For many years, a good number of researchers have been looking at different leadership so as to know how successful leaders are made. Some of the proposed theories are a contingency, behavioral, trail, and full-range model among others with regards to leadership (Chege, Wachira, & Mwenda, 2015).
The Office Space
The main character in this movie is Peter Gibbons. He hates his job that is soul-killing in the software company. The leadership style being exhibited by Lumberg is power. This is a leadership style where a leader wants things to be carried out in a specific way and by all means that are necessary (Turkvant, Cleveland & Banks, 2012). This is like ruling others with an iron fist and having no problem when it comes to something. This character of Lumberg is evident where force Peter Gibbons to work on a weekend. His order is not to be argued upon. Lumber gives orders to others, and he expects them to be followed by other in the company. He gives a lot of guidance to workers in the company but does not consider input when it comes to things. There are situations when Peter, Samir, and Michael do not need guidance since they understand very well what is required of them, but Lumberg seems not to understand this. A lot of guidance makes the workers not to feel comfortable because they want to be left alone to perform their activities. Lumberg should change his style of leadership. He needs to reduce the level of guidance, and also hear the opinions of other workers in the organization.
The Dead Poet’s Society
Both Mr. Keating and Mr. Nolan have two different leadership styles. The leadership style being seen when it comes to Mr. Keating is transformational leadership. Transformational leaders are those who adapt to new situations and also change their leadership style so as to accommodate the changes taking place. Keating stresses the importance of looking at the world in a different way. He has a character of looking at situations from a new perspective. It is important in leadership and in life. Transitional leadership is also a good tool when it comes to having know-how with regards to addressing issues or problems. He has attributes also make it possible for a leader to enhance morale, motivation together with the job performance of his or her employees or followers. This is evident where he advises his learners to seize the day and also make most of every moment. He also tells his students to look forward. His leadership style is good. It does not require any changes.
Mr. Nolan, on the other hand, exhibits power leadership style. As earlier defined, it is a leadership style where a leader wants things to be carried out in a specific way and by all means that are necessary. This is like ruling other with an iron fist and having no problem when it comes to something. He is of the school where Mr. Keating is teaching. He is traditional and very rigid. He has strict discipline, and he believes it is in the best interest of the school. He enjoys disciplining learners, and he gets satisfaction from beating Charlie. Nolan needs to accommodate the changes that are taking place in the society.
The Princess Bride
In the movie called The Princess Bride, the main character is called Vizzini. There is a part in the movie where Vizzini has to make a decision with regards to which cup has locane powder, which is a poison. The leadership being seen in this part is contingency leadership. Contingency leadership stresses that effectiveness of leadership depends on a leader being able to match the style of leadership to the right situation (Vinkenburg, van Engen, Eagly, & Johannesen-Schmidt, 2011). Leaders and other individuals need to have the ability to adapt to different situations. Vizzini had to make a decision when they were sitting with Dread Pirate Roberts while having a battle of wit. Vizzini has to choose which cup contains poison. So, he tries to confuse Roberts through his reasoning. His ability of reasoning comes from his leadership abilities. The leadership style enables him to succeed in the situation he is caught in between. This leadership style is very good because it makes one make a decision easily based on the situation one is caught in between.
Remember the Titans
In the movie Remember the Titans, influence is seen as the leadership style from the Coach Boone’s Speech. Influence entails trying to have an impact on the character of someone. Apart from the character, this type of leader also positively influences the way other people think and their development. The speech that was given be Coach Boone was very inspirational. He told his players the place that they are in, that is, Gettysburg is where a battle was fought. The battle that was fought led to the death of fifty fighters. The fight the players are to fight is similar to that which was fought years ago. The field was painted red with the blood of the young fighters. The players were supposed to take a lesson from the fight that took place. The players were being encouraged to work together. This was irrespective of whether they were friends or not. The coach’s speech was intended to have a positive impact on the players. This was to encourage them to do everything they could so as will the battle. This is a good leadership style since it positively impacts the character of players or other individuals.
The blind side
The coach and Michael’s adoptive mother called Leigh Anne Tuohy have two different characters and leadership style. The coach exhibits a behavioral approach to leadership. In behavioral approach, leaders intend to change the behavior of others through the use of reward and punishment (Clarke, 2013). This leadership style is evident in many organizations where a leader motivates a certain behavior that he or she desires in his employees by scolding them. This leadership style is evident where the coach yells at Michael and also steps into his personal space. The coach is highly aggressive and detective. His yelling and being aggressive are directed towards transforming the behavior of Michael.
On the other hand, Anne exhibits transformational leadership style. She steps into the field and talks to Michael without yelling. She advises Michael how he is to play by telling him to protect his team in a better way since the team is like his family. She advice Michael very well, and also motivates him, hence, enhancing his performance in the American football game that he was playing.
The Devil Wears Prada
In the movie, especially the scene where Andy is being interviewed by Miranda, it is evident that Miranda has power. Power is the leadership style that is evident. She assigns her current assistant Emily some impossible tasks and expects her to accomplish all the tasks. During the interview, she interrupts Andy while she is informing her about her accomplishments and experience with her mantra statement of “is that all.” She dismisses the hopes and style of Andy during the job interview. It is also evident that she is very impatient. This is not a good way of dealing with others, especially the employees. She needs to adopt better leadership style, such as transformational.
- Chege, A. N., Wachira, A., & Mwenda, L. (2015). Effects of Leadership Styles on
Implementation of Organization Strategic Plans in Small and Medium Enterprises in Nairobi. Management and Administrative Sciences Review, 4(3), 593-600. - Clarke, S. (2013). Safety leadership: A meta‐analytic review of transformational and
transactional leadership styles as antecedents of safety behaviours. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 86(1), 22-49. - Turkvant, J., Cleveland, C., & Banks, L. T. (2012). THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
LEADERSHIP STYLES AND SUBORDINATE OUTCOMES IN MEDIUM SIZE CPA FIRMS IN THE SOUTHEAST. International Journal of Accounting Information Science & Leadership, 5(14). - Vinkenburg, C. J., van Engen, M. L., Eagly, A. H., & Johannesen-Schmidt, M. C. (2011). An
exploration of stereotypical beliefs about leadership styles: Is transformational leadership a route to women’s promotion?. The Leadership Quarterly, 22(1), 10-21.
