Review of a Leader Movie Armageddon Essay

1. Style Of Leadership The style of leadership portrayed by Bruce Willis was decisive and with full conviction, in the best interest of everyone under his care and jurisdiction as shown below. a) As a father, he undertook the sole responsibility of bringing up his daughter from young, after his separation from his wife. He brought her everywhere he went and when she got romantically involved with one of his workers, he showed much concern and took actions in the interest of his daughter’s future. b) As a company boss, he was decisive in terminating the services of his best worker, for taking matters in his own hands and thus jeopardizing the safety of the other workers. He did not tolerate any insubordination and commanded everybody’s respect. c) As a project team leader for NASA, he showed great concern for all humanity and thus, agreed to undertake the assignment. This decision showed his compassion and his willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of others. As he was knowledgeable and showed great leadership skills, even NASA staff listened to him. This emphasize the fact that a good leader is able to influence and guide everyone, through exemplary actions and compassion for others. d) His willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice and switch places with his worker in staying back to detonate the bomb summarizes all his leadership qualities. As a father, he was more concerned for his daughter’s future and happiness and thus switched place with his worker, even though he realized that by doing so, he would die. As a company boss and the project leader, he felt that it was his responsibility to ensure that the job was done well and his compassion for the human race led him to make the ultimate sacrifice. 2. Leadership Communication Strategy The communication skills and strategy showed by Bruce Willis in the movie was very well portrayed. He was strict but fair. He communicated effectively at all levels and strategized it to ensure that it achieved its desired results, as shown below. a) He was initially very upset when he discovered his daughter’s affair with his worker, but later showed his acceptance without even letting them know. This is strategy. by showing his worker his disapproval initially, it makes his worker realize that Bruce Willis was very much concerned and would do anything to protect his daughter’s future. but as depicted at the end of the movie, it showed how Bruce Willis finally admitted his approval and was even willing to sacrifice his life for them. This is effective communications strategy. b) As the project leader, he showed conviction and determination to get the job done, even when faced with extreme situations. He reprimanded his staff accordingly when necessary and allowed them some recreations when needed to. This shows great strategy and very effective communications. When earth lost faith in him, he managed to persuade the commander to disarm the bomb. When he switched places with his worker to detonate the bomb, nobody suspected he would do so. He managed to strategize his communications well and achieved his target, even though he knew that by doing so, he would die. This was the ultimate strategy of a leader, leading by example and good communication skills. 3) Personality Of A Good Leader Through out the movie, Bruce Willis was portrayed as a leader with a good and humble personality, who was intelligent and critical with his words and actions. he was depicted as a very responsible father, a caring company boss and also a convicted project leader as described below. a) As a responsible father, he cared for his daughter all by himself, even with his hectic work schedule and the dangerous nature of his work. He loved his daughter very much and was very protective of her well being and future. b) As a company boss, he was well liked and well respected by all his workers. He did not hesitate to terminate his best worker when he jeopardized the safety of the other staff, thus confirming that he was fair, but strict, and this applied to all. c) As the project leader, he showed great conviction and determination. His ability to make decisive decisions and actions showed his leadership qualities and his ultimate sacrifice showed that he was a leader with great compassion for others without any regards for his own well being. 4) Motivation A good leader is always able to motivate all by his exemplary actions and effective communications. This was well depicted in the movie. It described how a good leader can have appositive effect on others and can turn failures into success, danger into safety and despair into joy as portrayed by Bruce Willis. a) He managed to motivate and convinced his daughter to allow him to undertake the assignment, even though it might cost him his life. Even though the movie does not depict much about his relationship with his daughter, we can imagine how much his motivation affected his daughter’s willingness to follow him everywhere he goes. Even though her role in the project was minimal, it showed how motivated she was, in trying to ensure that the project was successful. This was portrayed in scenes where she had confrontations with the ground crew. b) As a company boss and project leader, he managed to persuade his staff to follow him and inadvertently, put their lives in danger. Even then, they were willing to do so, through his motivations and his communications skills. Throughout the assignment on the asteroid, he played the part of the motivator, never giving up and never despaired, even though he had lost some of his men, who were also his closest friends. How he managed to persuade the commander to defuse the bomb prematurely, was the best example of a good motivator in action. The words he used to convince the commander and how he managed to persuade him was very effective and only a good leader would be able to achieve such a task. To be able to ask someone to put his life on the line and make the ultimate sacrifice for you, requires all the attributes of an exceptional leader. 5. Leadership Management Only a good leader would be able to manage well. There is a danger of a leader becoming a dictator, if he or she is does not have good management skills. These skills needs to be taught and practiced. In the movie, Bruce Willis plays the part of a father, a boss, and later a project leader. As a father and a boss, he had acquired the management skills and experience to be a good father and a caring boss, and applied these management skills as a project leader, as shown below. a) Even though it was not depicted, he managed to bring up his daughter to be a well educated and responsible person, who could contribute his company. Even under stressed situations, he managed to manage his daughter’s personal affairs and ultimately, ensured that she would be well taken care of, even when he was no longer alive. b) He would not be the boss of the company if he was not a good leader with good management skills. Thus, he was able to manage his team and all others in his attempt to ensure that the assignment was successful. As a leader, he managed to control all personnel under any situations. The fact that he managed to save the world in the movie, after going through extreme conditions and situations and even a near failure, shows that through good leadership management, you can achieve every success. In summary, there is no such thing as a born leader. Good leadership qualities needs to be learned and practiced. Anybody can be a leader but not everyone can be a good leader. The movie â€Å"Armageddon† is about a good leader, as described above. It portrayed how 1 man, who possessed all the right attributes, is able to successfully complete a near impossible mission and achieve the desired results and thus saving the world. This movie might seem unreal, but the message behind the movie is very clear. A good leader is able to affect the lives of other people in a positive way. It may be only one life or it could be billions of lives. The fact is, we could apply the message of this movie in our daily lives. We should all try to be good leaders and have good leadership qualities, for the best interests of ourselves, our family, our race, our religion and ultimately, our nation.