Letters; December 2007/January 2008; Scientific American Mind; by Staff Editor; 2 Page(s)

I read with great interest "The New Psychology of Leadership," by Stephen D. Reicher, S. Alexander Haslam and Michael J. Platow. In light of my own experience, the article does capture the salient points of good leadership, but I feel it has not given proper weight to the idea of achievement.

Achievement is satisfaction (or accolades) received by a group for supporting its leader. In short, achievement acts as feedback that demonstrates to the group that its faith in supporting the leader's vision has not been in vain. Benito Mussolini made the trains run on time; the people who supported his totalitarian view were recipients of a transportation system they could count on. Without this feedback, the dictator's appeal would have been lost.