MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

(MBADI)

MGT6203 MANAGING INFORMATION SYSTEMS

INDIVIDUAL ASSINGMENT

Leadership from Hacksaw Ridge

PREPARED BY: OMAR MOHAMAD - I12000545

DEADLINE: 02/07/2017

PREPARED FOR: Mr. A.P.DR. SHAHEEN MANSORI

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 Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................ 3

INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 4

CONTENT ................................................................................................................................................. 5

DESMOND DOSS.......................................................................................................................... 5

SERGEANT HOWELL .................................................................................................................... 7

CAPTAIN GLOVER ........................................................................................................................ 8

PERSONAL REFLECTION ........................................................................................................................ 10

REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................................... 11

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report was prepared with the purpose of learning and gaining an in-depth understanding
of leadership, as its a broad topic, we will focus into leadership through analyzing various
leadership styles and exploring the area of leadership by applying different leadership theories.
The report covers different theories of leadership and explores various leadership styles with
their own values, behaviors, characteristics and examples. The examples of various leadership
behaviors demonstrated by different individuals adopting different styles of leadership used in
this report were derived from the movie Hacksaw Ridge. In addition, the report includes three
major characters from the movie, which are Private Desmond Doss, Sergeant Howell and
Captain Glover. Each of these characters played an important role in the battle of Okinawa and
exhibited high leadership abilities and skills through their own unique approach, values, and
characteristics. Additionally, they all had influence on their fellow soldiers through exhibiting
different leadership approach and style that helped contribute to their success and the overall
success of the army which resulted in the US winning the World War II against the Japanese.
In conclusion, there are different leadership theories that justifies how different leaders tend to
lead their followers through adopting different leadership behaviors, styles and approach, as
well as each having different unique set of characteristics that sets them apart from each other
as well as their followers

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INTRODUCTION

This report is prepared to analyze the different leadership styles, by relating any relevant
leadership theories and supporting it by looking at the leadership style and justifying the
behavior of three major characters in the movie Hacksaw Ridge.

Ironically, the film tells the story of an honest, pious and peaceful man, a true conscientious
objector named Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield). Doss was a physician in the Army who
rejected to pick up a weapon due to his personal beliefs and because of that, he was humiliated,
beaten and intimidated by fellow soldiers in the troop. He was faced with many pressures from
the Sergeant, Captain and the Commander and even his fellow mates to quit the army as they
claimed that he was not fit for war and was not supposed to be in the Army because he did not
want to pick up a rifle and kill anyone even if it was the enemy; but never gave up his fight to
serve his country and his fellow men He was accredited with saving 75 men in the battle of
Okinawa, and his is a story of bravery and heroism (Graham, 2016).

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CONTENT

DESMOND DOSS
The trait leadership theory suggests that people are born or made with certain qualities that
allows them to excel in leadership roles. Qualities such as intelligence, sense of responsibility,
persistence, tolerance, adaptable to situations, determination, cooperativeness, assertiveness,
self-confidence, and energetic (high activity levels) and other values allows an individual to be
a good leader (leadership-central.com, 2016).

The trait theory of leadership is focused on analyzing and evaluating physical, mental and
social characteristic to gain more insight of what is the specific characteristic or the
combination of characteristics that are mutual among leaders (leadership-central.com, 2016).

By considering Desmond Doss, who was a pious, honest and a true conscientious objector who
fought bravely in World War II but refused to pick up a rifle when ordered to do so because of
his beliefs. As there was an incident in the beginning of the movie where Doss fights with his
brother for fun as that was the practice of his alcoholic father, who also participated in the
World War I. While fighting with his brother, he picks up a brick and hits it on his brothers
head knocking him out. At that point, he realized that violence was terrible and was
overwhelmed about what he did and believed that killing a person was a terrible sin as its one
of the ten commandments. From that point on, he declared that he would never kill a human
being.

We can say that Dosss leadership style is Charismatic; Charismatic leadership resembles
transformational leadership: both leaders motivate their team members and inspires them.
Difference between the two is their intent. Transformational leaders want to transform their
teams and organizations, while leaders that rely on charisma are focused on themselves and
their own ambition, and might not be willing to change anything. Charisma doesnt mean
absolute behavioural change. It truly encompasses a transformation of followers values and
beliefs (www.mindtools.com , 2017).

This is evident from situations in the movie where Doss exhibited high charisma such as when
the troop was at the gun field and everyone was asked to pick a rifle but he refused to do so
and the Sergeant was humiliating him in front of everyone by saying that they should not look
for him to save them on the battlefield and he said that its not true. Following that, he received
harsh and severe treatment from fellow soldiers as an incident occurred where Smitty was

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intimidating him to punch him back but Doss didnt hit back. Even though when most of the
troop attacked him at night and hurt him badly, in the morning when the Sergeant questioned
him and tried to persuade him to quit, he didnt say a word about what happened and refused
to quit; the troop was shocked with his approach.

Following that, he was taken to a psychiatrist to find out more but he answered that hes not
crazy if he believes that killing is wrong, and its simply against his belief. Also, the captain
was constantly persuading him to leave the army by saying that if there was an enemy in the
battle facing him, will he fight him with his bible, in an approach to make him realize and
decide to quit so he doesnt need to go to prison if he doesnt survive the trail, but Doss
disagreed and said that hes ready to die for his friends on battle. When the army felt that they
couldnt convince him, they relied on his wife but he told her that his values are being attacked
and its not what he signed up for. Fortunately, he won the trail and charges were dropped and
he was free to go to battle without any weapon.

It was then, in the battle when Doss really revealed himself by constantly putting his life in
danger to save his fellow friends. Until, he stayed up using his style of tying a rope- which was
mocked at by the Sergeant and was lowering one soldier at a time alone at night, when they
were left to die. The medical treatment was filled with wounded soldiers and the Captain came
to hear about it and was stunned that skinny Doss managed to do this all by himself. He kept
on repeating to himself Lord, please help me save one more to the point his hands were
bruised and bleeding. Following this incident, the next day when the army resumed the attack,
the Captain delayed the attack for ten minutes while Doss prayed as it was his Sabbath and the
soldiers said that they wouldnt go up again without Doss and they were motivated by his
heroism and wanted a piece of the victory. Hence, the entire armys motivation level was at its
peak. Even then, when they went up and surrounded the Japanese, some of them came out
pretending to surrender and ended up throwing grenades, Doss was the first to react by kicking
and pushing them away from everyone and by doing so, he was hurt and was taken down to
safety with a standing ovation for his actions.

Finally, by looking at Dosss behaviour mentioned above and his charismatic leadership style
we can justify that it relates to the trait theory of leadership whereby people are born or made
with certain qualities that allows them to excel in leadership roles.

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 SERGEANT HOWELL
In response to the trait leadership theory, behavioral theories offer a new perspective focusing
on behaviors of leaders as conflicting to their physical, mental or social characteristics.
Behavioral theories of leadership are categorized as such since they emphasize on the study of
precise behaviors of leaders (leadership-central.com, 2016).

Additionally, behavioral theories of leadership dont pursue natural qualities or competences.

Rather, they focus on what leaders do (changingminds.org, 2016). The behavioral theories first
separated leaders into two classifications. Those who are concentrated with task performance
(task behavior) and tend to be worried about initiating structure, and those focusing on people
(Relationship behavior) tend to help followers feel comfortable around the leader and the
association (floridatechonline.com, 2017).

By considering Sergeant Howells overall behaviors in the movie and relating it to Behavioral
theories of leadership, its clear that hes concerned about the task performance (i.e. the
performance of his troop on the battlefield) and to some extent he is also worried about the
behavior relationship of his troop (i.e. helping the troop to adjust and feel comfortable in the
war situation). This is vital for the success of the entire army, as without having good
relationship between fellow soldiers, the army will fail.

His behaviors that indicate that hes concerned about task performance can be seen in many
scenes from the movie such as when he was teaching the troop how to tie a bowline knot and
he was evaluating their outcomes. Additionally, the following scene where the troop was
training at the obstacles track and he was constantly motivating and inspiring them to move
and perform at their highest level. Besides, its evident that he is also concerned about initiating
structure as the leader on the battlefield he was initiating actions, organizing group activities
and giving out tasks to be accomplished by the troop. This is evident from the scene when the
army was trying to take down the gun name by sticking a bomb around the barricade and
similarly when conducting the rifle target practice and also when they were done for the night
and he gave the role of rotating watch for every two hours.

Overall, by looking at his behavior, we can say that Sergeant Howells leadership style falls
under the team leadership style. That comprises of forming a vivid picture of the future, where
its heading and what it stands for. Vision inspires and allows a strong sense of direction and
purpose. Team leadership includes working with the minds and hearts of those involved. It also
identifies that teamwork may or may not involve cooperative trusting relationships. The

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challenging characteristic of this leadership is if itll succeed or not. As team leadership could
fail due to poor leadership qualities (Raza, 2017)

This is evident from situations in the movie such as when Sergeant Howell was motivating the
troop to climb up the ridge and he said to Dorothy Were not in Kansas anymore, keep
climbing. Following that, at the scene where the army was trying to take the Japaneses
barricade, he exhibited teamwork, whereby he ordered Ghoul to jump into the hole while fellow
soldiers covered him and when Ghoul went down, Smitty took his place and accomplished the
objective. In this case, teamwork did involve cooperative trusting relationships.

Similarly, at the scene where Doss asked the Sergeant to jump into the mat while dragging him
back to safety, both exhibited teamwork that allowed them to save themselves.

Finally, by looking at Howells behavior and his team leadership style we can justify that it
relates to the behavioral theory of leadership whereby leaders are concerned about task or
behavior performance.

CAPTAIN GLOVER
By considering Captain Glovers behaviors throughout the movie, we can conclude that it
relates to the behavioral theory of leadership whereby leaders are mainly concerned with tasks
or people. As the behavioral theory doesnt focus at traits or abilities, rather their behavior.
Two behavior classifications were developed (floridatechonline.com, 2017):

1. Task Behavior: Involves facilitating goals and accomplishments of followers and

leaders.
2. Relationship behavior: Involves helping followers feel contented around the leader and
organization.

Through this, Blake and Moutons Managerial Grid became popular, the grid is focused on two
various behavioral dimensions to contemplate when completing a task:

1. Concern for production: involves how much a leader highlights concrete objectives,
high efficiency, and organizational effectiveness.
2. Concern for people: involves how much a leader considers members interest, needs
and personal development (floridatechonline.com, 2017).

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We can see that Captain Glover has strong concern for production as he was urging Doss to
quit the army more than once because he thought that Doss wont be able to perform well since
he didnt want to kill an enemy.

Additionally, by considering his leadership style, which is Bureaucratic leadership. As

bureaucratic leaders depend on rules, regulations and undoubtedly defined positions within
organizations. They tend to be well-organized as they work by the book, guaranteeing that
staff follows procedures precisely. This is very appropriate for work concerning serious safety
risks (such as working with machinery, in army, etc.) (Spahr, 2015)

This is evident from situations in the movie such as when he was talking to Doss after the
incident of refusing to pick up the rifle, and he told him that if Doss is under his command,
hes expected to follow his commands always, because if he cant do it here then he cant trust
him on battle.

Following that, its evident that Captain Glover is also worried about initiating structure, given
the scene when he was talking to the psychiatrist, who was saying that Dosss believes dont
constitute grounds for section 8 discharge and the Captain replied by saying that how is he to
maintain discipline with a man like Doss in his unit.

Lastly, to maintain high efficiency among the troop, Captain Glover after admitting that he was
wrong about Doss and saying that the troop wont go back up without Doss, had to disobey
orders from higher positions by delaying the attack for ten minutes so that Doss can finish
praying. If he didnt do that, the unit wouldnt have gone back up with lower motivation level
and this might have caused them the battle.

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PERSONAL REFLECTION

The movie Hacksaw Ridge provides a variety of valuable leadership lessons that we can
ponder on. By watching this intense, emotional and inspiring movie, I learnt a lot of lessons
about leadership and how leaders create and influence change. In addition, my personal key
learning from this movie is that an individual must have a strong belief and should stand for
his beliefs and values no matter how much challenges faced. Also, another key learning is that
leadership requires trust since its a key to influencing people to follow your lead.

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REFERENCES

1. Changingminds.org. (2016). Behavioral Theory. [online] Available at:

http://changingminds.org/disciplines/leadership/theories/behavioral_theory.htm [Accessed
30 Jun. 2017].
2. Mindtools.com. (2017). Core Leadership Theories: Learning the Foundations of Leadership.
[online] Available at: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/leadership-theories.htm
[Accessed 30 Jun. 2017].
3. Graham, A. (2016). Review: Mel Gibsons brutal Hacksaw Ridge hits home. [online] Detroit
News. Available at:
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/entertainment/movies/2016/11/03/movie-review-mel-
gibsons-brutal-hacksaw-ridge-hits-home/93272834/ [Accessed 30 Jun. 2017].
4. Johannsen, M. (2014). TYPES OF LEADERSHIP STYLES: A GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE INFLUENCE.
[online] Legacee.com. Available at: https://www.legacee.com/types-of-leadership-styles/
[Accessed 30 Jun. 2017].
5. Visionaryfoundation. (2016). Leadership and Management Style. [online] Available at:
https://visionaryfoundation.wordpress.com/2014/11/21/leadership-and-management-
style/ [Accessed 30 Jun. 2017].
6. Mindtools.com. (2017). Leadership Styles: Choosing the Right Approach for the Situation.
[online] Available at: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_84.htm [Accessed
30 Jun. 2017].
7. leadership-central.com. (2016). Leadership Theories. [online] Available at:
http://www.leadership-central.com/leadership-theories.html#axzz4lOikIT3m [Accessed 30
Jun. 2017].
8. Raza, A. (2017). 12 Different Types of Leadership Styles. [online] WiseToast.com. Available at:
http://wisetoast.com/12-different-types-of-leadership-styles/ [Accessed 30 Jun. 2017].
9. Seitz, M. (2016). Hacksaw Ridge Movie Review & Film Summary (2016) | Roger Ebert. [online]
Rogerebert.com. Available at: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hacksaw-ridge-2016
[Accessed 30 Jun. 2017].
10. Spahr, P. (2015). Bureaucratic Leadership: Definition, Use, Disadvantages. [online]
Online.stu.edu. Available at: http://online.stu.edu/bureaucratic-leadership/ [Accessed 30
Jun. 2017].

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11. floridatechonline.com. (2017). Top 8 Leadership Theories. [online] Available at:
https://www.floridatechonline.com/blog/psychology/top-8-leadership-theories/ [Accessed
30 Jun. 2017].

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