Leadership Roles as in the Movie the Gladiator - Essay Example

Leadership roles as in the movie the Gladiator Leadership is often referred to as the capa and the will to rally people towards a common goal through an inspiration of confidence. For a leader to inspire men and women towards a common purpose, he must possess a strong character, charisma, commitment, communication, competence, courage, discernment, focus, generosity, initiative, passion, the correct attitude, relationships, discipline as well as servant-hood. In the movie of the gladiator, these traits are displayed by different leaders in many different ways. Some are practiced for the advancement of personal agenda while others are for the pursuit of true freedom among all. Here Maximus Decimus Meridus is seen to have evolved through all the ranks from glory to grass and back to the glory again. He was first a general, then a slave, then a gladiator and finally a hero. His evolution through all these stages bequeathed him with the charisma of a leader. He portrays the desire to see his fellow slaves set free, and his gladiators succeed to freedom without having to kill each other. His strong character and will take risks propels him to glory as a hero in Rome through conquests that he stages. He exercises the power of charisma as a leader and wins the hearts of many people including his fighters to fight for the common good of all. Leaders in the movie portray leadership through abilities of decision-making processes. In times of war, they inspire their soldiers to fight for the good of their nation. This shows that leadership should be taken as a source of inspiration. This authority helps in deriving a persons authority in a group. Leadership in this context is seen as an exercise of power, the power of information is used to exact control upon the people. Information is only spread at specific times under the control of the King or the ruler. Information gathering through spying and its dissemination among the power elites enables the ruler to stay on top of issues. He makes sure that he is well informed as a leader of every situation that is going own within his territory. Leadership in this movie is also strengthened much through the power of relationships. Leaders have established both formal and informal networks both within and without their territories. Leadership is strengthened by the appreciation of the power of expertise. Leaders rely so much on the council of senators and other influential figures including the most talented gladiators. These experts are used either in the development of specialized knowledge are being communicated directly or indirectly to the both friends and foes of the regime. This enables the leader to stay afloat on top of issues that concerns the territory. Leadership embraces the power of both reward and punishment in the movie. Sometimes it applies the tactics of carrot and stick for it to maintain high standards of loyalty among the subjects and authority of the leader. A mistake made by both slaves and gladiators that are not for the advancement of the leadership is severely punished. On the other hand, those who perform their duties with at most diligence and succeed are rewarded for it. For gladiators, their reward is with often emotional fulfillment through the reward of a woman of your choosing among the slaves. As such, the power of expertise, the power of information and that of the relationship form a very important ingredient in the leadership in the movie of gladiators. In this movie, charisma does not specifically stem from the authorities to the servants. Rather it is exercised within the class boundaries. The authorities almost have no remorse to their subjects and treat them almost like mere objects. Their indifference to their subject is also a factor used in their leadership styles to cause fear in order to subdue any feelings of rebellion among the gladiators. Commitment is shown leadership in the movie in that they are relentlessly forging for unified governance as per the views of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. The commitment to the achievement of lucrative businesses deals on slaves is eminent. They treat with honor and respect their valued customers in order to win and build trust and credibility. This is deliberately done in order to access vital information from such partners and also through informing them of other business deals aimed at leveraging the power of information through communication. Influencing others is a greater leadership role and characteristic of the leaders in the gladiator movie. This is exercised through a formal authority that has been established with a clear center of power. From the center of power, all the final decisions are implemented and the autonomy on resource access and use all rests at the center of power. Competence is a major factor through which leaders exercises the hierarchy of leadership. Competencies are based on an individuals personal achievements. Competent comrades and subjects are held closer to the throne of power and are given special treatments as compared to the insignificant others. This makes every person wasnt to stand out by giving their best in their operations. Gladiators who are best fighters are treated with a little respect since they are used a source of revenue sourcing through public wrestling entertainment. The leadership in the movie is competent enough to ensure that everything runs smooth according to the plans. They are engaged in true formation with those who may seem disgruntled. They are careful enough, not to cause unnecessary animosity among the people of Rome. Their leadership role of courage is shown in Antonious Proximo, who has risen from being a gladiator to being a business man buying and selling slaves. The true nature of courage can do what one is afraid to do. Senator Gracchus is as well alarmed by the dictatorial tendencies of Commodus, which are against his belief in a strong Roman Republic (Grayson and Baldwin). As a leader in this setup, one is expected to demonstrate his assertiveness while dealing with issues. This is because there are many different quarters from which matters stem from, and the majority of people within the vicinity of leadership seem discouraged and oppressed. Foe one to be able to control the people both within and without, ascertain the degree of authority must be exacted by the leader in order to bring in to control the entire population into his control. Being assertive is exercised by different leaders in their abilities to rally various quarters to follow a common goal. The leaders here have specific directions to which they are leading their people to in order to achieve certain goals. Direction in leadership enables the leaders in the movie to determine what the future of the empire is going to be. Some leaders, however, are concerned with personal gratifications that are against the will of the general majority. At the same time, they are conscious of the possibility of a revolt and as such they develop strong military prowess to guard the entire emperor. They also work towards ensuring that the /people of Rome have enough to eat by promoting agrarian practices for the benefit of all (Grayson and Baldwin). The leadership has developed a common theme through which every individual can relate to, understand and support by carrying out his/her personal duties for the attainment of the ultimate goal. However, to some extent the ultimate goal here is perceived differently by the different quarters of people. This is because the general goal might not be perceived as beneficial to every person in that society. The leadership in the movie has built a community of differentiated people by function and responsibility. This is also a modern function of leadership through which an organization or group of people are run. It creates efficiency in major operations and undertakings of the people through the emphasis of specialization leading to an increased production. Quality and charisma still comes out vividly through the actions of Maximus Decimus Meridus in his evolution to the ultimate success that brought forth happiness to the people. In the leadership, the prior concern of a leader should be the happiness of his people upon which it is founded. The sheer lack of peoples happiness is a feature of the lack of the need for the existence of an organization or a group of people. It leads to discourse that might eventually result in chaos and rebellion against the peoples established authority. The ability of the leadership to inspire and maintain focus on its people and operations propels clarity and unity of purpose that inspires the people that they have the opportunity to excel. In conclusion, leadership roles in the movie gladiator indicate that humans for certain, need some amount of hope and freedom from their predicaments. The establishment of an institution that seems to propel the advancement of good living among the people and to help them solve their basic problems is the foundation of success for such an organization. The mission, vision and values of an organization or group must be forecast on the overall liberation of the people from their bad state of affairs that it will serve both in the short run and long run. Work Cited Grayson, Curt and David Baldwin. Leadership Networking: Connect, Collaborate, Create. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership, 2007. Read More