Heed To Hiercharchy

Kimberly Barnes

English 2

Ms. Pahomov

3/31/15

Heed to Hiercharchy

It is often questioned if leadership, needs a hiercharchy. In both real world and fictional examples, it can be agreed that it does. There are many moments in history where humans have needed leadership. Often times, upon receiving the leadership needed, people often find themselves able to see the advantages of setting up one.  A need for a leader  is driven by the unstructured or disorganized way by which things are going. This can only be solved through peaceful resolution and the understanding of one another’s opinions. Leadership makes this possible, while at the same time keeping everyone unified.


In order for leadership to be productive, a hierarchy is needed. Not just any hiercharchy but one with the potential to lead, bred, and able to handle the leadership. If not, leadership won’t be successful.


Leadership is the backbone by which organizations and civilization rely on. In order to have a productive way of leading, leaders are created from the followers. However, we choose who takes on that role, whether by looks or even by what it offered to us. No matter how that leader is chosen, people in time always see the advantage of establishing one.


In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Ralph, a young boy who is first to explore the island, after he and other boys were stranded due to a plane crash, manages to call all the other stranded boys together. Upon witnessing their chaotic behavior and their anxiety because of their current situation, he immediately realized that having a leader would help the boys become more civilized and easier to deal with, suggests a leader for the group. “There was a buzz. One of the smaller boys, Henry, said that he wanted to go home… Shut up, Ralph said absently. Seems to me we ought to have a leader to decide things. A chief A chief! They boys shouted.” (22) The suggestion of a leader by Ralph was due to the lack of control  over the boys. Without leadership, there would be no direction or any guidance on how to live on and go about the island. It was soon decided that Ralph would be a good leader. If the boys continued to panic, they would become  less civilized. So, someone needed to take the stand. Ralph did this, showing that leadership needs hiercharchy. Often times, a leader will take the scepter and take a stand, leadership cannot be productive if it is not exercised. By doing this Ralph, allowed room for structure to enter. Ralph was not just chosen to be a leader, because he introduced the idea but because of the potential he had that the boys could see.



Just as it was recognized in Lord of the Flies, that a hiercharchy was needed, it is the same in the real world today.  Both social and political systems, are a living proof for why leadership needs a hiercharchy. Without a leader, there would be a division in culture and even ideas. People would have their own views, and ways of leading. This would lead to an unsolved solution. There would be no peaceful agreement. This is why according to leadership. Org “Hiercharchy is like a container, holding, everyone’s ideas but in one place. “  The establishment of a hierarchy is used in many governmental systems today. Specifically democracy. Although democracy is a “power to the people” type of political system, there is still someone needed to organize the people and their opinions. This is to create and establish organization. If everyone was given the leading “baton” there would be no order established. This would then have a bad effect on both society and the way the world is run. There wouldn’t be someone to establish protocol or rules.   According to hbr.com, “Hiercharchy adds structure and regularity to our lives. They provide psychic nourishment, and the ability to organize.” Without hiercharchy, people would constantly seek for source or order and stability. Hierarchies are set so that all power would not be in every person’s hands. This is to avoid chaos and a scattered system. . When things are structured everything falls into place. Our voices are easier to be heard and understood. No matter the form, there is always a leading person chosen to take on this role.  

Further on into the story, we see how the setting up Ralph as hiercharchy helped the boys become more civilized and organized. Ralph’s idea to have a head “chief” began to have a big role in on both the boys and their emotions. Many squabbles and fights were avoided, because Ralph set order. Upon one point of the story, Ralph ask the boys a question that will shape the and allow them to be understanding of the need for a leader. “Which is better, to have rules and agree or to hunt and kill?” (187). Ralph asked the boys this to show them  why having a leader was so important. It made everything much better and less savage. To set and guide, so that everyone could be unified and come to an agreement on things. No one would just have a scattered voice, but one communal one. The boys were beginning to become more savage. They wanted to kill and hunt, but did not organize themselves in a way that this could be done. This created more problems for them. This made Ralph stand up and show them why it was important for a leader to be set. This was so that further arguing would be avoided. This is a common reason for why a hierarchy is needed. Often times, when leadership is structured it is easier for things to be done and agreed upon. Rules keep our daily lives in check and in tact. Humans often look for guides to get a head start. This is what Ralph was doing. He was guiding the boys so that their actions would be successful and their community. A hiercharchy is there so that people can stick together and come to an agreement. It helps organize everyone’s ideas into something that can be agreed upon.


Both in the real world and fictional, the need for a hiercharchy is always recognized. In both Lord of the Flies, and in most democracies, although a voice was given to the people, there was someone who needed to be able to organize these voices. The hierarchy was chosen, based on their potential and trust. Humans often pick our leaders, based on how much they offer and their ability to set rules in place. Just as rules were needed to keep the boys unified in together, this same rule applies in our world. Similarly, needing a leader to set up these rules. always someone that will take and organize the voice and establish order. The boys in the book and even people in general always experience the advantage of having a leader. A hiercharchy was set up for the same reason, there was a need for civilization. Ralph was chosen because of his potential and influence, just as our hierarchies in our world are often chosen by. The boys trusted Ralph to hear their voice just a we trust our hierarchies to hear ours. With hierarchies, a reliance and trust is formed because of the the expected structure that comes with a hiercharchy. So yes, even leadership needs a leader.







Works Cited


  1. Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Perigee, 2006.


  1. "Why Hierarchies Thrive." Harvard Business Review. Harvard Business Center, 01 Mar. 2003. Web. 07 Apr. 2016. <https://hbr.org/2003/03/why-hierarchies-thrive>.


3. Himble, Tim. "Leadership." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 02 Feb. 2009. Web. 07 Apr. 2016. <http://www.economist.com/node/13051551>.




Comments (1)

Menduyarka Dennis (Student 2018)
Menduyarka Dennis

1.) I do agree with your comparison (as I wrote about something similar to this). To understand and create something, you need to have some kind of leader to guide them the right way. No matter what situation arises, a leader will show up to help 2.) "A need for a leader is driven by the unstructured or disorganized way by which things are going. " 3.) Leaders are the ones who help with fixing the problems, and enhancing on those problems to make the leder seem more herioc is just really amazing. I like what you did here