great leader and very well respected among his crew. He was on his own. Some of his key cabinet members offered advice, but he made decisions on his own. He told the crew what to do.
Captain Picard, on the other hand, had a gentler style. He was a true leader who cared about his crew. They also had a great respect for him. The difference between the men — when there was a situation, Captain Picard would call his crew to order, ask their advice, listen to each person and then make a decision based on his input from those around him.
As I am sitting here remembering my paper, I think about how I truly admire Captain Picard. He is an influential leader and he certainly impacted my leadership abilities. Thank you Captain Picard for taking us where no man (or woman) has gone before!
“Space… the Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.”
