Transformational leadership and Aristotelian virtue ethics in film

Leadership requires a “paradoxical combination of traits,” (Kodish, 2006, p. 451). Davies (Henry Fonda) and John Keating (Robin Williams) exhibit a panoply of personality traits that turn them into transformational leaders. Transformational leadership theories focus on the ability and willingness of the leader to intrinsically motivate others, often “through their inspirational nature and charismatic personalities,” (“Leadership Theories,” n.d.). Leadership is not about wielding power or authority, even legitimate authority. Similarly, leadership is not about the perfection of specific qualities, as trait theory would suggest. Rather, Twelve Angry Men and Dead Poets Society demonstrate the efficacy of transformational leadership. These two films also exemplify the fundamental features of Aristotle’s virtue ethics, as well as the Greek philosopher’s emphasis on rhetoric as the cornerstone of effective persuasion. To be effective, transformational leadership requires the application of rhetoric to inspire others to change or take action. In Twelve Angry Men, Davies has a difficult job—far more difficult in fact than Keating has in Dead Poets Society. Davies has to convince a group of otherwise lackluster and uninspired citizens—“freemen” as Aristotle might call them (Cawthon, 2001)—to think deeply and critically about their role and power as jurors. All the jurors except for Davis presume the defendant is guilty based on their biases and assumptions. Therefore, one of the keynotes of effective leadership is using reason instead of relying on emotional cues alone. All rhetoric will ultimately combine pathos, ethos, and logos, fusing logic and emotional appeals within an overarching framework of ethical credibility. Thus, Davies reflects Aristotle’s “teleological, ethical, and action-oriented view of the world” informs leadership (Kodish, 2006, p. 451). Davies uses reason to convince the jurors to take their jobs more seriously, to take pride in their work as citizens, and to cultivate a sense of moral virtue. For Aristotle, the transformational leader exemplifies the judicious application of reason in the service of virtue. “The irrational must be directed by the rational,” (Cawthon, 2001, p. 3). Without Davies, the jurors would have leapt to a conclusion without applying any reason, evading the moral imperative to always do what it in the common good. Aristotle’s leadership model is not based on self-aggrandizement or power, but on the sublimation of the personal for the collective good. Davies has to convince the eleven others on the panel that it is important to avoid selfishness, and that it is worth acting in a virtuous manner. Like Aristotle, Davies believes in “moral virtues of courage, temperance, and self-respect,” (Cawthon, 2001, p. 3). However, transformational leadership is not just about the application of rhetoric to inspire audiences to cultivate personal moral virtue in service of the common good. In keeping with the overall knowledge that leadership is “paradoxical combination of traits,” Keating demonstrates a different type of rhetorical strategy and a different mode of applying Aristotelian virtues (Kodish, 2006, p. 451). For Keating, Aristotle’s virtue ethics are focused more on the “intellectual virtues of art, scientific knowledge, practical wisdom, philosophic wisdom, or intuitive reason,” than on the moral virtues that Davies depicts (Cawthon, 2001, p. 3). Keating and Davies ultimately converge in their agreement that the good life is one that is inherently virtuous because it exemplifies the human impetus towards happiness. “It is the nature of humans to be happy, and it is toward happiness that each of us strives” (Cawthon, 2001, p. 2). Happiness means different things for different actors; for the jurors, the happiness must come from their being internally motivated to do the right thing: to apply reason towards the analysis of the facts of the case. Happiness for the students in Dead Poets Society comes from their being motivated to learn for the sake of knowledge and not to become intellectual sheep. In fact, both Twelve Angry Men and Dead Poets Society show how a transformational leader must inspire others to eschew mob mentality. Both Davies and Keating cannot just lead through example. They must both use rhetoric as a major tool or strategy in their transformational leadership model. Aristotle pointed out that “ even those who just try to establish what is just and true need the help of rhetoric when they are faced with a public audience,” (Rapp, 2010, p. 1). Understanding human nature as it is, Aristotle also noted the tendency for audiences to act selfishly or disregard the truth to fit their preconceived cognitive schemas. Conformity is a major hindrance to progress in both of these films, and pressure to conform coupled with an unwillingness to change is the inertia that Keating and Davis fight against. “An audience can easily be distracted by factors that do not pertain to the subject at all; sometimes they are receptive to flattery or just try to increase their own advantage,” (Rapp 2010, p. 1). The jurors are distracted by their impatience, by their desire to get the trial over with and go home. Their personal lives are distractions because they have yet to learn how to act unselfishly in the service of the public good. They have yet to learn the value of courage in standing up for justice, or the value of tempering selfish needs with the needs to create a more just society. The students of the Welton Academy are distracted by similarly selfish needs, the fear of undermining the authority figures that have for so long serves as de facto “big man” type leaders in their lives. Transformational leadership theory completely undermines the outmoded concept of “big man” theories of leadership, showing that ordinary people like Keating can lead to deeper and more meaningful societal changes (“Leadership Theories,” n.d.). Both Keating and Davies want to effect deeper and more profound changes than simply accomplishing one specific goal. Rhetoric is the most effective means to achieve their goals of transforming the ways their audiences think, feel, and act. Transformational leaders are driven by the desire to change society by inspiring individuals to think differently. Creating a paradigm shift is the essence of transformational leadership, as it is conceptualized in Twelve Angry Men and Dead Poets Society. Both Davies and Keating focus on the underlying factors that motivate human beings to change. Those factors only superficially include self-interest. Davies and Keating know that no transformational leader can truly inspire change by appealing to self-interest. Within the framework of virtue ethics, a transformational leader can only inspire change by appealing to broader ethical goals. As idealistic as it seems, transformational leadership and Aristotelian virtues are grounded in realism (Cawthon, 2001). Aristotle knew that no person can simply change via the application of brute force or through contemplating abstract philosophical concepts. Davies and Keating have to use concrete examples in their rhetorical strategies to appeal to their audiences. They need to use metaphors to ground their goals in personalized consent made meaningful to each member of their respective group. A transformation leader needs to show why something is important, not just what is important. Doing far more than delegating authority, a transformational leader helps other people to dig deep to cultivate the desire to be a better human being. The fundamental elements of transformational leadership include a moral foundation, ethical values, and the use of rhetoric to appeal to audience higher order needs. Linked also with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, transformational leadership deconstructs human motivation to show that people can be inspired to take action to create a better world. Transformational leaders like Davies and Keating guide individuals and groups to discover their own moral purpose, motivated by higher virtues and ethics, empowered by the knowledge that their actions can have a direct impact on the lives of others.