Deconstruction of LeadershipBrian R. NewsomUniversity of CharlestonGSL 510 – The Art and Science of LeadershipProfessor Mary Jo Frank, Ph. D.
29 April 2017Many movies have so many different meanings to catch the views attention for certain amount of time. The biggest person grabs your attention is the person who you work for day to day, that person I am talking about is your direct supervisor who is your leadership. You have many different types of leaders that you will come across in your lifetime. “Servant Leaders put followers first, empower them, and help them develop their full personal capacities. ” (Northouse, 2016, p. 225) Being a leader is hard no matter what line of work you are in.
Many leaders only know one style because that is what they have been accustomed to over the years and not really exploring many different options that are out there. What I’m going to do it take you through a journey of 12 Angry Men and talk about each different leadership style I see throughout the movie from different jury’s that are in the movie. Each one displayed a different type of leadership that helps you follow the movie easier. Many of the juries before each one explains their reasons why the verdict should be not guilty everyone already thought he was guilty except one man, his name is Henry Fonda aka Jury number 11. Then I’m going to switch to a movie with Robin Williams that plays a school teacher in Dead Poets Society, that wanted to bring back to life an old tradition that he was part of when he went to school there. The movie 12 Angry Men opened up with 12 juries learning about a boy that killed his father and a lot of witnesses heard or saw the boy say and do things after his father’s body hit the floor.
During, the first argument Henry Fonda wrote not guilty after the lawyers presented their case because he felt that something did not connect. The other juries were mad when they found out one person said not guilty that meant they had to stay longer and deliberate the case until all parties agreed he was guilty or not guilty. During this stage of the trail I think Henry Fonda used the Trait approaches as mentioned in Northouse. There are many factors that come with the trait approach and I think the one he used to be determination. “Determination is the desire to get the job done and includes characteristics such as initiative, persistence, dominance, and drive. ” (Northouse, 2016 p.
24-25) Henry from the start was someone that knew what he wanted to get out of this trail. In my eyes, he was the one thinking outside the box, he brought up many questions that the lawyers did not bring up in the trail, but they are only allowed to cover and talk about what they heard or saw, they cannot make up their own story. Throughout this journey that Henry Fonda took them on, he told why he believes the boy was innocent. He walked them through many scenarios and his integrity never waved.
“They are loyal, dependable, and not deceptive. Basically, integrity makes a leader believable and worthy of out trust. ” (Northouse, 2016, p 25)Henry Fonda took them this journey and never once did he back down. He even allowed them to revote without his vote saying “If you all agree that he is guilty then I will change my vote. ” After the revote one other said not guilty because the leadership I believe that Henry Fonda spoke about and the ideas he brought to the table to open the eyes of the other juries.
The huge eye opener is when they started talking about a one and a million chance there was another knife life the one the boy had. Seconds, later Henry Fonda pulls the same knife out and shows everyone and tells them he bought it no more than 6 houses down from where the boy lived on the corner story. Jaws dropped and eyes opened wide wondering how did he get that, is that real? This is the turning point that I believed made the other juries open their eyes and start thinking about other things that they could have missed during the trail and brings me to another leadership approach he used which is called the skills approach. “Human skills allow a leader to assist group members in working cooperatively as a group and achieve common goals.
” (Northouse, 2016, p. 45) Henry Fonda used this skill to help all the juries see the new light that was helpful to explain why he said not guilty. The icing on the cake was not told Henry Fonda but the old man that was part of the jury. His story was about the old lady that was across the apartment complex in hers saying she saw it happen. The old man asked how many people say the red marks on the top of the old lady’s nose, meaning that her eyesight was not the greatest and she needed to wear glasses to see at a distance. However, on the stand the old lady did not wear glasses during the trail but told the story like it was yesterday what she saw.
The old man in the jury used technical skill to point that out. “Technical skill is knowledge about and proficiency in a specific type of work or activity. ” (Northouse, 2016, p. 44) The old man himself did not wear glasses, but ask the jury that did to take his glasses off so everyone could see the red marks on the top of his nose which gives him creditability knowing what to look for. Switching movies, I’m going to talk to you about how I believe Robin Williams role in the movie as a Path-Goal Theory leader according to Northouse.
“Path-goal theory offers a large set of predictions for how a leader’s style interacts with followers’ needs and nature of the task. ” (Northouse, 2016, p. 135) Robin Williams was a teacher at that school and teachers have a huge impact on students. The way they present themselves, their actions in and out of class and most importantly the material they are presenting to the students.
Every teacher has his or her way of getting the student to understand that material that is being covered, but it’s the way each teacher delivers it is what keeps the students wanting to listen and learn from that teacher. Robin Williams himself went to the same school he is teaching at and was part of a society that was known as Dead Poets Society. This is where they would go read from a book off campus and talk about things and drink. Many people would attend these outings from many different schools and around the area.
So, it was a society of many different people who would come together to talk about poetry and write poetry about whatever they felt like. Robin Williams was one teacher that many liked because of his unorthodox teaching methods in a prestigious all boys school. He took time out to get to know all the boys in his class and told them that they can accomplish anything they wanted to do. One student wanted to be an actor and he encouraged him to peruse that. After landing the leading role his father told him, that he no longer could partake in the play. Robin Williams confronted the boy and told him to express to his father what it meant to him being in that play.
The boy came back and told Robin Williams that he father was going to let him continue to be in the play, but that was not at all the case. The boy did not ask his father and lied to Robin Williams. After the play the father was mad at the boy for lying and not listening to his instructions and the boy took his own life. Robin Williams lost his job but without leaving and impact on the other boys in the class that you need to be true to yourself and you can accomplish a lot.
Robin Williams I’m sure did not know what the boy was going to do but he thought everything was ok. You have to be an engaged leader at all times not just when you think it will benefit you. “True understand derives from engagement and from the full deployment of ourselves. ” (Bennis, 2009, p. 41)Meaning that you cannot let your guard down at any time and have to be willing to help everyone not those that you want to. Changing gears from a group of leaders or just one on one to help one another come together as one is a huge accomplishment.
But when you have a leader that can articulate and simplify matters for you it makes your job and theirs much easier. Many leaders which they could come together and reach the common goal with their co-workers on a daily basis so do not let anything stop you from reaching your goals as a leader. Keep trying and asking questions is the only way that will help you reach the top of the pyramid and help those under you become just as successful as you are. ReferencesWarrior. (n.
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