Leadership Lessons from the Movie Glory (1989)
This paper analyzes the leadership of Colonel Robert Shaw as depicted in the 1989 film Glory, directed by Edward Zwick. Using six guiding questions, the paper evaluates which supervisory techniques Shaw employed effectively — such as advocating for equal treatment of his Black soldiers — and which fell short, most notably his failure to prevent the flogging of Trip, a former slave. The paper also explores how high-stress environments like war, emergency rooms, and prisons fundamentally alter supervisory demands, why cookie-cutter management approaches can be dangerous, and which leadership trait — resolve — the author most closely identifies with personally.
- Introduction: Overview of six leadership questions examined through Glory
- Effective and Ineffective Leadership Techniques in Glory: Shaw's strong and weak supervisory decisions analyzed
- How High-Stress Environments Change Supervisory Behavior: Wartime and emergency settings reshape leadership demands
- The Dangers of Cookie-Cutter Leadership: Why rigid, uniform solutions to problems often backfire
- Conclusion: Glory's outcome and lasting leadership lessons
✍️ How to write this paper — guide, tools & examples ▾
What makes this paper effective
- It grounds abstract leadership principles in specific, identifiable scenes from the film, making the analysis concrete and traceable.
- The fire extinguisher analogy is a well-chosen illustrative example that clearly communicates the danger of rigid, one-size-fits-all problem-solving.
- The paper moves logically from descriptive analysis (what happened) to prescriptive critique (what should have happened), demonstrating basic evaluative thinking.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied critical analysis — taking a theoretical concept (leadership effectiveness) and testing it against observed behavior in a narrative source. By identifying a scene where Shaw's leadership fails and proposing an alternative course of action, the author shows the ability to evaluate practice against principle, a core skill in applied leadership coursework.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a brief framing introduction that previews each of the six questions to be addressed. A single extended analysis section works through effective leadership, ineffective leadership, a suggested alternative, high-stress supervisory dynamics, and the cookie-cutter problem in sequence. A short conclusion ties the film's outcome back to real-world leadership lessons. The structure is lean and prompt-driven, suited to a short undergraduate response paper.
Introduction
This paper examines Colonel Robert Shaw's leadership as depicted in the 1989 film Glory, directed by Edward Zwick. Six guiding questions shape the analysis: which supervisory techniques in the film were effective; which were not effective; how a supervisor could or should have acted differently in a specific scene; how a wartime or emergency environment fundamentally shifts supervisory performance; which leadership trait the author most personally identifies with; and how relying on a rigid "textbook" technique can lead to failure and how that manifests in Glory. Leadership is rarely straightforward, and stressful situations combined with one-size-fits-all thinking can create serious problems for any supervisor.
Effective and Ineffective Leadership Techniques in Glory
One method Shaw used effectively in the film was fighting for his Black soldiers' right to receive the same socks and shoes issued to white soldiers. Withholding available, necessary equipment from one group of soldiers is neither logical nor ethical, and Shaw refused to accept it. This kind of advocacy — standing up for the basic needs and dignity of those under his command — represents strong, principled leadership.
However, Shaw clearly fell short of the leadership standard in the scene where he permitted the flogging of Trip, a former slave who had gone absent without leave (AWOL). While disciplining soldiers for going AWOL may have been standard military practice at the time, administering a flogging to a former slave carries devastating symbolic weight. The optics are damaging, and the effect on the morale and trust of the other Black soldiers in the regiment would have been deeply corrosive. As depicted in the film, this moment represents a critical missed opportunity for Shaw to lead with both discipline and cultural awareness.
This is the precise scene where a different approach was warranted. Punishing a soldier for going AWOL is not unreasonable — but the form of punishment matters enormously given the historical context. It is not difficult to understand why a Black man living in Civil War-era America might be deeply hesitant about fighting alongside, or against, many of the same white men who owned slaves or condoned the practice. Shaw would have been wiser to substitute an alternative punishment — such as confinement to the brig — rather than a physical beating that could easily be associated with the treatment slaves endured at the hands of their owners (Zwick, 1989).
Conclusion
Glory does not end in triumph: the soldiers at the center of the film fail in their assault on the fort. Yet their capacity to work together across profound differences — racial, historical, and personal — is remarkable, and it reflects a reality of the Civil War in which many Black soldiers did fight alongside Union forces. The tensions, distrust, and leadership struggles depicted in the film are entirely believable. While filmmakers inevitably take some creative license, the core lessons about leadership under pressure and the importance of doing the right thing in difficult moments are universally recognizable. Whether on a battlefield or in an everyday professional setting, the challenges of effective supervision do not fundamentally change.
References
Ryan, L. (2006, January 12). Stamping out cookie-cutter managers. Bloomberg BusinessWeek.
Zwick, E. (Director). (1989). Glory [Motion picture]. United States: TriStar.
Always verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.