An Evaluation and Comparison of

the Leadership Qualities of

Ruhollah Khomeini and The Shah
Cian
K.L.
4C

Introduction:
What is Leadership?
When one truly, passionately believes in a cause, generally the instinctive human
response is to find a figurehead for that cause or group. That is where leaders come in,
both filling in the role of being the voice for that group and the role of finding how to
best achieve the groups main goals. Leaders have to champion what their followers
want for the group, and also have to recognise their limitations and abilities and how
they can be best applied to their goals. This is best accomplished through the following
traits, laid out below:
Have Conviction: To convince people (both your followers and others) that your cause
is worthy and just, you must believe yourself that it is so. Leaders abilities to have
conviction and confidence in their work is vital to their success. Following and standing
by ones principles is a vital skill towards being a good leader.
Impose Context: Another vital trait for a leader to have is to be able to impose
context, i.e. to focus on and show your followers only the vital parts of information that
best further your cause or goal. This means providing a clear sense of direction towards
what your main aims are.
Challenge and Change: To be a good leader, one must always try to improve, never
settling for the status quo, always working towards a better future. An example of this is
in Martin Luther King Jr. who, after championing the Civil Rights Movement and equal
rights for African-Americans, continued to fight against economic inequality and for
workers unions.
Generate Critical Mass: Generating critical mass involves causing action from your
followers and making your beliefs and goals a reality. This is done by not only having
people spread your ideas around, but making sure that they then act on them in the way
that you require them to.
Make Risks and Take Risks: Risk taking comes instinctively to born leaders, and
risks are essential to succeeding in your goals. Of course, another essential leadership
skill is weighing up the possible pros and cons of the risk being considered and making
an informed decision based on those pros and cons.

The Shah:
Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi or, as he is commonly known outside of Iran simply
The Shah was the King, and semi-totalitarian leader of Iran from 1941 to 1979, with his
reign beginning with the Anglo-Soviet Invasion of Iran in World War II and ending with

the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Mohammad Reza Pahlavis leadership skills were weak,
at least compared to his predecessor, Reza Shah, and his successor, Ruhollah Khomeini
(Ayatollah Khomeini).
From its start to its brutal end, Mohammad Reza Pahlavis reign was defined by
corruption, war and unpopularity among lower and working class Iranians. The Shah
was first put into power in 1941 following the Anglo-Soviet Invasion of Iran during
World War II, despite their neutrality and pleas from the then-ruler Shah Pahlavi to not
invade. During World War II, the Soviets occupied the North of the country and the
British occupied the South of the country. Immediately, both forces deposed Shah
Pahlavi and put into power his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, on the condition that he
would be a more progressive, pro-Western leader. The UK also set up the Anglo-Iranian
Oil Company (AIOC) so that they could profit off Irans massive oil supply. This was a
large reason for the anti-British sentiment that would grow in Iran, climaxing in the
1953 coup d'tat, when the Iranian Government voted unanimously to nationalize the
AIOC, resulting in the CIA and the SIS orchestrating a coup in Iran to overthrow the
Government, removing much power from the democratically elected Prime Minister
Mohammed Mossadegh and giving it to The Shah. In addition to his disdain among the
working class for his extravagance while they were starving, The Shah also made an
important enemy in the conservative Shi'a clergy of Iran. They hated his friendliness to
the west and his secular policies, namely many policies introduced in the White
Revolution, such as giving suffrage to women. The Shah was overthrown in 1979 during
the Islamic Revolution, and Ayatollah Khomeini was placed in power. The Shah fled the
country and died a year later in Cairo.
Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi was, in many regards, not a good leader. Although he
arguably helped to modernise Iran and created the backbone for the Iranian
Government today, he alienated his people with his totalitarian rule and corruption,
angered the clergy with secular policies and seemed weak in his relationship to Western
powers. Mohammed Pahlavi lacked conviction in his beliefs. Although he was the
king of Iran, he failed to give a reason to his people about why he was necessary. Iran
marked 2,500 years of a continuing monarchy under The Shah, and he never delivered
any justification for his rule or a clear set of policies that he would implement. In this
regard, he also failed at imposing context to his followers.
The Shah also failed at generating critical mass. As is common with many dictators,
The Shah did not listen to what the Iranian public wanted, and formed policies based on
his own ideals. Although many of said policies can be viewed today as being progressive,
his single-party system of Government led to much disdain among the middle class.
The areas where The Shah did succeed in leadership, however were challenge and
change and making risks and taking risks. During his reign, The Shah constantly

introduced new policies and succeeded in changing the Iranian political spectrum. An
example with a large change that he made is the White revolution, an economic
campaign which tried to distribute much of Iranian income, among other things. The
Shah also succeeded, at least for a long period of time, in knowing what risks to take,
although mistakes in taking wrong risks were eventually his downfall. For example, in
1969, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi ripped up the 1939 treaty with Iraq over control of the
Shatt al-Arab river, so that Iranians wouldn't have to pay a toll going across the river.
This risked war with Iraq, but when push came to shove and Iraq stepped down, The
Shah appeared strong to his followers, making this a good risk that he took.

Ruhollah Khomeini:
Ruhollah Khomeini, known in the Western World as Ayatollah Khomeini or The Grand
Ayatollah was the political and religious leader of Iran from the Islamic Revolution in
1979 to his death in 1989. Khomeini led vocal opposition to The Shah through the early
1960s, until, in 1964 he was sent into exile and spent nearly 15 years in Iraq and France.
He became a figurehead for anti-Shah Iranians in this time until, in 1979, he effectively
orchestrated the Islamic Revolution, which overthrew The Shah and put Khomeinis
theocratic, autocratic Government into place. During almost the entirety of his reign,
from 1980-1988, Khomeini led Iran in a long, bloody war against Iraq, where he showed

his impressive leadership in being able to lead a fierce resistance against Saddam
Husseins invasion, although this proved futile.
Although morally and arguably intellectually weaker than the Shah before him,
Khomeinis Islamic Revolution shocked the world, and set a precedent for modern-day
revolutions. Here, I will outline some of his impressive leadership skills:
Ayatollah Khomeinis greatest attributes were his incredible conviction and his ability
to generate critical mass. He was famous for his rousing speeches against The Shah
that he made throughout the 1960s and thoroughly believed that his cause for a
revolution was right and just. Khomeini generated critical mass in the sense that he
clearly laid out the plan of action for his followers. An example is when he called for his
followers in other Arab countries to revolt. This was most effective in Iraq, the only
Muslim country with a Shia majority. Today, the threat of a revolution in Iraq is seen as
one of Saddam Hussein's main motives for the Iran-Iraq war. In this regard he was also
able to impose context, making it clear from day one of his political career that he was
intent on establishing an Islamic Republic in Iran.
The area where Khomeinis weakness as a leader lay was risk taking. The most notable
example of this is his mistake in not accepting a truce with Iraq in 1982. After Iraq
launched their full-scale invasion in 1980, Khomeini was able to rally troops and put up
a fierce resistance. By 1982, virtually all Iranian land once occupied was taken back.
However, Khomeini did not accept a truce with Saddam Hussein and made a risk in
pushing forward his troops and invading Iraq. However, due to the support of Western
powers and many of the surrounding Arab states, the invasion of Iraq was unsuccessful,
making the war therefore carry on for six more years, at the cost of both countries
economies and hundreds of thousands of lives. Ayatollah Khomeini made a huge
mistake in invading Iraq, making him a bad risk-taker.

Conclusion:
It is important to note that because someone is a natural leader, it does not show them
to be morally upstanding, or even that they know whats best for their followers. The
Islamic Revolution was widely popular among the Iranian people. However, under
Ayatollah Khomeini's rule, the standard of living decreased dramatically, and poverty
went up by 45%. In fact, Nicholas M. Nikazmerad argues in his book A Chronological
Survey of the Iranian Revolution that Reza Pahlavi was simply unlucky with the period
in which he was king. Iran had had a monarchy for 2,500 years; it was time for a change;
The Shahs secular policies were simply the last nail in the coffin.
As for which of the two figures I have studied has better leadership skills, the answer is
clear to me: Ayatollah Khomeini was not only able to mobilize and invigorate an entire

nation to revolt, he came close to doing the same with Iraq. Therefore, I think that the
most valuable leadership quality is generating critical mass. It is all well and good to
champion a cause and to gain followers for your cause, but if you dont have your
followers carry through with action to make that cause a reality, can you really be a good
leader?
In conclusion, I have been fascinated by studying these two figures and studying this
period of history. The historic and current political situation in the Middle East is both
confusing and interesting, and I cant wait to learn more about this topic.

Sources:
-Iran, From Religious Dispute to Revolution by Michael Fischer
-Iran profile from the BBC website (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east14542438)
-Wikipedia (obviously)
-Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini Biography from biography.com
(http://www.biography.com/people/ayatollah-ruhollah-khomeini-13680544)