Great leaders have been those who could develop a unique vision, get commitment from their followers, inspire people, and gather the necessary resources to turn their vision into reality. The ability for a leader to frame issues correctly and have a clear understanding of what is happening in a given environment and to call for action is a principal factor that differentiates a great from a typical leader.
In the late 18th, early 19th century when slavery was at its peak in St Domingue (today known as Haiti) a former slave, Toussaint L’Ouverture, modeled the way by uniting an island that was divided between the French and the Spanish.
ABOUT TOUSSAINT L’OUVERTURE
Toussaint L’Ouverture (l’ouverture means the opening in French) was born into slavery in 1743 on the east part island of St Domingue known today as Haiti. He grew up on Bréda Plantation, near an area called le Cap Français (now Cap Haitien) in the north of Saint-Domingue. As a boy, he was very skinny and undersized, and was often called “the walking stick” for he was also strong and energetic (Madiou, 1847). He had a natural affinity for animals and became a master horseman. In “l’histoire d’Haiti”, Thomas Madiou tells us that Toussaint would also develop a keen knowledge of horticulture while working as a house servant as he taught himself how to read and write and developed an affinity for literature and philosophy. At the age of 16, it is believed that Toussaint read a book by Julius Caesar where he learned that slavery was not just a matter of color- because there were slaves in Rome and that one of these slaves named Spartacus led a rebellion against the mighty Roman army (Rockwell & Christie, 2009).
Madiou (1847) recounted that there is one particular book that Toussaint read when he was around 16 years old that might have changed his outlook and even shaped him to become the leader he was. It was book was written by a priest named Abbot Raynald, whom believed in liberty for all human beings regardless of their race and predicted that one day, a leader would rise up from slavery in one of those Caribbean islands to lead his wretched people to freedom (Madiou, 1847).
THE SELFLESS AND SERVANT LEADER
At the age of 33, Toussaint gained his freedom, and later he joined the Spanish army where he first worked as a physician. Three years later, he rose through the ranks to lead a Spanish battalion to victory against the British which led to the treaty of Ryswick where the British officially left the eastern part of the island to the Spanish. Later, when Toussaint learned of a revolution in France where the Jacobins were asking for liberty, equality, and fraternity for all, he saw an opportunity and switched to fight on the French side on the promise of freedom for all. His decision to help his former masters rather than continue fighting for the Spanish where money and wealth were guaranteed is a demonstration of Toussaint’s larger than self-vision.
In Larry Spears’ book “Insight on Leadership”, he cited Robert Greenleaf’s concept of servant leadership as follows:
The servant-leader is servant first… it begins with the mutual feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead…. The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer, is: do those served grow as persons; do they while being served become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?(Spears, 1998)
As a newly freed slave, Toussaint did not have any obligations to go back and assist the French in their fights, however, his actions proved that it was not about himself, but rather about something that was bigger than self; and that was to help fight for the freedom of his fellows slaves. His commendable servant leadership helped him to quickly rise through the ranks as he mobilized and organized the blacks to fight for the French. He was promoted to the rank of general, then became the de facto governor of the colony (1794) establishing the first Black-led government in the Americas and proclaiming the abolishment of slavery (Madiou, 1847). As history revealed, Toussaint passed the test of being a servant leader, for we know that the blacks he served grew from being properties of their masters to free men, and many of them will later on become servant themselves to help build the country that is known today as Haiti.
TOUSSAINT THE INNOVATOR & VISIONARY
As a new leader, one of the greatest challenges that Toussaint was faced with was that of establishing order and maintaining the economy of St Domingue. One can only imagine the calamities under which the blacks were forced to live and work. So once they were declared free, it was no surprise that they regarded their agricultural work with an incurable dislike and did not want to return to the work that would bring back the memories of enslavement. “Leaders are pioneers-people who are willing to step out into the unknown. They search for opportunities to innovate, grow, and improve” (Kouzes & Posner, 2008). Toussaint knew that without people to harvest what was probably the most fertile land in the country, St. Domingue would not be able to provide for its inhabitants. To this end, he needed to find a way to have the newly free blacks to go back and work the fields. Without any prior knowledge on how to deal with such a situation, Toussaint had to improvise. He skillfully created incentives by offering one third of the harvested crops to those who would go back and work on the plantations and ensure that every one of age needed to work under fair terms in order to contribute to the prosperity of the country (Madiou, 1847). Toussaint’s action shows the true quality of a leader. By challenging the status quo, he achieved the greater good by changing the beliefs and contributing to the growth and prosperity of the workers, plantation owners, and the country as a whole. To quote Peter Northouse (2009), “a leader should make sure the outcome that individuals expect from their effort is achievable and will likely occur and that a leader must be of what outcome individuals expect, and confirm if those outcomes are realistic.” History exposed that what the blacks living in St Domingue wanted in return for their loyalty to Toussaint was liberty and equality for all as promised (Rainsford, 1805). In 1801, five years after Toussaint was granted his freedom and embarking on a leadership journey, he drafted the first constitution of Haiti where he proclaimed that slavery was forever abolished and that “every man, whatever his color, was admissible to all employments, and there was to exist no other distinction than that of virtues and talents, and no other superiority than that which the law gives in the exercise of public function” (James, 1963).
Toussaint’s visionary leadership impacted not only those living in St Domingue at the time, but had a domino effect in the United States. In 1899, W.E.B Du Bois wrote “The role which the great Negro Toussaint, called L’Ouverture, played in the history of the United States has seldom been fully appreciated. Representing the age of revolution in America, he rose to leadership through a bloody terror, which contrived a Negro “problem” for the Western hemisphere, intensified and defined the anti-slavery movement, became one of the causes, and probably the prime one, which led Napoleon to sell Louisiana for a song; and, finally, through the interworking of all these effects, rendered more certain the final prohibition of the slave-trade by the United States in 1807 (Du Bois, 2001).
Conclusion
“The judgment one makes of a leader must be multidimensional, taking into consideration great strength, streaks of mediocrity, and perhaps great flaws. If the great strength corresponds to the need of a critical moment in history, the flaws are forgiven and simply provide texture to the biographies” (Gardner, 1990). While Toussaint did not live to see Haiti rid completely the French because he was tricked by Napoleon and sent to prison in France where he died 3 months later of pneumonia, he laid a solid foundation for the servant leaders after him. Even upon his arrest, Toussaint never stopped fighting for the greater cause. His unique ability to touch every person in St Domingue, from the white plantation owners, to the French emissaries to the slaves was second to none. People believed in him because he took them from their initial stages and propelled them to the next level. The deep and many roots of the extraordinary leadership of Toussaint made it possible for the tree of liberty in Haiti to grow back even after its trunk was cut. That tree grew tall enough, it overshadowed the oppression of the French masters so Haiti could become the first black republic in the world less 3 months after Toussaint death.
By Jean Pillard