1

Maddy Pokorny

MNGT 5560-001

Movie Review

Leadership in The Devil Wears Prada

The movie, The Devil Wears Prada, is about Andrea, a recent graduate from college who

gets a job as the assistant to the editor-in-chief at the top fashion magazine, Runway. Miranda

Priestley, the editor-in-chief, makes Andrea’s job at Runway extremely difficult with absurd

demands and expectations. The film takes us through her journey of starting at the bottom and

rising to become Miranda’s right hand. She battles with the loss of personal relationships in the

process of gaining so much in her career. Although she achieves so much in her role at Runway,

she ultimately decides to leave to pursue her dream of writing. Despite Miranda’s advice to stay

at Runway and not throw away her career, Miranda writes her a recommendation and Andrea

finds happiness at her new job.

The first main character that demonstrates leadership is Miranda Priestly, the editor-in-

chief of a very high-fashion magazine. Because of her position, she holds all the power. Miranda

uses a variety of tactics as a leader. From the beginning of the movie, it is clear that her primary

source of power is coercive power. Everyone in the office fears her and what might happen if

they upset her. This also causes everyone in the office to do things they think will please her

such as changing shoes when she arrives at the office. Miranda’s coercive power also stems from

her influence not only in the company but the entire industry. Her leadership status remains

untouched because no one wants to get on her bad side. While some may view coercive power as

a negative way of gaining power, it is very effective for Miranda. Everyone follows her and does

as she asks. She is well-respected and admired.

2

Another leadership style Miranda demonstrates is transactional leadership. This is

because she has things to offer that her team members desire. For instance, Miranda’s other

assistant knows that if she does well in her role, she will be able to join the trip to fashion week

in Paris. She is focused on seeing results and having offers or incentives makes these results

happen faster. Another example would be knowing that after doing a good job working for

Miranda, it is common knowledge that you can get any job in the industry. This is probably the

most apparent form of transactional leadership. It is a huge incentive to follow her as a leader.

In addition to her coercive power and transactional leadership style, Miranda also has an

immense amount of knowledge about the industry. She has so much experience that in the

beginning of the movie when Andrea gets the job as her assistant that people tell her “girls would

kill for that job.” Everyone wants to be in her presence to be able to learn from her and possibly

be given a chance to grow their career. Despite her amazing experience and knowledge, the main

reason she holds as much power as she does is because people fear her. However, this is

extremely effective for her as people around her go even as far as emulating her behavior.

Contrary to Miranda, Andrea, the other main character of the movie, approaches

leadership and power very differently. Miranda demands nearly impossible tasks of Andrea.

While she faces these challenges, she uses kindness to her advantage. This is especially

important when managing conflicts. As Miranda’s assistant she faces numerous conflicts

throughout the film. For example, Miranda’s number one assistant, Emily, is not friendly to

Andrea. However, despite her rude comments and behavior, Andrea approaches her duties with

kindness, allowing her to complete the tasks Emily delegates to her. Her ability to manage

conflict is one of her most important leadership techniques. This is also apparent in how she uses

her network to accomplish the tasks Miranda asks of her that are nearly impossible. Miranda asks
3

her to get a copy of an unreleased book of the Harry Potter series. She contacts someone she met

at a party to help her get the manuscript. Her kindness and lack of fear for asking for help allows

her to manage this conflict and deliver the manuscript.

Another leadership tactic Andrea demonstrates is having a drive for results. Despite being

discouraged throughout the film, she stops at nothing to fulfill Miranda’s requests and do her job.

She prioritizes striving for results. This can sometimes be to her demise like in her personal life.

She puts getting results for her job above her relationships with her boyfriend and friends. While

this negatively impacts her personal life, it is how she performs so well in the workplace. Her

leadership is extremely apparent in her persistence and perseverance. She does what she needs to

do to do well at work.

Lastly, the character Emily, Miranda’s number one assistant, shows leadership qualities

as well. This is evident from the beginning of the film, especially in her ability to delegate

responsibility. Part of being a good leader is being able to delegate. One person cannot handle

doing everything. However, sometimes it is difficult to trust others with tasks that need to be

completed well. Emily does not struggle with delegating. From the start of Andrea’s job as

assistant number two, Emily clearly splits up their responsibilities. For instance, she delegates

the task of getting coffee to Andrea. Delegating makes Emily a very effective leader to Andrea.

Additionally, Emily is very good at reacting to her work environment. Working for

Miranda is no easy feat. She is constantly changing her mind about what she wants done and

how she wants it accomplished. By being flexible, Emily is efficient in mitigating conflict. She

quickly adapts to Miranda’s demands and then instructs Andrea on what to do next. Her

flexibility allows her to not only do a good job as Miranda’s assistant, but also to be a good

leader for Andrea. Another leadership quality she demonstrates is her time management skills
4

which are important for any leader. Miranda does not put up with missed phone calls. Emily tells

Andrea that she is leaving for her twenty minute lunch and then when she gets back Andrea can

leave for her fifteen minute lunch. This makes her time management skills evident. They are still

able to eat lunch but someone will always be there to answer phone calls.

In conclusion, the movie, The Devil Wears Prada, showcases a variety of leadership

styles and techniques. While they are different, they are effective. Overall, the film is a great

representation of how leadership can look different but still be effective.