Leadership: To Kill a Mockingbird

This essay examines leadership in Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' focusing primarily on Atticus Finch's leadership style and its impact. It identifies Atticus's followers (his children, Jem and Scout, and Tom Robinson) and analyzes their behaviors. The essay details Atticus's leadership characteristics, including righteousness, empathy, leading by example, risk-taking, sharp perception, determination, and respect. His leadership style is categorized as a blend of visionary, charismatic, and empathetic approaches. The essay then applies these leadership qualities and styles to a workplace scenario, specifically a medical sales manager's role. Finally, it concludes by contrasting the idealized portrayal of Atticus's leadership in the movie with the complexities of real-life leadership, acknowledging that the perfect leader depicted in the film may not exist in reality due to the complexities of human nature and the demands of modern life. The essay includes numerous references to support its analysis.

LEADERSHIP: TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD
INTRODUCTION
“Leadership is a practical skill to lead the individuals or team. This involves establishment of
clear vision and sharing the same vision with other members of the team and also provide them with
proper information, method and knowledge. Leadership is an important process which gives
influence and direction to others. (you put this paragraph as direct quote in the beginning using the
textbook, now u remove the author totally, pls explain your integrity)
The leader of a team focuses on all needed things which are required to accomplish the goal
and also influence other members to put in effort to achieve the organization objective (Bosma,
2007). Many aspects of leadership have been involved in the movie, “To Kill a Mockingbird”. This
movie deals with the serious issues of racial inequality, rape and leadership practices. The
description of characters is defined below. But this paper will only deal with leadership practices.
In “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Atticus plays the role of the leader. In relation to the characters, the
report has mainly focuses on identifying the main leaders as well as his followers. Other than the
above main focus, emphasis has also been given on is addressing the traits possessed by the
followers’ behaviours as well as the leaders. The leadership style will also be evaluated and
comments will be made on their effectiveness. Then the leadership/follower traits as well as
qualities will be applied on workplace scenario of medical sales executive who is providing services
to clinics doctors. The report at the end will conclude with differentiating between show and
reality.
LEADERSHIP IN MOVIE “TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD”
The team leader mainly focuses on all things which are required to accomplish the goals and
also influence other team members to put the effort to achieve the organization objectives. In the
movie, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Atticus possesses qualities such as moral, strong, courageous.
Since he is a lawyer, he holds a prominent place in the community. He stood in defence of Tom
Robinson, an African American. He stood for what is right on a moral ground and also takes a stand
to defend Tom, who is a black man. The fight put his life as well as that of his children in danger

but still he did not move away from his principles. These principles can be considered as part of
leadership. Atticus failed in the fight for the equality of African Americans because he had no one to
support him in the battle of racism except his son and daughter. He also single-handedly stood
against the legal system for Tom who did not commit any crime. He single-handedly fought for
what he thought was right, hence he is a leader (Schein, 2010).
FOLLOWERS IDENTIFIED IN THIS MOVIE AS WELL AS THEIR BEHAVIOUR
In the movie, the followers of Atticus are his own children, Scout and Jem as well as the
convict, Tom. Scout is the girl who is the narrator in the movie. She is an intelligent tomboy. Scout
is violent but believes in the goodness of people. Jem is Scout’s brother who is a typical American
boy. Jem has acted as a close companion and protector of Scout throughout the movie. Tom is the
follower as Atticus represented himself as his lawyer. Tom is a black man accused of rape. He is an
important symbol of innocence that has been destroyed by evil of racism.
These characters are the true followers of Atticus which has been clearly identified by their
roles and behaviour. They follow all the instructions of Atticus and also are against racism
(Champoux, 2010).
They further stood in support of their leader cum father during hard times. A follower possesses
an important trait of being able to communicate as well as understand the leader. The same trait is
shown by Jem and Scout.
Atticus is a white American but still had a concern for Tom. This act of Atticus really touched
Tom.
CHARACTERISTICS DISPLAYED BY ATTICUS AS A LEADER WITH EVIDENCE
This theory was defined in the 1930s. The theory argues that a leader should possess a set of
well-defined attributes and traits to be an effective leader. In the movie, Atticus has shown the many
characteristics and traits of an effective leader such as integrity, determination, risk taker, decision
making and righteousness (Bush, 2011). These are further described in detail in the below
mentioned paragraphs.
 A leader must be righteous in his virtues – Every leader is required to have one important
trait of being righteous (Gardner and Laskin, 2011). He should have the quality of
supporting what is right and what is wrong. Atticus proved himself as a leader in this area
of being righteous. Atticus has been serving the community as a lawyer and has been equal
to all races. This quality is the reason he took the rape case of Tom and tried to stand for him
till the end. He also made an attempt to influence the minds of the younger generation about
the concept of what was right on racism.
 Effective leaders are empathetic – Atticus was an empathetic leader. It is shown in the

following scenes. Atticus once said during the movie at 02:02:22 that you can never really
understand a person until you climb into his skin and take a walk around. Another incident
to prove the empathy of Atticus is found in 01:45:46 when Bob Ewell spat on Atticus’s face
after the trial.
 Effective leaders lead by example- Atticus single-handedly handled the children. He taught
his children how to differentiate between right and wrong. He set his own personal example
in this scenario, and also gave enough independence to Jem and Scout to make their own
decisions (Chhokar and et.all., 2013). However, Atticus warned the children whenever he
felt that they were going too far in their games and excursions. It was because of these
qualities that Atticus was able to gain respect from his children.
 Atticus has this virtue as a leader. This is because he took on Tom’s case which nobody else
wanted to take. Miss Maudie, one of the movie characters even told Jem in 01:40:31 that
there are some men who are born to do unpleasant jobs, and that his father was one of them.
Doing the undesirable jobs is an important virtue of a leader so as to earn respect. This is
clear as Atticus received many taunts and threats for doing the job of representing Tom in
the court but he still did it
 A leader should be Sharp- People already judged Tom as a criminal but Atticus was the only
one who perceived that Tom was innocent. The quality of sharp perception was in Atticus
(Gopee and Galloway, 2013).
 A great leader is courageous- Atticus was also taking the risk of defending the black man
and for doing this he put his family at risk. A great leader always takes the right risks at the
right time (Kouzes and Posner, 2006). Atticus shows the physical courage in this story. He
possessed the moral courage which includes the strength to stick with Tom and do the right
thing, even when everyone else were disagreeing. This is a quality of a good leader.
 Determination is an essential virtue of a leader– Atticus was determined to put in all his
efforts to defend Tom. Nobody wanted to defend a black man but Atticus took a stand and
also was determined to do it. This is a quality of leader who knows that the right thing has to
be done (Kouzes and Posner, 2006).
 Respect – Respect is that trait of a leader that is earned by being a good person or doing
soothing highly admirable. In this regard, Atticus was worthy of respect. This is as all the
citizens of Maycomb looked to Atticus and saw him as a respectable person. He further
earned the respect of his children by being a caring and loving father. Moreover, he was the
only member of Maycomb who defended a Negro (Gardner and Laskin, 2011). He thus
displayed respect in the eyes of other people. Atticus further taught his children as to how
they can pay respect to other people. For example, Scout first learned to respect Atticus then

Boo and finally she started respecting the entire Negro race.
 Atticus is further a great leader of his family who taught his children with the virtue of
morals and life lessons. He made them better persons by showing them how to deal with
trial. He further showed them the qualities of true outrage by standing up for what he
believed in. He made them realize that despite the race every Negro deserves respect
(Holden and et.al., 2015). He even said once that you can never understand a person until
and unless you climb in their own skin and walk around it. This quote clearly denoted that
Atticus really wanted to get along with the people so that other people can respect them for
who they are.
With the help of all these leadership qualities, Atticus shows that a single person has the ability
to make a huge difference. He developed the opportunity for Tom to have a choice for his
judgement. He worked and stood up quietly for the right thing at the right time when it was needed
(Champoux, 2010).
LEADERSHIP STYLES IN MOVIE
In above context the leadership traits and characteristics of Atticus are demonstrated. In this
movie, the leadership style possessed by Atticus is a mixture of many. The movie portrays Atticus
as a Charismatic as well as a Visionary leader. The leadership styles of Atticus have been stated
below:
 Visionary leader – As a leader, Atticus had a vision to help the Tom. No other character in
the film had the courage like Atticus to be so clear about his principles and vision. He was
the only one who took a stand and tries hard to defend Tom, who was an African American
(Reynolds, 2012). He was willing to make himself exposed and vulnerable. He had a clear
vision for his children. He told Jem that he wanted to make him realize what real courage
was. It is not about getting a man with a gun in hand. It was about lead with courage for
right things. (Originally use as Theiss, D., 2012. LibGuides. MG4940: Business Leadership
Strategy Policy, Ethics. Works Cite) now u change the author totally, pls explain your
integrity as Theiss is not a mocking bird references
 You rarely win such cases but you sometimes do. He wanted his children to be well
educated and have their own morals and beliefs. The goal of this visionary style is to move
the people towards a new direction and same thing has been done by Atticus in this movie.
This action of Atticus to defend black person also influenced many people to take a stand
against racism (Bosma, 2007). Atticus, as a visionary leader was able to share his views and
decisions for the future and also allows many followers to understand the motive behind the
views and decisions.

 Charismatic leader – Atticus has shown traits of being a charismatic leader as he was able to
attract his followers, Scout and Jem on the basis of his charm and personality. He is a father
but well trained and well groomed his kids in such a manner that they were often awed by
his presence (Selznick, 2011). Just like a Charismatic leader, Atticus was able to encourage
the feeling of commitment and devotions in his followers. He makes good decisions and has
leading qualities because he made the decision to defend Tom even though many people
were creating trouble for him in many ways. His leadership behaviour influences his
followers to make the right decision and positively accomplish them by putting in all their
efforts. He had a trustworthy relationship with all his followers and this is the unique quality
of a leader (Bosma, 2007). Taking the inspiration from Atticus, in 01:50:41 his son Jem
neglects his own safety and told Scout to run away. In this way, Jem tries to save his sister
Scout.
 Empathetic – The movie being to kill a mocking bird has brought in several areas of
empathy in case of Atticus. The character has thus made an attempt to teach the skill of
empathy to his children being Jem and Scout by setting several examples for them
(Champoux, 2010). It has further been found out that managers with a socialized power
orientation are more emotionally mature. They use it for the benefit of others, are hesitant
about using power in manipulative manner (Yuki, 2010, p.149). (which page of your
textbook you refer?)Harper Lee, where is the reference on your last page as you quote this
author?
As a leader, Atticus displayed empathetic style of leadership. He once said if you can learn a
simple trick then you can easily get along with well. In the same way, when Walter Cunningham Sr.,
made an attempt to hang Atticus for defending Tom then he said that Mr Cunningham is a good
man. But he just has a presence of blind spots. He has hurt me a little but son you will understand
the folks a little better once you get older. During the trial, there was further a trial when Bob spit on
Atticus face. In 1:39:27 even after the trial Atticus looked concerned for Bob. He was very much
affected when he knew about his death and was eager to inform his family about the same.
He had a desire to take it out on someone. Better it is me rather than the houseful of other
children (Reynolds, 2012). Hence the need is just to hold the head high and act like a gentleman.
Atticus further teaches his children about empathy that it should nor be limited to a few people who
seems nice from the outside. Atticus has been telling the kids to use there imagination and to feel
what others feel before a judgement is made. He instils the same in there brain so that they can fight
with the issue of racism.
HOW CAN IT BE APPLY TO THE WORKPLACE

The leadership qualities as well as the styles followed by Atticus can be applied in my
position as a sales manager in a medical sales company who provides services to doctors in clinics.
The manager can act as a leader here. Just like Atticus, the manager is required to be righteous in
his virtues. I must treat all sales staff fairly and with equality. The employee should be rewarded or
promoted slowly based on their work rather than on any friendly relations or favourance for caste,
colour etc. In the same way, the manager must do jobs no one else wants to do. I should not mind
rolling my sleeves up for a tough task (Kouzes and Posner, 2006).
It can be handling a difficult client on behalf of the medical sales executive or even helping
an employee out with his personal issues. In this way the manager can set examples for all just like
Atticus. Then only the manger can attract good as well as trustworthy followers (Champoux, 2010).
The manager for medical sales is required to be courageous in terms of intellectual and morals. In
the same way, intellectual strength was also possessed by Atticus. He once said to hold your heads
up high and keep the fists down. Don’t let anyone take your goat no matter what is said by anyone.
You should always try to fight with your head for a change (Bosma, 2007). The same is expected
from the manager whenever there is a presence of intense change within the company. It may be
with respect to downsizing or even technological change. In a bad situation, the manager must try to
boost the morale of all the medical sales executives as and when the need arises.
SHOW VS REALITY
From the report on the movie it can be concluded that Atticus was a great leader with
exceptional qualities. He also had a presence of followers, Scott and Jem who were his own
children as well as Tom who was a convict in a rape case. Atticus had a presence of many
leadership qualities such as courage, righteousness, sharp perception, a risk taker, determined,
honest, and trustworthy as well as a leader who does jobs that no one wants to do (Selznick, 2011).
It was on account of these virtues that he was able to make a mark in the minds of his followers as
well as the people who were close to him. He even impressed the audiences who saw the movie.
The character thrilled the audiences and made them think about him even after the film ended.
Atticus was thus able to display a good character and was shown to possess all qualities of a great
leader. But the same qualities as well as a perfect character as depicted by Atticus may not exist in
reality. This is life and its truths are far more complex. The same applies to the human mind which
has its own set of complexities. For example, as per the movie backdrop, Atticus was portrayed as
an extremely good parent as well as a lawyer. But in reality, it may not be possible for a single
parent to fulfil all the duties towards the children and be good in one’s own profession as well. This
could be a reality in the 1960’s. But applying the same qualities may be difficult in the present
times. This is on account of increased duties and difference in prevailing mind-sets.

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