Leadership and Followership Stylistics: Context of Lion King - Essay Example

Leadership and Followership Stylistics: Context of Lion King A: Leadership Styles and Followership Styles The purpose of this paper is to examine the different leadership styles as well as followership styles. It should be noted that the examination of different leadership and followership styles will be done in the context of the movie Lion King. As a matter of fact, Lion King (Movie 1) is an animated movie that was released by Walt Disney in the year of 1994. Furthermore, the focus of the paper is to evaluate the leadership style in accordance to the followership style. This will help in understanding the leadership style and the implications which is impossible without the support of the followers. It will not be incorrect to note that the leadership styles are evident in the movie Lion King in different characters. The characters that have shown the leadership styles include Mufasa, Simba, and Scar while followership styles are evident from hyenas (the outsiders), Timon and Pumbaa. Before examining the leadership traits within the context of different characters of Lion King, it is imperative that the sources of leadership and meaning are clearly understood. In simpler and précis manner, leadership can be defined as a power to bring about changes or selecting the flow of the beliefs of followers. Power or leadership cannot be achieved without having the traits which it takes to undergo change and bring motivation for the employees1. There are typically five sources of the power which are evident in the movie Lion King as well. As per the theory presented by French and Raven, a leader is able to provide reward to its employees. This is merely to provide a token of value to the followers by the leaders2. This aspect is visible from the movie Lion King through the depiction of Scar’s character (Where Scar is a brother of Mufasa). The Scar has been projected as a leader who gives value proposition to his followers named as Outside in the movie. Scar has provided complete protection to his followers from Mufasa3. Along with the protection that he provided to his follower hyenas, he also provides them with food. It should be noted that throughout the course of the movie, Scar has provided reward in the shape of food to hyenas when they undertook his commands. The significance behind reward is because it motivates the followers. It has also been noted in many instances of the movie that as soon as Scar becomes the leader, he stopped providing reward to his followers. The aspect of reward is further explained in terms of types. The two types of rewards would be coercive and reward power. In the first type, the leaders are actually looked upon as someone who has settled the standards for the followers where they can be provided with a reward4. On the other hand, the second type coercive gives an idea that it depends upon a leader to settle punishments. In the context of the movie, this is evident from the context of Scar’s character where he promised his followers hyenas to provide them with food and reward them and if they will not follow Scar then they will be put to death ultimately. This shows that Scar has made use of the coercive power in order to dictate the hyenas. Talking about the followership styles, the movie has projected Timon and Pumbaa as the best followership supporting leadership. The character of Simba in particular has been projected with Timon and Pumbaa throughout the movie. In this case, it should be noted that Timon and Pumbaa have shown themselves to be reliant, energetic and intellectual followers. As an example, Timon and Pumbaa go to the Pride Rock with Simba because they knew that was more significant then living the ways they have been in the forest. This concludes that a leadership process is a two way in nature i.e. the followers can help the leaders become successful in their approach5. Also to note is the fact that Timon and Pumbaa show no vying for attaining leadership which means that they have been extremely effective followers (Broderick 1994). Talking about the leadership styles in accordance to the followership styles in the movie Lion King, it is easier to note that Scar is a transactional leader with followers’ hyenas while Mufasa is a transformational leader with follower Timon, Pumbaa, Simba and other innocent animals at the Pride Rock. Transformational leadership is that style which maintains the definition of needs and motivation6. A transformational leader will always motivate its followers. As an example, Mufasa made sure that he was able to stimulate his followers by persuading them and inspiring them. This can only be done when a transformational leaders sets ideals for the followers. This is evident from the example where Mufasa explained his son about the Circle of Life. He explained to his son that in order to become a king, one needs to know the ultimate end i.e. death. He also elaborated that the great Kings became stars and are there to guide us in the sky. On the other hand, Scar proved himself as a transactional leader who was focused towards his self-obsession. He never took any sort of suggestions from his followers. A dictator leader would look for the short-term goals and exercise complete control over the followers. This is evident over and over from the character of Scar in the movie Lion King. B Conflict in the Story: Conflict Styles and Implications From the analysis of Lion King, it has come to observation that the main issue which can be defined as a conflict in the movie underlying leadership is the desire or need of Scar to become the leader. It is clear from the storyline that Scar was never going to become a leader because Mufasa has a son Simba who was going to become the King ultimately. In simpler words, it can be understood that conflict arises when the two parties are on having an issue with no compatibility of value and needs. Another condition is when the stress becomes distress. As it has been mentioned above that Scar understood that since Simba was there as a son of Mufasa, it was impossible for him to become a king. This was more like a stress that turned into distress. As a result, he ultimately played tricks to make sure that Simba never return to the kingdom. An evident reason other than the hereditary leading option was that Scar did not have the traits which were required to become a leader. In the above analysis, it has been discussed in an in-depth manner that Scar was self-obsessed and he wanted to exercise complete control on the resources and the animals. The different types of conflicts that have been well-observed in the story include interpersonal as well as intrapersonal conflicts. The intrapersonal conflict that has been noted was in terms of Scar’s own compulsion regarding the fact that he was not being given much importance7. Second type of conflict is the interpersonal conflict which is noted to be between Simba and Scar throughout the course of the movie. Also, as per evaluation, the intrapersonal conflict which Scar had with him made it worse of him. Among different negative effects that a conflict may have on the conflicting parties, poor communication is the most crucial. This is evident in the movie where Scar was not able to communicate his conflict and desire to become a king with his brother Mufasa. Instead he decided for himself that he will make his own way the way he wants8. Another negative impact is in terms of decision-making. When a conflicting party is clearly in distress, then the results or the decisions are majorly hefty. This should be noted that any decision which is made during a conflict needs to be revisited an umber of times because it may affect the overall flow of the issue. As discussed by Awashthi (2010), it is the conflicting consequences which are more likely to influence the resources. A wise decision needs to be made by either implying mediation process. Another aspect that is closely interrelated to the conflict is emotional intelligence. One of the reasons behind the conflicting situation of Scar was his overly emotional state. It has been noted in the movie that due to high emotional quotient, Scar went to hyenas and became a team with them because he found them to be in a state as his own. He found himself to be dejected and devalued from his own blood relation which was merely an assumption due to his high EQ measure. If Scar was open to listening and able to communicate then it is predicted that the story would have been different. The fact remains that even Scar becomes a king after his mean actions; he was not able to achieve loyalty from his followers because everyone hates him because he was unable to provide them with food and shelter. Overall, it can be said that conflict in the story made him ultimately weaker. However, if the conflict management theory is applied on the situation, it becomes easy to note that there can be at least two options to resolve the issue in the movie. Firstly, Simba and Scar could have been together as a team to make sure that the community groups are able to sustain their resources and living in the jungle. Another option was to allow the followers to decide who they wanted to have as a leader. This can be considered as a more helpful option because this signifies that the value and needs need to be compatible in terms of having leadership responsibilities9. The two options for conflict resolutions are basically expression of the conflict style. The first option signifies a collaborative method of conflict resolution where both the parties have to collaborate with each other by undertaking a compromise. This allows the parties to be in a win-win situation. Second resolution option is competitive where the value and needs would be factors noting down or influencing the final decision. At this point, the conflicting parties will be either losing the drill or winning10. As a matter of fact, there are many styles of conflicts but the above two mentioned implications are closest resolution. The Scar’s and Simba conflict seems to affect the followers greatly. This means that leaders need to be affirming of their actions because every step that is taken by a leader is more likely to affect the follower’s beliefs. Through the above analysis, I can strongly note that there are a number of considerations that can be taken when it comes to conflicting issues. The choice of an option should be dependent upon the compatibility of values and needs, be it interpersonal conflict or intrapersonal conflict. In a nut shell, it can be well stated that the conflict resolution remains one way to help leaders adhere to their follower’s need making it completely easier for the community groups to follow in return. Bibliography Awashthi, S. Leadership. New York: PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd., 2010. Barker, A. Transformational Nursing Leadership: A Vision for the Future. Washington DC.: Jones & Bartlett Learning, 1992. Barman, K. Leadership Management: Achieving Breakthroughs. New York: Global India Publications, 2009. Lion King. Directed by R Allers and R. Minkoff. Performed by Matthew Broderick. 1994. Chatfield, R. Leadership The Outward Bound Way: Becoming a Better Leader in the Workplace, in the Wilderness, and in Your Community. New York: The Mountaineers Books, 2007. Elearn. Leadership and Management in Organisations. New York: CRC Press, 2012. Goethals, G, and G. Sorenson. The Quest for a General Theory of Leadership. New York: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2006. Mobley, W, and M. Li. Advances in Global Leadership, Volume 5. London: Emerald Group Publishing, 2009. Sadler, P. Leadership with CDROM. New York: Kogan Page Publishers, 2003. Seo, S. Leadership Styles of Pastors in Jesus Korean Sungkyul Churches. New York: ProQuest, 2008. Read More