Benjamin Franklin — A leader to be remembered for his wisdom, leadership, and vision even today

It is a deep honor and pleasure to write this article on the great leadership of Benjamin Franklin, one of the greatest polymaths that the US and the world have seen. First of all, I think Ben Franklin’s persona is too large to fit in this article, and as a non-history major, I would still like to attempt to write with my thoughts on his leadership and how it applies to our modern day.

I always had this deep appreciation of Ben Franklin which only grew multi-fold when I visited UPenn and visited many milestone monuments in Philadelphia in December. I returned home determined to read his biography “A Benjamin Franklin Reader” in full and look up many videos related to his life.

Every detail I learned, and every page of the biography spoke to me about his versatile personality and deep skills in multiple areas. “WOW” is the word to summarize it all. I need to split the article into multiple parts:

Part 1: Focus on Ben Franklin’s communication and values.

Part 2: Ben Franklin’s diplomatic leadership and interest in science

Part 3: Compare historic leadership to modern leadership.

This article will focus on part 1 focusing on his communication and values.

Effective Communication

• Ben Franklin was a great communicator with an innate attention to detail, both verbal and written. He is known for his templates with detailed steps and guidelines to follow for different situations from ”plan of conduct”, “rules of marriage”, “how to weigh a decision?” (this was very interesting), “the cause of colds”, “how to be a good tradesman”, how UPenn, the institution he founded, needs to stand out in terms of its ideals, the kind of practical education that needs to be embodied in the students, etc., etc.
• Franklin adopted the pen name “Silence Dogood” when his brother initially would not allow him to write. He continued to write anonymously to freely express his opinions. His stories, tips, and articles continued to intrigue curiosity and debate among the readers.
• His evolved thinking could visualize and think of situations to the minutest detail and write practical tips for those reading his letters, or articles on “Poor Richard’s Gazette” to help the common man, etc.

One cannot be a great communicator until one voraciously reads, observes, absorbs, and analyzes the world through their lens. When I was looking at all the above, I thought about how one person can have such deeper clarity and intention on all kinds of subjects. I observed how his writing involved a succinct and crisp style that involved courage and at the same time caring, to inform or to methodically advise or provide suggestions to his subjects.

When there were no leadership training gurus, TED talks, or internet filled with advice, Franklin and many founding fathers in the US and around the world were the pioneers of leadership.

Emphasis on individual and community values

• Franklin emphasized middle-class values of hard work, frugality, volunteering, etc. for the prosperity of society. As a leader, he believed that an opportunity for people to work hard and help others through volunteering, be frugal, and manage money wisely, are all pillars of society. No wonder his book “The Way to Wealth” is still one of the top personal finance books.
• He was forward-thinking when he thought welfare schemes while needed to uplift low-income people should also ensure to avoid laziness.
• When elite institutions like Harvard catered to the rich and the smartest, Franklin believed that everyone should have access to knowledge. When he founded UPenn, he emphasized that the curriculum in addition to teaching multiple subjects should focus on building individuals with strong character to help serve the country, community, friends, and family.

In Franklin, I see a “thinking big”, “empathetic”, and “thoughtful” leader with “deep attention to detail”. He could not have achieved what he did if he had not taken the time to read, think, write, speak, and spread his vision to all, for rich or poor did not matter. In the current ChatGPT and AI world when we can easily find information and use automation at our fingertips, hope we still retain the power of reading and form our own opinions, work smart and help build a more globalized and impactful world.

What are your takeaways from this article? In part 2, I will share my observations of his diplomatic leadership with England and France which tremendously helped with the independence of the United States of America.

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