Angela Merkel—Striking the Right Note on Leadership
IMF News, August 31, 2019
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Bibliographic details
- Authors: Christine Lagarde HHL Leipzig Graduate School
- Published: August 31, 2019
Introduction
- Speech delivered by Christine Lagarde at HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, August 31, 2019.
- Occasion: Honor Angela Merkel, who will soon be awarded the degree of Doctor Honoris Causa.
- Audience note: Address to the Class of 2019—220 graduates—from 65 nations.
- Themes introduced: Merkel’s rise from East Germany to four-term Chancellor of Germany and longest-serving leader in the European Union; reference to Karl Popper: “The future is wide open and depends on us, on all of us.”[i]
- Cultural note: Merkel’s affinity for music—favorite opera Tristan and Isolde; connection to Leipzig’s musical heritage including Johann Sebastian Bach and Das wohltemperierte Klavier.
Angela Merkel’s early life and career
- Birth and upbringing:
- Born in Hamburg; daughter of a pastor and a teacher.
- Grew up in East Germany under the Communist government.
- Quote: “no shadow had darkened her childhood.”[iii]
- Education and early career:
- Star student in mathematics and Russian.
- Studied physics at Leipzig University; earned a PhD in quantum chemistry; worked as a research scientist in East Berlin, living near the Berlin Wall.
- Experienced the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and described the event: “I experienced firsthand how nothing has to stay the way it is…Anything that seems set in stone or inalterable can indeed change.”[iv]
- Political milestones and dates:
- Won a seat in the Bundestag in December 1990.
- Held positions: Minister for Women and Youth; Minister for the Environment; Secretary-General and later leader of the CDU (Christian Democratic Union).
- Elected to her first term as Chancellor of Germany in November 2005.
- Notable “firsts”:
- First female German Chancellor.
- First Chancellor to have grown up in East Germany.
- Youngest German Chancellor since the Second World War.
- First German Chancellor born after 1945.
- First female leader of a German political party.
- First German Chancellor with a background in natural sciences.
- Social impact: Credited with modernizing German society and creating new perspectives and certainties, especially for women; gender parity described as “eine Selbstverständlichkeit.”
Angela Merkel’s leadership—personal reflections
- Framing metaphor: Leadership compared to musical composition—measured, methodical, and well-tempered—captured in the Four D’s: diplomacy, diligence, determination, and duty.
- Diplomacy
- Defined as relentless commitment to bringing people together.
- Merkel’s approach: “I seek cooperation rather than confrontation.”
- Applied to global issues: climate change, migration pressures, trade tensions, data privacy.
- View on multilateralism: Critical to improving health, wealth, and education for billions, while recognizing limitations and rising populism and nationalism.
- Leadership style: Prefers cooperation, dislikes excess emotion, avoids limelight, but leads by example.
- Diligence
- Merkel characterized as the best-prepared person in the room; methodical problem-solving—splitting issues into parts, weighing pros and cons, crafting step-by-step solutions.
- Personal interests reinforce diligence: big football fan; admires managers like Jürgen Klinsmann.
- Anecdote: Former England player Gary Lineker quote: “Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end the Germans always win .”[v]
- Note on performance: Commentary that recent World Cup performance has favored the German women’s team.
- Determination
- Merkel’s drive and staying power enable her to “stay at the table and push the negotiations over the line.”
- Objective: Reach compromises that leave everyone “a little bit dissatisfied but vastly better off.”
- Role in crises:
- Global financial crisis: Told President George W. Bush that “this international crisis requires an international response.”[vi] Played a key role within the G20 to prevent another Great Depression.
- Euro Area sovereign debt crisis: Described as “like being in a dark room, so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.”[vii] Worked to galvanize joint efforts, strengthen fiscal rules, and create institutions such as the European Stability Mechanism.
- Duty
- Described as the ultimate leitmotif of Merkel’s leadership—the final “D.”
- Merkel draws strength from a deeply felt sense of duty and regards Europe as “a matter of the heart.”
- Core convictions: Germany’s destiny in a prosperous and peaceful Europe that has learned lessons from the horrors of the 20th century; commitment to diversity, freedom, and tolerance.
- Policy-facing questions she addresses as matters of the heart:
- How to address the causes of displacement and forced migration?
- How to ensure digital transformations benefit all people?
- How to fight the existential threat of climate change?
Conclusion
- Merkel faces major global questions with an abiding sense of duty, humility, and profound optimism.
- Quotation: “Let us not ask what is wrong or what has always been. Let us first ask what is possible and look for something that has never been done before.”[viii]
- Legacy claim: Over the past thirty years, Merkel has embodied courage and leadership; her “well-tempered” approach has set an example for this generation and future generations worldwide.
- Closing: Expression of belief that “the music of Angela Merkel’s life will not only resonate with this generation, with these graduates, or even with Germany only, but with generations of people from all over the world.”
Source: Angela Merkel—Striking the Right Note on Leadership, By Christine Lagarde, HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, August 31, 2019.