This essay examines leadership and managerial theory as demonstrated by Hawkeye in the 1992 film adaptation of The Last of the Mohicans. Drawing on the Path-Goal Theory, the Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory, and French and Raven's Five Bases of Social Power, the paper analyzes how Hawkeye adapts his behavior to his followers' needs, categorizes members into in-group and out-group relationships, and exercises referent and expert power in the absence of formal authority. The essay also considers the limits of Hawkeye's leadership effectiveness given the unpredictable antagonism of Magua throughout the film.
In the 1992 adaptation of The Last of the Mohicans, Hawkeye — played by Daniel Day-Lewis — is forced to become a leader as he attempts to provide safe passage for Alice and Cora Munro, the daughters of Colonel Edmund Munro, a British officer during the Seven Years' War, and Major Duncan Heyward, who was originally tasked with escorting the sisters to safety.
Two of the theories that can be applied to Hawkeye's leadership and managerial style are the Path-Goal Theory and the Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory. Moreover, aspects of French and Raven's Five Bases of Power can also be attributed to Hawkeye's successes and failures as a leader.
The Path-Goal Theory maintains that followers' satisfaction, motivation, and performance are dependent on a leader's behavior. As such, the leader is required to adapt to his or her followers' needs, with such adaptations and behavioral modifications made for the purpose of fulfilling the team's goal.
In the film, Hawkeye must adapt himself to the needs of his English escorts. Because of contrasting backgrounds — colonials and Native Americans versus the English — Hawkeye must adapt to their need for safe passage and give up his own desires of heading West and avoiding involvement in a conflict between the French and Indians against the British, a conflict in which he has no personal stake. Hawkeye's willingness to adapt to the Munro sisters' needs contributes directly to the fulfillment of their goal — and Major Heyward's — of reaching Fort William Henry alive.
In addition to the Path-Goal Theory, Hawkeye also employs the Leader-Member Exchange Theory. Under this framework, a leader behaves differently with different followers, playing to their individual strengths and weaknesses. Through this process of individual analysis, followers are categorized into two distinct groups: the in-group, consisting of individuals who have demonstrated high levels of competence and trust, and the out-group, consisting of individuals who do not share traits or skills as highly valued by the leader.
In the film, in addition to Chingachgook and Uncas — whom Hawkeye trusts with his life — Cora Munro demonstrates traits such as trust and loyalty (evidenced by her defense of Hawkeye to her father) that bring her firmly into Hawkeye's in-group. On the other hand, Major Heyward's consistent passive-aggressive attitude toward Hawkeye's leadership places him in the out-group, where his combat experience and his continued mission to escort the Munro sisters to safety are among the only qualities that ally him to Hawkeye's cause.
"Hawkeye uses informal power without formal authority"
"Magua's self-motivated unpredictability limits leadership outcomes"
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