Leadership in the Movies Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Leadership in the Movies - Coursework Example This paper presents an analytical paradigm of leadership approaches. A typical illustration of how this paradigm functions is shown in the film Twelve O’Clock High. The 1949 movie is about the Second World War and how an unsuccessful bomber troop was made triumphant by Brigadier General Savage. Plot Summary General Frank Savage, in this narrative of the first phase of bombing attacks over Germany, is ordered to lead a disastrous bomber team after a commanding officer is dismissed. A great deal of the narrative focuses on Savage’s great effort to make the team highly disciplined despite of several and major losses. Real battle footage is included in this vividly told war story. The American 918th Bomber Group has recently accomplished another assignment. The performance of the 918th is depressing. The group is enduring major crew fatalities and aircraft damages. The poor performance of the 918th stands in contrast with the achievements of other bomber units. Consequently , the 918th experiences weak motivation and a status as ‘The Hard Luck Unit† (Lay & Bartlett, 1980, 19); thus starts the archetypal film about the Second World War. Savage, after reaching the 918th Bomber Group, observes that there are weak levels of obedience and discipline. The soldiers show almost no concern for military civility and are frequently intoxicated. Savage promptly evaluates the records of assistant leaders. He finds out that Air Executive Officer Lieutenant Colonel Ben Gately has a good record. But Savage is forced to order an arrest of Gately because he is missing from his position. When Gately is arrested, Savage criticizes him for abandoning his assignment and for being personally accountable for the failure of the prior commanding officer. Savage dismisses Gately from the position but refuses to recommend his reassignment. Rather, Savage proclaims, â€Å"I’m not going to pass the buck†¦ I’m going to keep you right here† (Lay & Bartlett, 1980, 14). Savage afterward relocates all of the nonconformists of the 918th unit. Even though the decisions of Savage may seem to be humiliating, he is going on the right direction. His charismatic leadership style is usually aggressive, drastic, and transformative, often working as a change catalyst. Savage exhibits a supernatural intuition. He recognizes Gately can be a very effective leader, but one who requires motivation. The aspiration of Savage is for Gately to turn out to be a self-actualized individual, to emerge from a self-centered to altruistic character and be instilled with well-formed work principles. Savage displays transformational inclinations of a charismatic leader. By granting Gately the opportunity to regain his good reputation as a leader, Savage finally guides him to a deep empowerment position. Gately in time realizes his decisions and attitudes strongly influence the group’s capacity to effectively complete its assignment. Charismatic Le adership’s Transformational Traits Future leaders will confront numerous circumstances where in they will have to adopt transformational traits of a charismatic leader. Numerous leaders of the future will come to believe that