Queen Victoria: A Research Essay

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Queen Victoria

Irena Dadashyan (100919465)

Communication Skills For Hospitality Leaders

COMM 2016

Professor Chris Bain

February 7, 2014


On May 24, 1819, Queen Victoria was born in Kensington Palace, London, to Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. She inherited the throne at the age of 18 upon the passing of her uncles, and married her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840, with whom she had nine children (Queen Victoria, 2011). Additionally, Queen Victoria held the title "Empress of India" and was the first female to do so. She perished on January 22, 1901 at 81 years old, making her the longest living and reigning UK monarch and the longest reigning female monarch in history, after a reign of 63 years and 7 months (Queen Victoria, n.d.).
Queen Victoria was a highly respected leader (G,M. 2011). Although she was only 18 when crowned Queen and possessed a low level of readiness and a telling leadership style, she quickly rose to her duties as a queen, with a very high readiness level and a delegating leadership style. Her popularity grew tremendously due to the Great Exhibition in 1851 (Queen Victoria, 2013), after which her leadership skills were put to a great test. Two years later, when Queen Victoria was 34 years old, she had to prove herself as a great leader from 1853-1856 during the Crimean War. This was the first war Britain has fought in since defeating Napoleon Bonaparte during the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 (Men of the Battle, 2014). The Queen, alongside Napoleon III, Omar Pasha, and Victor Emmanuel II created an alliance between The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, France, Sardinia, and the Ottoman Empire in order to stop the Russian Empire, led first by Nicholas I and then Alexander II, from expanding into the Crimean Peninsula (Crimean War, 2014).
Queen Victoria was very interpersonal and had a great love for her country and people. During the Crimean War, this was demonstrated through Britain's alliance with France, Sardinia and the Ottoman Empire. Britain, although not having much to benefit from the war (Queen Victoria, 2013), stood by and supported the countries that were in need. Her interpersonal skills became more evident following the war. In 1857, the Queen introduced the Victoria Cross, which rewarded members of armed forces, regardless of their rank or status. Before the war, only people of elite status or ranking were recognized for heroic actions. However, Queen Victoria's equal love for her country and citizens and interpersonal skills permitted soldiers of any ranking and status to be acknowledged for their actions (Queen Victoria, 2013). The Queen unified the people of her country using her interpersonal skills, which allowed Britain to grow significantly as a country.
In the same way that she cared for her people, she had an immense value for procedures. During the Crimean War, she was troubled by Prime Minister Lord Aberdeen's actions. It was procedural for the Queen to be aware and have plans and ideas brought to her attention. Lord Aberdeen had prepared a British squad to enter the Black Sea without Queen Victoria's knowledge. However, being a procedural leader meant taking necessary actions according to what would normally be done. As a result, the Queen allowed Britain to fight in the Crimean War (Queen Victoria, 2013). Additionally, during the Queen's reign, the Great Man Theory was extremely popular, and while she was born into a Royal family, she was not considered to possess heroic leadership skills due to the fact that she was a woman. She succeeded in having Britain following her and looking up to her as a leader through her procedural skills and positive reputation. She led the British taskforce suitably through respectable planning and scheduling, a great attention to detail, and the ability to evaluate her actions immediately in order to improve herself and benefit her people, which ultimately led to the defeat of the Russian Empire in 1856.
Lastly, Queen Victoria was an informational leader and valued knowledge. In reference to the Crimean War, the Queen took the necessary actions to inform her country and ensure that they had full knowledge of any situation or event that arose. Britain was fully aware of the countries participation during the war, and this helped unite the country. In addition, she ensured that Britain was standing behind her actions and followed her lead, which is of high importance to any leader. Lastly, her extensive knowledge further displayed her informational skills. She was smarter than others her age, and was able to successfully lead her country through the Crimean War and throughout her reign. In return, the public valued her opinions and respected her as a leader and most importantly, as a Queen (Queen Victoria, 2013).
Queen Victoria was always highly respected by people in Britain and around the world. To this day, people remember her as a great leader. Her skills and traits allowed her popularity to grow significantly throughout her reign. As a leader, it is very important for one to be interpersonal. This enables you to interact with others more effectively. Working in the hospitality industry, one will usually be around guests and other employees. With guests, you have to be sincerely kind and provide for a more personal interaction. This cannot be accomplished if one is introverted and reticent. With other employees, it is important to have good communication and interaction in order to maximize work efficiency and to uphold a positive reputation. Without strong interpersonal skills, one is more prone to conflicts and will also have a harder time clarifying any misunderstandings, leaving room for a service or operational error. The hospitality industry is people-based, and a high level of interpersonal skills are required in order to perform successfully.
Moreover, Queen Victoria was both procedural and informational, which are both very important skills to possess. As a hotel manager, or any employee at a hotel, we represent our hotel's brand. One must be educated on amenities, services, and most importantly, the hotels values and mission statement. Procedures must always be followed with respect to those values and mission statements, in order to avoid errors and represent the brand correctly and thoroughly. As a leader, you must inform all your staff of everything that is necessary for their knowledge and job. You must also be informed of any conflict or issue that arises, in order to handle it appropriately in a suitable time frame. By possessing good procedural and informational skills, one is more likely to be a more reputable and credible leader. Queen Victoria's reign demonstrates that by possessing great traits, one can be a great leader.



References
Crimean War. (2014). Wikipedia. Retrieved February 5, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_War
G, M. (2011). Queen Victoria. Leadership attributes. Retrieved February 5, 2014, from http://matthew-queenvictoria.blogspot.ca/2011/04/queen-victoria-leadership-attributes.html
Men of the Battle of Waterloo. (2014). Forces War Records. Retrieved February 5, 2014, from http://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/men-of-the-battle-of-waterloo
Queen Victoria. (n.d.). Wikipedia. Retrieved February 5, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Victoria
Queen Victoria. (2011). Britannia. Retrieved February 5, 2014, from http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon58.html
Queen Victoria. (2013). SparkNotes. Retrieved February 5, 2014, from http://www.sparknotes.com/biography/victoria/section4.rhtml



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