Mary Robinson, charismatic leader

As the first woman President of Ireland and a catalytic United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson demonstrated the power of charismatic leadership to engender change beyond the formal authority of a position. She uses symbols and verbal communication to articulate her vision for the realisation of human rights for all people.

Born in Ireland in 1944, Mary Robinson became a professor of law at Trinity College and elected to the Irish Senate at 25. She stood twice, unsuccessfully, for the Dáil before resigning from the Labour Party in 1985 in protest of the Anglo-Irish Agreement. In 1990 she accepted the Labour Party’s nomination for the presidential election and won. Although a largely ceremonial role, Robinson believed she could use it to provide a vision for the people of Ireland (Kavanagh 2009).

Prior to being elected as President, Robinson was known as a lawyer and politician at the forefront of some of the most controversial debates in contemporary Irish society (Smyth 1992:62–63), such as the legalisation of contraception for Irish women (Foster 2007:44). Because of her record of successful advocacy for the disadvantaged, Robinson gained the support of the people who “saw in her a person who could deliver a straight, hard-hitting analysis of the…Constitution and legal system” (MacCurtain 1990:674).

In her time as President, Robinson revitalised the office. Her election saw a dramatic shift in her stature as a public figure. Her notoriety reached far beyond the power and aura attached to the office of the President. She was not just the President of Ireland, she was Mary Robinson.

During her term, her popularity rating rose to upwards of 90 percent and stayed there (Edemariam 2010). She did not compromise in order to maintain her popularity — indeed, she remained defiantly radical, becoming the first Irish president to meet Queen Elizabeth II and shaking hands with Gerry Adams in Belfast (Kavanagh 2009).

Charismatic leadership is characterized by its emphasis on transforming the attitudes of followers in conjunction with a vision for the future (Conger et al 2000:752, Bass 1985; Conger and Kanungo 1987; Weber 1978). Mary Robinson’s leadership relied on her ability to energise and reflect the mood of the Irish people. She articulated this when she made her victory speech on election to the presidency:

I must be a President for all the people, but more than that, I want to be a President for all the people. Because I was elected by men and women of all parties and none, by many with great moral courage, who stepped out from the faded flags of the Civil War and voted for a new Ireland, and above all by the women of Ireland, mná na hÉireann, who instead of rocking the cradle, rocked the system and who came out massively to make their mark on the ballot paper and on a new Ireland (Smyth 1992:61).

Mary Robinson’s acceptance speech expressed how well she had come to understand the Irish mind (MacCurtain 1990:673). Her identification with women and with other marginalised groups was a major transformative element in Irish political and social life (Armstrong 1991:74–77).

The 1990s saw dramatic changes to Irish society. They were a time of rapid economic improvement and movement toward a more socially inclusive society (Foster 2007:7; Boyle 2006:xi). Mary Robinson was both the symbol of change in Ireland and a key influencer. She arrived at the right time to lead the people of Ireland through the change they were ready for. “The fact that she won proves that she is an idea whose time has come” (Rule 1990). Her election has been described variously as altering the political landscape of the country, and as a watershed in cultural attitudes (MacCurtain 1990:673).

Robinson is acutely aware of the power of symbols. She believes that if they can bring people together they cease to be symbols and become a mood, something with a momentum of its own (Rule 1990).

Commentator, Ailbhe Smyth noted in 1992 (73), “This new Presidency is very much about creating a mood, a sense of energy, enhancing morale”. Margaret MacCurtain said, “Mary Robinson is a metaphor for change…in what she is…and…what she represents” (Smyth 1992:70–71). Irish women, Smyth said, “have gained a precious sense of energy and inspiration” (Smyth 1992:74).

An essential component of charismatic leadership is the ability to communicate a vision to followers (Conger et al 1997:292). Mary Robinson communicates her vision through extensive writing and scripted and unscripted speech, including her historical victory speech on election to the Presidency: “To all those who have no voice…take heart. There is hope. Look at what you did in this election. You made history. As President, I hope we will make history together” (MacCurtain 1990:673).

Robinson is praised for her oratory style, not only speaking well and inspiring her listeners, but firmly placing the weak and downtrodden at the centre of her rhetoric. “The language was energetic, the verbs are active, the mood transformative…The Object becomes the Subject” (Smyth 1992:62). “There is a quality of mercy in her advocacy, a tone that is reasonable and that carries the listener with her attentively. She is…a splendid orator…concrete, ardent, reach(ing) beyond the clichés of blandness” (MacCurtain 1990:676).

Robinson also communicates with her followers in person. She stresses her willingness to listen and enter into dialogue (Smyth 1992:71), such as when she travelled around Ireland during her election campaign, “in which she listened as much as talked” (Wilson 1991:23). As President, Robinson travelled to Somalia, Bosnia and Rwanda, communicating messages through her presence and describing “with outraged precision” the details of what she witnessed to the international media (Spillane 2001:19).

It was during a trip to Africa that she coined the phrase, “the cycle of impunity” (Williams 2002). Her deep engagement with issues on an intellectual level is a crucial element to who Robinson is as a leader. If cognitive ability and knowledge of the business are what her followers are looking for (Kirkpatrick and Locke 1991), they find plenty in Robinson. She also deliver her messages through masterfully written words (e.g. Robinson 2009; 2006; 1998; 1990).

Mary Robinson’s election was a defining moment for the women’s movement in Ireland, which had been moving towards the great shift that occurred when Robinson was elected. When looking at ‘spellbinders’ of the twentieth century, Ann Ruth Willner found that sources of charisma varied by culture and time, thus explaining why so few women charismatic leaders appear in political history (Nye 2008:57). While Mary Robinson’s election victory was a personal achievement, it was also contingent upon social change that allowed her ascendancy (Smyth 1992:73).

Similarly, Robinson’s achievements as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights came at a particular moment in the history of the organisation. “The possibility of real change requires the coincidence of a person and particular historical circumstances….She took up the position at a time when a new reforming Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, was set to bring human rights into the centre of what the United Nations should stand for” (Boyle 2006:xi).

When Kofi Annan appointed her in 1997, he noted that the position of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights was “not for the faint of heart” (Annan 2006:vii). Charismatic leaders have strong convictions (Nye 2008:55), and Robinson is well known for hers: “One thing I have the ability to do is stand up to bullies” (Edemariam 2010).

Robinson proved resilient to criticism. “Denouncing human rights violations is rarely popular with impugned governments…But (she) spoke out where it was necessary” (Boyle 2006: xvii). It was Robinson’s willingness to speak frankly about human rights violations in the United States and Israel that provoked the Bush administration to strongly oppose the extension of her term as High Commissioner. Bush’s comments have been repeatedly attributed with the end of her tenure (Williams 2002; Edelstein 2003:8).

Reflecting on the experience, Robinson remarked, “I’m prepared to pay the price of taking stands that may not be popular or politically in my best interests. But I came into this job not to keep a job, but to do a job.” (Fahim 2002; Edelstein 2003:8).

An asset of Mary Robinson’s leadership is the public perception of her integrity and determination (Kirkpatrick and Locke 1991) and her track record of winning important battles (Brill 1995:156). Congratulating Robinson on her achievements, Kofi Annan remarked on her ability to engender change as “an official whose power is entirely of the “soft” variety” (Annan 2006:vii).

Charismatic leaders rely on personal and inspirational power resources more than the power than comes from holding an official position of authority (Nye 2008:58). Mary Robinson recognised the potential of soft power and skilfully utilised it to transform both the presidency and the post of High Commissioner for Human Rights from largely ineffective posts to serious, agenda-setting opportunities.

A modern-day example of a charismatic leader, Mary Robinson demonstrates the ability to engender change through the use of soft power and empowers her followers through communication of her vision. Energetic and passionate about human rights, Mary Robinson has become one a handful of global ethical leaders in the Twenty-first century.