Analysis of 300 - Movie Review Example

Name Institution Tutor Date Introduction Leadership is described as going with or before in order to direct the way. All organizations are in need of a leader. The leader should be an individual who is able direct others to attain the outlined objectives of the organization. The use of movies is one of the viable approaches that can be integrated in leadership education. This is because movies are usually interesting to many people. In addition, specific scenes can be used to clearly bring out the concept of leadership. This particular paper presents an explicit example of leadership that was presented in the movie (300). Synopsis of the movie (300) The movie 300 is an action film that depicts the leadership of an ancient Spartan King known as King Leonidas. The movie begins by a narration of King Leonidas life during his childhood until when he becomes king. A significant aspect to take note of as King Leonidas grew up was the fact that Leonidas was courageous even as a young boy. For instance by the time he could stand, he was initiated into the fire of combat. During Leonidas reign as king of Sparta, a Persian massager came to the Spartan gates in order to bring a message from King Xerxes of Persia. The message was a demand from the King that that Sparta should submit to King Xerxes. Instead of providing feedback to the messenger, King Leonidas threw the messenger into a very big well. Such an action would definitely spearhead war between the Persians and Spartans. Furthermore during this particular time the Persians ruled the world. However King Leonidas was actually not afraid although he knew that the Persians had a stronger army. In order to prepare for the soon coming war, King Leonidas then decide to see a priest known as Ephors in order to get his blessing prior to presenting the proposal for war to the Spartan council. The opinion of the priest was that Sparta should not go to war during the festival Carnea which was one of the significant religious festivals for the Spartans. Leonidas did not listen to the views of the priest and instead he goes on with his plans to organize the war. To prevent asking for permission from the council, which composed of a group of corrupt individuals; King Leonidas moves to the battle with 300 soldiers. He reported that the 300 soldier were his personal guards. In his mind he knew that this particular mission was basically committing suicide, nevertheless he had an objective, which was to influence the council to develop the view that unity with the Persians was actually impossible.   The battle of Thermopylae was very fierce. Even before the war begun the captain of the Persians commanded the Spartan solders to put down their weapons. But King Leonidas declined. King Xerxes the personally confronts King Leonidas and offers him power and wealth if he would agree to give up his Kingdom. King Leonidas also refuses the offer. King Xerxes then launches an attack on the Spartans using strong weapons such as war elephant and powered bombs. The Spartan soldiers fight them back although they are slightly injured. As the battle of Thermopylae continued, the Spartans got a setback in the sense that they were betrayed Ephialtes, who got angry because King Leonidas refused to make him part of soldiers fighting against the Persians. Ephialtes gives the Persians information about the secrete path that was used by Spartans to protect themselves. The Persians then used the secret path in order to surround the Spartans. King Xerxes again demanded King Leonidas to surrender. This time around Leonidas bows down in pretense to have surrendered, he then stands and pierces King Xerxes who begins to bleed. He then orders his army to attack the Persian troupes. The movie culminates with a scene in which King Leonidas is dying; however, he attained one significant mark which was that King Xerxes can actually bleed just like any other human being. Analysis of the Situation The movie depicts various interesting leadership aspects. It is quite easy to see that autocratic kind of leadership has been employed throughout the movie. Autocratic leadership is a leadership style in which a leader employs high level of power over his juniors or team members. In this type of leadership, team members are always given little or no opportunities for making suggestions. Team members are always expected to follow and obey what the leader instructs or suggest (Johnson, 2012). In the movie, autocratic leadership is displayed by both Leonidas and King Xerxes. Through out the movie, Leonidas and King Xerxes used to make sole decisions and expect their team to obey and follow. Leonidas, for instance, decide to disobey Ephors advice and proceed with his plan of attacking Persians at Thermopylae. He led the 300 soldiers to war without giving them an opportunity to suggest whether it is right to proceed with the plan without the permission of the council. When Ephialites requests to join the war, Leonidas solely reject without considering the views of other team members. King Xerxes on the other hand also employs high level of autocratic power to not only the Persians but also to Spartans. He wanted to conquer Sparta by all means. King Xerxes sent a messenger to Sparta, demanding the submission of the kingdom. When his demand was turned down by throwing the messenger into a huge well, King Xerxes decided to use force by sending his elite soldiers to attack the Spartans. He also employed several exotic weapons such as black powder bombs and war elephants in attacking the Spartans. King Xerxes viewed himself as god or lord of lords. Persians were expected to obey and follow his orders without questioning. When the Spartans refused to surrender, King Xerxes ordered his troops to attack, which they responded immediately, killing all the 300 Spartans. Another aspect that can easily be depicted from the movie is power. Power refers to ability to influence people or group of persons to undertake certain activity. There are various types of power a leader might have. A leader can have Reward Power, Coercive power, legitimate power, referent power or expert power. The type of power depicted in the movie is legitimate power. Legitimate power is the power granted to a leader when followers believe that the leader has a right to direct them and that they have a duty to follow the instructions. According to Daft (2008, p 363), legitimate power is power granted from a formal level within an organization. It is believed that once a person is selected as a leader, followers do always know that they are obligated to obey and follow his or her instructions. In the movie, both Leonidas and King Xerxes have legitimate power. They have the ability to influence their followers undertake certain duty. Their followers also believe that they are obligated to listen and obey the instructions given. For instance, when Leonidas and his soldiers refused to surrender, King Xerxes ordered the troops to attack, which they did without hesitating. King Leonidas had various leadership traits. He was courageous. King Leonidas did not fear the powerful Persian army. With only 300 soldiers, King Leonidas was courageous enough to face Persian soldiers, who were quite many. Persians did also have powerful weapons such as powder bombs and war elephants. This however did not scare King Leonidas. He courageously fought and defeated the well armed Persian soldiers. King Leonidas was also imaginative. He managed to come up with an idea that will assist him and his soldiers trap and defeat Persians. King Leonidas came up with an idea of using the narrow terrain to fight Persian army, which proved to be effective until they were betrayed by Ephialtes. King Leonidas was forward-looking. He refused to surrender for the better future of Spartans. When he realized that they have been betrayed by Ephialtes, Leonidas instructed Dilios to go back to Sparta and informs the council of their sacrifice. King Leonidas also demonstrated human skills. Even at the point of death the king continues to illustrate human skills through showing honor and respect to the people he leads. This is because he cared about his solders (Gray, p81).For instance one Spartan soldier who was also dying on the battle field reached out to King Leonidas and told him that it was an honor to die at his side. The king then responded by saying that it was an honor to have lived by his side. King Leonidas was a transformational leader. He was a true leader who inspires his followers with shared future vision. When the team went to the battle of Thermopylae they had a vision that they would win the battle. King Leonidas spent a lot of his time communicating this vision to his team. According to Fiedler’s contingency model, King Leonidas was a relationship-oriented leader. His behavior relied mostly on leadership situation. It is believed that three factors do always determine favorable leadership situation. These factors include the relationship between a leader and his followers, structure of the power and power position. Leader-member association refers to the level of leadership acceptance among the hierarchies of an organization. Task structure refers to the level of project’s clarity. Positional power refers to amount of power a leader has in influencing followers’ productivity (Gupta, 2009). In the context of the Movie King Leonidas had developed a relationship with his followers he gave then clear instructions of their objectives in order to deal with the situation which was to conquer the Persian soldiers. Recommendations and Conclusion Training the Employees to develop a culture that is able to promote Loyalty The movie depicted the fact that within an organization there can be the problem of lack of loyalty among team members. Williams, (p1) highlights that loyalty is the most significant concept in any successful team. In the movie we see that King Leonidas had a united team however in the midst of the team there was a betrayer known as Ephialtes. He gave out the secrete about the path used by the Spartans, to the enemies. This particular move was not good because the Persians were able to corner the Spartans. Although King Leonidas was able to also counter the Persians, the lesson learnt is that building loyalty is a significant aspect in team working. Leadership requires a courageous Leader King Leonidas is depicted as a courageous and resilient king. Sometimes organizations can have leaders who are not courageous enough to take up risks. Such leaders tend to fear defeat and even losses that may be attributed to pursuing certain ventures. In the movie we see a King who is courageous and this courage is even transferred to the team members. He believed that Spartans never surrender and that is what he did, he did not surrender. In order to build a confident team the management of the organization needs to also be courageous. In conclusion, the movie provides examples of what it entails to be a leader through King Leonidas and also King Xerxes. The movie also illustrates the fact that a leader can take various dimensions of leadership for example he/she can be autocratic and the same time transformational. Nevertheless, King Leonidas demonstrated good leadership. Works Cited Daft, Richard. The Leadership Experience + Infotrac.. Cengage Learning, 2008,p 363. Johnson, R. 5 Different Types of Leadership Styles. 2012. Retrieved From 300 (2007). Box Office Mojo. Gupta Ashim Contigent Leadership. 2009. < http://www.practical-management.com/Leadership-Development/Contingent-Leadership.html> Gray, Tara. Skills of the Spartans: Exploring Leadership in 300, Journal of Leadership Education , 7(2),2008,p79. Williams, Geoff. A Spartan's Guide to Business, 300 may seem like a bloody action movie, but it's also a lesson in creating a formidable and fearsome business.2007, p1 Read More