MISTER ROBERTS

                           

              

Presented for your learning pleasure by:

Tony “Advocate for the little guy”

King

Brian “The New Guy” Miller

Rob “This is my last

Class DuCote

CAST AND CREW

• Captain James Cagney

• LTJG Roberts Henry Fonda

• ENS Pulver Jack Lemmon

• Doc William Powell

Story Line

• WWII story aboard the USS RELUCTANT, a U.S. Navy cargo ship

• Most of the war has passed, the ship has not seen any action. Ship honors is a Palm tree for cargo handling

• Fleet goes by in opening and is observed by LTJG Doug Roberts who desperately wants to see combat action

LTJG Douglas Roberts

• Cargo Officer• Loved by the

shipmates• Wants combat action• Numerous requests for

transfer denied by Captain

• Conflict between Capt and him is strong

The Captain

• Career Officer• Strong-willed• Leads by intimidation• Feels career threatened

by Roberts’ constant transfer requests

ENS Frank Pulver

• Laundry and Morale officer. Likeable!

• Does neither Laundry or morale…stays in rack avoiding the Capt!

• Easy going, yet smart..very Walter Mitty-like

Discuss the leadership traits of the three main characters

• The Captain

• LTJG Roberts

• ENS Pulver

Compare and contrast the leadership styles of the Captain and LTJG Roberts. Which one would you

want to work for and why?

• Tyrant vs. The People’s Leader!

• Napoleon’s Complex?

This is the climatic scene in the movie. Can anyone relate to this scene?

Assess and classify the leadership styles of the main characters using Situational Leadership II model (Blanchard, K, et al., 1985). (textbook page 56). Use both “D” and “S”

models.

• The Captain

• LTJG Roberts

• ENS Pulver

• Doc Uh, yes sir. For 14 months

now.

Who are you, mister? Are you

one of my officers?

THE FOUR LEADERSHIP STYLESHigh Supportive

And

Low Directive

Behavior

S3

High Directive

And

High Supportive

Behavior

S2

S4

Low Supportive

And

Low Directive

Behavior

S1

High Directive

And

Low Supportive

Behavior

Su p

por t

ive

Beh

avio

r

(High)

Directive Behavior(Low)

(High)

Development Level of Followers

D4 D3 D2 D1Developed Developing

HIGH MODERATE LOW

Del

egat

ing

Supporting Coaching

Directing

Assume you are the Captain of the Reluctant. Using the Contingency Model (textbook, pg. 77), analyze

LTJG Roberts’ leadership style and provide an assessment.

• Leader-Member relation

• Task structure

• Position power

• Final assessment: LCP is ____ on the contingency model

Contingency ModelGOOD POOR

HIGH LOW

STRUCTURE STRUCTURE

HIGH LOW

STRUCTURE STRUCTURE

STRONG WEAK STRONG WEAK

POWER POWER POWER POWER

STRONG WEAK STRONG WEAK

POWER POWER POWER POWER

Leader-Member

Relations

Task Structure

Position Power

Preferred Leadership Style

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Low LPCs

Middle LPCs

High LPCs Low

LPCs

Summary

• Movie has great comedic value, and teaches some valuable lessons about leadership styles

• In the end, which style of leadership depicted in the movie in best for the Navy, or any organization?

• Disappointment: The Doc. Sage leader who does not lead…know any of those?