Leadership Aspects - Case Study Example

Name Institutional Affiliation Instructor Date Introduction Leadership is perceived by many people as an inborn thing. However, not all people are born with aspects of leadership. The success of any organization or an institution depends greatly on the kind of leadership employed in that specific organization. A leader is the determinant of the success or failure of where he or she leads or controls. However, some leaders can cause a serious crisis. This paper gives an analysis of the type, styles and characteristics of leaderships used by several people based on critical examination of three movies. The movies are: Enron- The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005). This movie depicts one of the largest frauds in the corporate sector in the history of America. The crisis occurred due to malicious leaders who manipulated the Enron Company for their own benefits. The second movie titled Thirteen Days is used to symbolically represent the thirteen days of the activities of the executive committee on matters security. The committee was appointed by American President J.F. Kennedy to advise him on the course of action after the Soviet Union began installing missiles in Cuba. The review shows how the President employed his leadership skills to contain the situation. The third movie, I Am Alive- Surviving the Andes Plane Crash, is about a tragic plane crash that occurred at Andes Mountains claiming many lives and leaving sixteen survivors to tell about the ordeal. The story gives a special focus on Nando Parrado, who is a one of the survivors. Nando comes out as an outstanding leader of the survivors though he had no deposition of leadership, by leading them out of the snow-capped mountain, through the wilderness up to when they came across a peasant farmer who helped them get rescuers after seventy-two days. The analyses of the movies are as follows. Enron- The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) This is a documentary which gives a description of the rise and fall of the Enron. Enron was once the most innovative corporation amongst other power supplying companies in America. The film gives a reflection of one of the biggest scandals in business industry in the American history. The story is rather of a criminal kind and not politically instigated. The tragedy began when two prominent traders of the company agreed to bet on the likelihood of the occurrence of the fall or rise of the oil prices. Interestingly, Enron continued gaining even during hard economic times. This led to suspicion as to how the company made high profits yet it is known well that oil trading is similar to a gambling game. The kind of leadership that existed in the company was one governed by nothing short of greed, corruption, self-deception as well as criminal acts. All these acts of leadership were centered at self and materialistic gains. For instance, Louis Borget, the Enron’s Chief Executive Officer, took advantage of his position by keeping some of the company’s money in his foreign accounts. Enron’s founder Kenneth Lay backs up the traders involved in taking away Enron’s wealth by denying his awareness of the wrong happenings in the company. As a good leader, Lay should have adopted an independent position as a way of respecting the power ethics and self integrity. He failed to do so because he was a beneficiary of the dubious and corrupt deeds that took place. Jeff Skilling was employed to occupy Borget’s position as the CEO. His system of leadership was more of dictatorship. He immediately brought in lieutenants to facilitate the enforcement of his orders. He even named them ‘guys with spikes’. The so called ‘guys with spikes’ were J. Baxter and Lou Pai who was in charge of the company’s energy services. Pai was an extravagant leader who visited expensive strip clubs at the expense of the Enron’s shareholders hard cash. Furthermore, he retired with over 250 million dollars while the company’s energy service sector registered a loss of $1 billion. Jeff Skilling can be described as obsessed. At one time, he says that he was Enron. He was quite desperate to see Enron being successful. His entry into the office as the CEO brought forth a new philosophy of accounting. The results were vicious working and competitive environment as the employees were rated and those with low grades were fired. The analysts on the other hand received enormous contracts and rewards for not unmasking the truth behind the corruption in Enron. They however lacked independence in their work. Instead, they relied heavily on Skilling such that they couldn’t perform anything without Skilling’s consent. They did so by making calls to Skilling for consultations. In conjunction to this, Enron’s executive leaders ensured that they worked towards achieving the projections of their false analyst. By so doing, they would benefit from some cash due to increase in stock prices. Fastow is knowledgeable. In order to hide Enron’s enormous debts, he created small companies which performed business with Enron. He further encouraged the Wall Street Investment Banks to also invest in the small companies with the aim of doing business with them as well. Fastow does not employ the empathetic style of leadership. He cares-less about the concerns of the shareholders and the honest employees. That is why he is after doing personal business transactions with the small companies he purposely created. Thirteen Days This movie depicts a series of events that took place after the discovery of the Soviet Union’s plan to launch nuclear missiles in Cuba in 1992 by the then American President, J. F. Kennedy. It gives a revelation of how the world almost came into a World War III. Thanks to President Kennedy’s rapid and wise leadership that calmed the situation and eased tension that was increasingly growing. Though it is hard to portray the character of John F. Kennedy, his style of leadership is quite outstanding according to Bruce Greenwood. However, President Kennedy was a good decision maker. After the missile construction bases were uncovered by the U-2 spy jet, he definitely knew that he had to make a sound and informed decision in order to rescue the situation. He was also cautious in every move taken in order to avoid any misjudgments that could warrant war by the Soviet Union and the United States. Despite pressure and fatigue, he persevered. President Kennedy was a calm and composed leader who kept his opinions to himself in order to facilitate a democratic airing of one’s views and opinions. He appointed a team of advisors called the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (EXCOMM). The team could assist the president in navigating through the crisis. This was an indication that President Kennedy valued teamwork for a common goal. On the other hand, the military chiefs are portrayed as impatient and daring. They were after shooting first then facing the consequences thereafter. They were not knowledgeable about the trends in the change of military rules. For this reason, they opted to adopt military rules that were out of fashion. In fact, the secretary of the defense Robert McNamara came to a shout-down with the Navy admiral. McNamara is against the use of any weapon. The admiral responded by claiming that the Navy had been executing blockades as early as the time of John Jones. A comprehensive conclusion was arrived at by the U.S and the Soviet Union after the numerous diplomatic peace talks. Khrushchev’s ability to understand the impending consequences of the missile construction made him turn the ships that were carrying more weapons and subsequent destruction of the missiles that had been stationed. On the other side, the U.S agreed not to attack Cuba. Though this was not the solution to the cold war, it was a big relief to the entire nations of the world. I Am Alive- Surviving the Andes Plane Crash The movie portrays the theme of leadership accompanied by suffering and hunger. It tells of a tragic incident about a plane crash which occurred on 13th October, 1972. The plane was carrying a team of rugby players and other companions to Chile. The crash occurred at Andes Mountains as a result of the pilot’s miscalculation. The plane hit the peak of the mountain and split into two parts. Majority of the survivors were in the front portion of the plane which was a bit intact by the moment it touched the ground. Nando Parrado is one of the sixteen survivors of the terrible crash. He was unconscious when the crash occurred until after three days when he woke up only to discover that his sister and mother had perished. With time, Nando could not contain pressure and thoughts of the fact that his father could face grief and psychological torture on receiving the sad news. Nando then resolved to be daring and leader of his fellow survivors. He made a concrete decision that he had to trace his way home or die while trying. He was a very determined and inspired person in that he knew that he was also risking by trying to find his way out. However, he had made a resolution that even though he would not accomplish his mission, he preferred dying nearer to his father. This was a desperate move but also the only option to consider. Eventually Nando, with the help of a few of the survivors managed to make their way out of the mountains. They found a peasant farmer who assisted them in finding a rescue team. Conclusion In conclusion, leadership goes hand in hand with management. However, the two are never the same. For a one to achieve high standards and success, He or she must understand the differences between management and leadership. A leader must be creative and a solid idea generator for the success of his or her team. There are two types of leaderships portrayed in the three movies. These are the authoritarian and democratic leadership. Autocratic style is seen in the first movie when leaders holding the authority of the Enron Company commanded on everything do be done by the employees. The employees were not included in the decision making matters of the company rather, the ultimate decision was on the, hands of the CEO. This shows the negative side of the Enron’s top management team who lacked the ethical kind of leadership in them. Democratic or participative style is revealed in the second movie where President Kennedy chose a group of advisors to help him make wise decisions pertaining security. He further gave them opportunity to give their views and opinions by keeping his own opinions to him-self. Any good leader would use the two styles depending on the underlying forces between him or her and the situation at hand. Lastly, vision is a key aspect of any leadership. The ability to foresee the impending happenings by a leader are important in avoiding future problems. Nando Parrado was able to realize that he would die in the coming days if he did not search for help, thus, his skill of visionary leadership did not only help him but also his fellow survivors. Work Cited Enron - The Smartest Guys in The Room (2005)-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxzLX_C9Z74- retrieved on 15th February 2014. I Am Alive: Surviving the Andes Plane Crash-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS-30JuTW2I-retrieved on15th February 2014. Thirteen Days -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tho5ZYLiuoc-retrieved on15th February 2014. Read More