Editing Cesar Chavez (section)

===On organization and leadership===
Chavez placed the success of the movement above all else;{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=292}} Pawel described him as "the ultimate pragmatist".{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=177}} He felt that he had to be both the leader and the organizer-in-chief of his movement because only he had the necessary commitment to the cause.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=143}} He was interested in power and how to use it; although his role model in this was Gandhi, he also studied the ideas about power by [[Niccolò Machiavelli]], [[Adolf Hitler]], and [[Mao Zedong]], drawing ideas from each.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=157}} His use of purges to expel people from his movement was influenced by Mao's Cultural Revolution,{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=343}} and he opened a June 1978 board meeting by reciting a poem by Mao.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=390}} Chavez repeatedly referred to himself as a community organizer rather than as a labor leader and underscored that distinction.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=115}} He wanted his organization to represent not just a union but a larger social movement.{{sfn|Bruns|2005|p=100}} He was ambivalent about the national labor movement.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=115}} He personally disliked many of the prominent figures within the American labor movement but, as a pragmatist, recognized the value of working with organized labor groups.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=140}} He opposed the idea of paying wages to those who worked for the union, believing that it would destroy the spirit of the movement.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=281}} He rarely fired people from their positions, but instead made their working situation uncomfortable so that they would resign.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=279}}

Chavez's leadership style was authoritarian;{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=379}} he stated that when he launched his movement, he initially had "total, absolute power" over it.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=378}} Bruns characterized the UFW under Chavez as an "autocratic regime".{{sfn|Bruns|2005|p=100}} Ex-members of the group, such as Bustamante and Padilla described Chavez as a dictator within the union.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|pp=430, 431}} Chavez felt unable to share the responsibilities of running his movement with others.{{sfn|Bruns|2005|p=99}} In 1968, Fred Hirsch noted that "one thing which characterizes Cesar's leadership is that he takes full responsibility for as much of the operation as he is physically capable of. All decisions are made by him."{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=179}} Itliong noted that "Cesar is afraid that if he shares the authority with the people [...] they might run away from him."{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=179}} Pawel noted that Chavez wanted "yes-men" around him.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=385}} He divided members of movements such as his into three groups: those that achieved what they set out to do, those that worked hard but failed what they set out to do, and those that were lazy. He thought that the latter needed to be expelled from the movement.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=144}} He highly valued individuals who were loyal, efficient, and took the initiative.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=148}} Explaining his attitudes toward activism, he told his volunteers that "nice guys throughout the ages have done very little for humanity. It isn't the nice guy who gets things done. It's the hardheaded guy."{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=144}} He admitted that he could be "a real bastard" when dealing with movement members;{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=178}} Chavez told UFW volunteers that "I'm a son of a bitch to work with."{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=341}} He would play different people against each other to get what he wanted, particularly to break apart allies who might form an independent power bloc that would threaten his domination of the movement.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|pp=257, 280}}