Introduction
Leadership is one of the most challenging roles as it sometimes involves carrying too much responsibility. This is especially true in military conditions, where the life of every person in the group is at stake, and the decisions taken by the leader can have serious consequences. An example of such a problematic share is the events taking place in Steven Spielberg’s movie Saving Private Ryan. This scholarly paper aims to investigate how the phenomenon of leadership manifests itself in this film within the extremely dangerous and nervous conditions of military operations.
Leadership in the Saving Private Ryan Film
First of all, it is essential to consider the plot of the analyzed cinematic picture. The film Saving Private Ryan was directed by Steven Spielberg and released in 1998 (“Saving Private Ryan,” n.d.). The main events take place during one of the most critical moments of the Second World War. One of the leading characters in this picture is Captain John Miller. After completing a challenging mission, he gets the task of assembling a team and finding Private James Ryan. He receives such an unusual assignment after Ryan’s mother was informed that three of her sons were defeated in battle. The leadership decided that it would not allow the poor woman to lose her last child and ordered to send a detachment in search of a soldier.
First, it is essential to consider the plot of the analyzed cinematic picture. The film Saving Private Ryan was directed by Steven Spielberg and released in 1998 (“Saving Private Ryan,” n.d.). The main events occur during one of the most critical moments of the Second World War. One of the leading characters in this picture is Captain John Miller. After completing a challenging mission, he gets the task of assembling a team and finding Private James Ryan. He receives such an unusual assignment after Ryan’s mother is informed that three of her sons were defeated in battle. The leadership decided that it would not allow the poor woman to lose her last child and ordered to send a detachment in search of a soldier.
Further, Captain John Miller assembled a team of eight people and went on a mission. People do not understand why they spend time searching for one person when they can serve the motherland on the battlefield with the enemy. In the end, they find Private Ryan, but the young man refuses to leave the place where he served until the task assigned to him is completed. A large group of Captain Miller remains to help in the confrontation with the German troops, but he experiences too heavy losses during the battle.
Leadership is important in the military setting, where managing people is crucial. Research shows that “leadership is all about getting people to work together to make things happen that might not otherwise occur or to prevent things from happening that would ordinarily occur” (Taylor, 2018, p. 11). Hence, it is presented through the emphasis of attention on a group of soldiers under the command of Commander John Miller. It is essential to underline that a significant role in the leadership style of the group leader was played by the fact that in peacetime, the man was a teacher at a school teaching literature. This interesting factor affected his ways of managing people and concepts that could be traced in his actions. It is worth noting that it is impossible to precisely define the main leadership style used by the main character. This is because Miller combined several group management tactics at once. Therefore, it is possible to distinguish such styles as mainly democratic, with features autocratic and strategic.
A democratic leadership style with strategic traits helps the team achieve their goals. Hence, during the operation, the soldiers and their commander work smoothly and accurately, which is vital in war conditions. Even though Miller tries not to show his feelings, his character gets closer to his wards and intensely experiences the loss of each of them. Thus, he considers everyone’s opinion about what they should do next, which are the features of the discussed style (Jan DeBell, 2019). Regarding strategic leadership, John Miller is good at correctly distributing the rank-and-file from the team, which helps them overcome a long way in search of James Ryan.
It is worth considering the features of the autocratic leadership style since this approach is often not considered one of the most effective. Henceforth, it is determined by the circumstances when the head of the group does not consider the group’s opinion in any way (Briker et al., 2021). However, as already discussed, there was a completely different situation in the film. Nevertheless, to maintain the hierarchy in the group and set boundaries, Commander Miller uses the position of this style. Therefore, he does not show any sentimental feelings and never complains to his team members so as not to show weakness and not to lower the degree of respect for him. Moreover, at first, in order to build boundaries, the man did not share his past, believing that the last profession of a teacher could also negatively affect his reputation.
The occurrence of conflicts is one of the inevitable components of teamwork. The group can improve or worsen the relationship depending on how they are solved. In other words, conflicts between people can be both constructive and destructive (Elgoibar et al., 2017). Their resolution strongly depends on their leader’s role and contribution (Gandolfi & Stone, 2018). Consequently, in the film, conflicts between characters arise several times. It is worth noting that the problematic military situation strongly influences their occurrence. During active battles, people’s nerves and emotions are at the limit and can take over the mind. Moreover, there is often a high tension behind the conflicts that arise; people do not enter them with the intention to quarrel or belittle someone, perhaps without realizing it themselves.
Further, one of the most memorable conflicts during the course of the film was a quarrel after the death of one of the privates. After the team fails to save their partner, the commander decides to release the captured German, who may have caused the tragedy. One of the privates did not like this way of handling the situation, which enraged him, and he decided to leave the mission and go back. At the same time, Commander Miller remained calm and said that he supported the soldier’s decision and was ready to go to him for a meeting.
It is quite possible that the man understood what fear his wards were experiencing and that it was overwhelming emotions that got the better of them. Although the conflict that occurred was more destructive in nature, this decision became the right one. The manifestation of understanding played a role in the commander’s decision-making (Bonache et al., 2019). This id since he might have wanted to leave the war, but he understood that he was responsible to the state and the people they protect.
The next aspect worth considering is the presence of ‘sidebar’ conversations among group members. Many of them are in the film, and they help to understand how the relationship between the main characters is formed. Moreover, they often had a positive effect on the group and contributed to the cohesion of the team and the awakening of sentimental and touching feelings in the viewer. Consequently, the conversation between the heroes about the mother of one of the soldiers was incredibly touching. The young man was talking about his mother, who was one of the most important people in his life. The second particularly memorable moment was a conversation while listening to music before the final battle in the film. At this moment, the characters behave at ease and joke, which for a moment gives them a chance to relax and brings them even closer together.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this work considered leadership’s contribution to the group in the example of the film Saving Private Ryan. This picture, which unfolds during the Second World War, shows how important it is to manage people correctly in order to achieve the goal. Even in times of conflict and moments of doubt, Commander John Miller reminded his wards of how vital their mission was since they had to return their son to his mother. This action helps to maintain the spirit of the soldiers and contributes to an increase in the role of cohesion and respect within the team.
References
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Briker, R., Walter, F., & Cole, M. S. (2021). Hurry up! The role of supervisors’ time urgency and self‐perceived status for autocratic leadership and subordinates’ well‐being. Personnel Psychology, 74(1), 55-76.
DeBell, J. (2019). Democratic leadership. Dental Assistant, 88(2), 6-7.
Elgoibar, P., Euwema, M., & Munduate, L. (2017). Conflict management. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of psychology. Web.
Gandolfi, F., & Stone, S. (2018). Leadership, leadership styles, and servant leadership. Journal of Management Research, 18(4), 261-269.
Saving Private Ryan. (n.d.). IMDb.
Taylor, R. L. (2018). Pursuit of excellence. Routledge.