..Shih's Individual Achieving Styles

If there ever were a most unlikely challenger to President Chen Shui-bian, one would have thought it would have been Shih Ming-teh. Shih spent 25 years in prison_[4], on the so-called Green Isle, Taiwan’s version of the Soviet gulag for those serving life sentences. He was imprisoned by the then ruling KMT party for espousing democracy. A large portion of his time in prison, 13 years, was spent in solitary confinement. He was one of the founders and leaders of the DPP. During Shih’s treason trial, Chen was his lawyer. So it was major news when Shih published his open letter to Chen on August 7, 2006, calling for Chen to resign_[13]. It also sent shockwaves throughout the Pan-Green alliance that had resulted in immediate attacks_[15]. Subsequently he has exercised Achieving Styles of a Stage 3 leader while seeking to force Chen’s resignation. While Shih had exhibited other styles, due to the limitation of time, I will mainly focus on his highly visible Personal Style

“(B)ypass our rational defenses and tap into the deep emotional reservoirs that followers bring to the leader / constituent relationship, Dazzled by the charismatic leader’s ingenious manipulation of symbols, drama, and rituals, constituents find themselves in the leader’s thrall._[3a]” Shih’s open letter to Chen was certainly a counterintuitive move that had resulted in events as described in this passage by Lipman-Blumen. The legalistic manipulations started by the Pan-Blue Stage 2 opposition leaders to force Chen’s resignation had fizzled until the moment of Shih’s letter. After Shih called for 1% of the population to join a sit-in demonstration in the capital, some estimated the actual participation to be up to 3%.

Other examples of Shih’s Personal Style abound. For instance, by simply viewing the attached photo one could see the careful use of symbols. By choosing to be interviewed in a study setting, by sitting behind a desk scattered with paper, by holding a glass of tea, and by wearing a turtleneck shirt, Shih exuded the symbol of Confucian respect, that of the approachable scholar. The symbols certainly worked, as witnessed by the following quotes.

"Shih's romantic quality compelled them to show up._[4]”

"We don't consider him a politician," said demonstrator Helen Wang, 52, a retired art teacher from Kaohsiung. "He's a patriot. He's a sensitive person._[4]”

While the Personal Style has been easily Shih's main style, other styles, including the Collaboration Style, have been discernable as well. For example, the mayor of the capital, Taipei, is Ma Ying-jeou, who also leads the KMT party. Shih's has gone out of his way to collaborate with Ma to ensure that the demonstrations would be peaceful and to select venues and schedules that would minimize commuter inconvenience. He has even invited Ma to participate but Ma has so far demurred.