The Gains and Losses of Authoritarian Leadership - Movie Review Example

May 22, The Gains and Losses itarian Leadership with Benevolence in Twelve O Clock High Where lives are literallyat stake for every mission, leaders do their best to keep themselves together, but nobody truly knows their limitations, until they break down. Twelve O Clock High, directed by Henry King, demonstrates how Brigadier General Frank Savage (Gregory Peck) leads the 918th, after he relieved Colonel Keith Davenport (Gary Merrill). Colonel Davenport was removed as the commander of the 306th Bomb Group for overly identifying with his people that he could no longer be trusted to make rational strategic and operational decisions. General Savage applies the military leadership approach to the 918th, which refers to the authoritarian or autocratic leadership, a sharp contrast to Colonel Davenport’s charismatic leadership style. Autocratic leadership enforces power through intimidation, threats, reward, and punishment (Rabinowitz). They make decisions unilaterally and focus on completing tasks, similar to transactional leadership (McCleskey 122). The film portrays the strengths and weaknesses of authoritarian leadership, which can be mediated through leader benevolence. It also depicts that even the strongest autocratic leader breaks down, when he has identified with his followers and lost sight of the relevance of their long-term mission. General Savage depicts the strengths of authoritarian leadership, particularly, the ability to make quick, strategic decisions and to maintain calmness during critical situations. Autocratic leadership is effective in times of crises, where high risks and uncertainty exist (Rabinowitz). General Savage makes rapid decisions that are based on their missions. He wants the 918th to be ready for every mission, even when they have been on air for three days already. He explains to Captain Doc Kaiser (Paul Stewart) that he cannot be as charismatic as Colonel Davenport because he does not have the time to establish personal relationships with his subordinates, he does not want and cannot compete with Colonel Davenport’s popularity, and he believes that the 918th can do better than stay in a low-morale status (Twelve OClock High). He is right because they are in a war and, whether it is moral or not to go on despite being emotionally and physically exhausted, they have to perform their mission, or Germany might get strong enough to attack, not only other European countries, but also the United States of America. In addition, autocratic leaders may seem insensitive and detached in making unilateral decisions (Schuh, Zhang, and Tian 632), but their calmness helps them make the right, but hard, decisions. General Savage has just lost 2nd Lieutenant Jesse Bishop (Robert Patten), who died during one of their missions, but he sets his feelings aside because the war is not over yet. He stays composed, though he is visibly shaken, for he has a unit to lead. If he is as charismatic as Colonel Davenport, he would have caved in like the latter. Instead, General Savage focused on completing the mission, in order for his men’s lost lives to not be wasted. Despite these strengths, General Savage shows the weaknesses of authoritarian leadership, specifically, personal distance from his followers that led to intragroup conflicts at first and the problem of sharing his burden with others that resulted to his mental breakdown. General Savage deals with his people with an iron hand. He does not want them to be timid or complacent. Captain Kaiser reminds General Savage that “some things cant be accomplished just by issuing an order” (Twelve OClock High). Indeed, General Savage almost lost all his pilots because they are loyal to Colonel Davenport. They wanted to transfer to another branch or unit. Colonel Davenport further warns General Savage of a possible mutiny after the latter delayed the transfer requests of the 918th pilots (Twelve OClock High). He thinks that Savage is being too hard on his people without empathizing with their emotional burdens of not knowing why they are sacrificing so much for nothing. Having too much personal distance from one’s followers can hamper unit effectiveness too by decreasing unit morale. Furthermore, General Savage works hard to not be another Colonel Davenport, who overidentified with his people, but he ironically ends up like him, because he has no one to share his emotional burdens with. Major Harvey Stovall (Dean Jagger) knows that General Savage is only keeping all the pain inside himself, but, as several characters asked before the film, “How much can a [person] take?” And what is the meaning of “maximum effort”? (Twelve OClock High). Because General Savage controls his emotions and keeps his anguish of losing good men to himself, he mentally breaks down at the end of the film. He becomes catatonic until the 918th have arrived successfully under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Ben Gately (Hugh Marlowe). Being a solid, detached leader has its major psychological consequences: emotional weariness and eventual loss of ability to keep a composed facade to his people. Though General Savage has started out as an autocratic leader, he softens his leadership through leader benevolence that makes his autocratic leadership more effective, but which ironically becomes a source of his weakness later on. Leader benevolence pertains to “leadership behaviors that show an individualized and holistic concern for subordinates’ personal or familial well-being beyond the work relationship” (Chan et al. 110). Chan et al. learn from their study that authoritarian leadership’s negative effects on task performance can be decreased through leader benevolence. General Savage shows benevolence when he visits Lieutenant Colonel Gately and other wounded personnel in the clinic. He makes sure that Gately receives superior care because he continued his work despite having a painful broken back. General Savage shows how, from being an authoritarian, he shifts to a softer stance, as he illustrates more concern and empathy for his people (Canton 49). He identifies with them as human beings, though he does not explicitly show this to his personnel. His actions and words of encouragement are enough evidence that he has leader benevolence. General Savage cares for his people as human beings whose lives are not expendable, even at war. General Savage shows that a person can only take so much, whatever leadership style he follows, because a human being cannot remain strong, after he has personally connected with his followers who are dying around him because of his decisions. His behaviors demonstrate how much he has lost inside of him after several of his good men have died. Colonel Davenport once told General Savage: “How much do you think they can take? Do you know that they fall asleep during briefing?... Those boys are flesh and blood. They’ll die for you but they gotta have a chance, and they know they haven’t got one” (Twelve OClock High). General Savage soon learns that they do not have a chance because every mission can result to death, and he can only decrease his guilt through leading as many missions as he can. Before another risky mission, General Savage breaks down because he probably cannot take if more of his men died. He has lost sight of the mission and sees only young men dying before they can even enjoy life to the fullest. He is now Colonel Davenport- more concerned of his men’s welfare than the mission and his own life. A person cannot take everything inside- all the violence and deaths of young, promising men- and not feel something hollowing inside his humanity. A leader must be able to make the right decisions to achieve the mission. This can include being an autocratic leader with a touch of benevolence. A leader in war knows that a person can only take so much, nonetheless. The concept of “maximum effort” is reached when the leader cannot make rational decisions anymore because of overidentification with his personnel and loss of morale. The “maximum effort” is attained when he has given his all, and must take a back seat to reconnect with his broken humanity that is withering- after young, brave, talented soldiers withered before him. A leader can only take so much, and when he has reached his maximum effort, he must go and let another leader take in what he cannot take anymore. Works Cited Canton, Lucien G. “Disaster Planning and Management: Does One Leadership Style Work for Both?” Journal of Leadership Studies 7.3 (2013): 47-50. Print. Chan, Simon. C.H., Huang, Xu, Snape, Ed, and Catherine K. Lam. “The Janus Face Of Paternalistic Leaders: Authoritarianism, Benevolence, Subordinates Organization-Based Self-Esteem, and Performance.” Journal of Organizational Behavior 34.1 (2013): 108-128. McCleskey, Jim Allen. “Situational, Transformational, and Transactional Leadership and Leadership Development.” Journal of Business Studies Quarterly 5.4 (2014): 117-130. Print. Rabinowitz, Phil. “Section 3. Styles of Leadership.” Leadership, 2014. Web. 19 May 2015. Schuh, Sebastian, Zhang, Xin-an, and Peng Tian. “For the Good or the Bad? Interactive Effects of Transformational Leadership with Moral and Authoritarian Leadership Behaviors.” Journal of Business Ethics 116.3 (2013): 629-640. Print. Twelve OClock High. Dir. Henry King. Perf. Gregory Peck, Hugh Marlowe, Gary Merrill. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, 1949. Film. Read More