Research Paper on Deconstruction of Leadership

Introduction

The habit of engaging in focused and regular reading is a vital component of the professional life of leaders. As leaders, it is essential to build an understanding of the various principles of effective leadership. This paper shall present an analysis and deconstruction of several leadership approaches and styles by the examination of the films Dead Poets Society (1997) and 12 Angry Men (1957). As such, it shall synthesize and deconstruct how leadership is portrayed in the two films as well as identify the leadership theories and the prescription of Aristotle regarding the importance of the rhetoric, especially on the leadership styles of an individual.

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Trait Leadership Approach

The trait leadership approach focuses on emphasizing the vitality of research in proving that there are specific traits that intrinsically differentiate followers from leaders. However, both personality and situational factors are major determining factors of leadership. As such, even though particular traits are essential to the leadership types exhibited by an individual, there must also be consideration of various situational factors (McCambridge, 2003).

The trait approach of leadership has been portrayed in both the Dead Poets Society and 12 Angry Men in several ways. For instance, in the 12 Angry Men, the upcoming leader of the twelve jurors employs his traits in dealing with various existing situational factors.

All the jurors appear to be exhausted both physically and mentally upon listening to a lengthy murder trial and are not interested in prolonging their civic obligation. For instance, the first vote cast indicates that 11 believe the accused man to be guilty while one dissents. The one dissenting individual has to overcome is fatigue and persuasively demonstrates why he believes that the accused persons are innocent.

From the onset, it appears that Fonda has a more 'democratic' leadership style. Initially, he expresses no opinion when voting, but he later encourages other jurors to have an open-minded discussion concerning the case.

The Style Leadership Approach

The style leadership approach majorly focuses on the extent and reasons for the various actions made by the leaders. The style leadership approach is divided into relationship behavior that perpetuates a feeling of comfort at all levels as well as the task behavior which focusses on aiding the government's accomplishments (McCambridge, 2003). The sole purpose of the Style leadership is to examine the influence of the two behavior kinds in their effort to attain a given goal.

For instance, in the 12 Angry Men, Fonda's characters intensively employ the style leadership approach. Fonda uses a combination of his task behavior goal of having some fair deliberations about the man who has been accused of murder as well as assisting the other jurors in feeling even more comfortable through critical thinking of the facts.

Fonda has a well elaborate goal in mind in which he does not relent about questioning each of the jurors to help in explaining his reasoning. In some cases, the unrelenting prodding causes personal attacks, particularly on Fonda. However, Fonda does not give up. Lastly, the style leadership approach assists the 12 jurors in dealing with obscure facts emanating from the case as well as reconsider the guilt of the accused man (McLaren & Leonardo, 2001).

Furthermore, in the Dead Poet Society, there is a difference that can be noted on the Keating's leadership style since he has portrayed himself as a young student who had been trained to e submissive, disciplined for all their academics while he is still in school. It is observed that as the film begins, Keating begins to criticize the eminent dull introduction to the poetry books for the students. He continues to explain how there could exist no exact calculation to deduce the greatness of the film.

The Leadership Approach of Taking Charge without Taking Control

The importance of taking charge without taking control is that the leaders can inspire the people they are working with without ordering them to adopt specific ways and ideas. In the 12 Angry Men, Fonda fails to order the other jurors to ensure they changed their votes. However, he implores them to strictly observe the facts with a more open mind than they had done before (McCambridge, 2003).

For instance, at the beginning of the film, Fonda states, 'I don't know if I believe (the accused man's story) or not, maybe I don't.' Therefore, because of Fonda's open mind, the other jurors slowly become increasingly receptive through closely examining the facts as well as the testimony of the case.

Furthermore, in the Dead Poets Society, there is limited or no doubt that there is an inspiration that Keating gives to his students without having to order them to love life and poetry. Instead, he lets his passion for speaking for themselves. Still, he only influences his students to enjoy poetry and life by exposing them to the poems, ideas, and theories that he definitely believes would enable them to change their plans.

The cumulative effect of the Keating's 'taking charge without taking control' style of leadership is that the learners come to appreciate and value the time spent in learning the theories and ideas thus enabling them to develop acceptance and love for their interests and individualities (McLaren & Leonardo, 2001). Therefore, because of Fonda's open mind, the other jurors slowly become increasingly receptive through closely examining the facts as well as the testimony of the case.

Aristotle's Rhetoric Leadership Approach

In Aristotle's Rhetoric leadership approach, Aristotle claims that rhetoric majorly falls into three principal divisions i.e., forensic, political, and ceremonial of oratory. However, the most applicable parts of the rhetoric to the 12 Angry Men and Dead Poets Society are majorly the oratory display approach and the forensic approach (McCambridge, 2003). For instance, Aristotle notes that 'forensic speaking either attacks or defends somebody.' He also notes that 'the oratory of display either praises or censures somebody.'

As such, in the 12 Angry Men, the utilization of the other rhetoric of Aristotle is more prominent. For instance, Aristotle notes that the parties involved in any law-case often aim at the establishment of the injustice or justice of some actions and, as such bring in all the other points as relative and subsidiary to this one. Individuals who attack or praise a man mainly aims at proving him worthy of honor or otherwise.

The Aristotle Rhetoric discusses how the leaders must be able to differentiate what persuasion might be efficient and effective using various internal arguments. For instance, leaders ought to master different rhetorical skills to ensure success in both verbal and written communication. Therefore, leadership theories are portrayed differently in the two films.

References

McCambridge, J. (2003). 12 Angry Men: A study in dialogue. Journal of Management Education, 27(3), 384-401. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1052562903027003007

McLaren, P., & Leonardo, Z. (2001). Dead Poets Society": Deconstructing surveillance pedagogy. Packer/Tappan (2001), 261-286.