Leadership Image

Sample assignment for Images of Leadership:

Sample assignments are distributed to give you ideas about the assignments. Please

do not use sentences taken directly or paraphrased from sample assignments. It is

NOT acceptable to use similar ideas from sample assignments even if the student

expresses the ideas in his/her own words.

These are not perfect essays. Please keep in mind that the samples I will distribute in

this class are student assignments and may have some mistakes. Please follow

assignment instructions to complete the assignments.

Student Name

Leading Others

Images of Leadership

Throughout the semester, we have learned various types of leadership and how

they can be applied to different situations. For this assignment, I have chosen three

different styles of leadership to portray though images. I aim for my pictures to be

creative so I decided to choose pivotal characters from movies who portray different

types of leadership. This project has opened my eyes to the different perspectives people

have on leadership.

The first leadership style I chose to portray was Charismatic Leadership. A

charismatic leader is when a leader gathers followers through his or her personality or

charm rather than authority or power (DuBrin, 2016). I thought the perfect comic book

and movie character to resemble this was Steve Rogers or Captain America (2011).

Captain America was a superhuman soldier during the World War II era. Before being

transformed into the superhuman, Steve Rogers was a scrawny man weighing at only 90

pounds. Despite his physical weaknesses, he was a brave and selfless soldier with an

unshakable desire to do what’s right. When he takes on the mantle of Captain America,

Steve doesn’t let his newfound powers go to his head, instead showing that his greatest

strength was always his integrity. He is the perfect example of Charismatic Leadership

because he was a beacon of hope for soldiers and Americans to look to during the World

War (keep in mind this is a fictional character). People strived to have his bravery and

kind heart.

The second leadership style I picked was Transformational Leadership.

Transformational leadership is “one who brings about positive, major changes in an

organization” (DuBrin, 2016, p. 77). The character I thought that best resembles the

transformational style is John Keating from the movie Dead Poet’s Society (1989). Dead

Poet’s Society is about one teacher who is able to break away from the traditional style of

teaching to make his students have a different outlook on life. The teacher, John Keating

involved his students in making decisions, they developed a bond of trust. While he was

very influencing and thought provoking, he was not intruding. In the movie,

Transformational Leadership is so noted as Professor Keating coaches his students

through their situations and issues. Furthermore, he uses his influence and skills to listen,

learn and develop new and innovative ways to inspire his students.

The last leadership style I chose was Servant Leadership. Servant leadership is

“serving constituents by working helping them achieve their goals rather than the leader’s

goals” (Dubrin, 2006, p. 436). The character that I think resembles this leadership style is

Forrest Gump from the movie Forrest Gump (1994). The movie follows the life of

Forrest as he retells it to anyone that is waiting for the bus with him. There are several

instances throughout his life that shows he is a servant leader. The most pivotal scene is

where Forrest gets drafted into the Vietnam War. While there, his unit gets ambushed

several men are injured. Instead of retreating, he goes back to save his best friend that got

shot. Once he brings him to safety, he decides to back for the rest of his unit even though

he was injured himself too. He saved several men’s lives and was honored by receiving a

medal. Another aspect where Forrest is a servant leader is his societal impact. By

deciding to run across the country (for no particular reason), he gets media attention and

creates a national influence. People even created a logo because of Forrest’s run labeled,

“Stuff happens” with a smiley face.

All of these images of characters embody what it takes to be a leader. Some

leadership styles are more effective than others but each style has a unique quality. From

Transformational Leadership like Professor Keating to servant leadership like Forrest

Gump, each way of leading can be useful to in different situations. It is up to the person

to decide which leader they are going to be.

References

DuBrin, A. J. (2016). Leadership: Research findings, practices, and skills (8th Edition).

Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

Feige, K. (Producer), Johnston, J. (Director). (2011). Captain America: The First

Avenger. [Motion picture]. United States: Paramount Pictures.

Finerman, W., Tisch, S., & Starkey, S. Steve Starkey (Producers). (1994). Forrest Gump

[Motion picture]. United States: Paramount Pictures.

Haft, S. (Producer), Weir, P. (Director). (1989). Dead Poets Society [Motion picture].

United States: Touchstone Pictures.