Normative Leadership Theory: Remember the Titans

Below are a matrix and capsules of my assessment of the main characters with respect to their depiction of normative leadership traits (transformational, authentic and servant).  

My character normative leadership style assessment:

Coach Boone – As categorized by Johnson (2012), Coach Boone was the prototypical transformational leader.  He had a history of building championship teams and was a major positive influence, including:

- Establishing the team’s mission and priorities

- Fostering moral maturity

- Creating a climate of fairness and sacrifice for the team

- Promoting cooperation and harmony

- Applying tried and true coaching techniques

- Persuading young players based on reason

- Appealing to the higher calling of teamwork and selflessness, and

- Allowing each player to choose his destiny.  He also fostered competitiveness in the team. 

He was also a negative influence in terms of being overly impressed with his position as coach and was not always willing to listen to reason, particularly from Coach Yoast and the team captains.

Coach Yoast – The prototypical authentic leader also with a history of building championship teams.  Major positive influences include working closely to the players to find out how to obtain their best performance, coaching his specialty area (defense) with a master level of expertise, espousing community standards that were contrary to many in the community, staying true to his convictions and dedication to the game and what is right (even if it meant he would lose a Hall of Fame bid), listening and watching the team development and analyzing what to do next, and developing a strong sense of loyalty to the team and coaches.  Was also a negative influence in terms of overstating “what we have always done” when change was called for.

Big Ju – Strong team leader with servant leader attributes; looked up to and listened to (ultimately by all players), committed, built teamwork, healed when necessary, trusted the coaches and his instincts, and had the awareness to use his leadership position to motivate his team.

Bertier – Strong team leader with transformational leader attributes; looked up to and listened to (ultimately) by all, but was transformative by his position on the team.  When he flipped (meaning was on board with the program) the whole team pivoted and the Titans began to click as a unified team.  By his actions, including coaching and mentoring, he got his teammates to look beyond their self interests and toward the common good; he got his teammates to want to win; and he set an example of the proper morality his community needed to follow.   

Rev – This was an interesting character.  His leadership style was muted by rock-solid when needed.  I saw him as a servant leader due to empathy (with Petey), integrity and honesty (assessing when he should be taken out), agreeableness and encouragement.

Board Member – A stereotypical negative transformational leader influence, as Johnson (2012) described it: “Foment greed, envy, hate, and deception” (p. 197).

White Asst. Coach – Another stereotypical negative transformational leader influence; your basic Southern cracker: See description for Board Member.

Black Asst. Coach – A servant leader, he provided characteristics such as empathy, service, trust, agreeableness, wisdom and organizational stewardship.

Coach Boone’s Wife – A servant leader, she displayed honesty, listening, trust, emotional healing and encouragement.

In conclusion, this movie is up there with Gettysburg and Twelve O’clock High as textbook cases for leadership.  I enjoyed it more approaching the movie analytically than I did in the movie theater.  I thought the Boone and Yoast characters were very well developed and perceptive case studies in transformational and authentic leadership styles, respectively.  My take as a former high school and college athlete is that the high school would not have been successful without the transformational traits demonstrated by Coach Boone, and Coach Boone would not have been successful with the authentic traits demonstrated by Coach Yoast.  Together both raised most everyone involved, coaches, players, parents and community alike.

References

Johnson, C. E. (2012). Meeting the ethical challenges of leadership: Casting lights or shadows. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.