Recall- By the end of the movie Mike was grateful for his new life and opportunities presented in front of him. Even after his doubts of the Touhy's intentions for him, after he recalled their past generosities, he reconstructed his memory and what was truly meaningful for him. 2. The Blindside consisted of many conflicts for Mike. Whether it was cultural or gender, they would all relate back to interpersonal conflicts. A specific conflict would be his lack of self perception of his purpose for life. When Mike writes notes stating how dumb he is, and lacks motivation to find a home and chooses to sleep outside in the rain. Interpersonally, Mike was down in the dumps.
A relationship conflict could be directed towards his mother. Mikes mom was a drug addict who lost all concern for him; this really affected his overall interpersonal self-esteem. Cultural conflict would have been his immediate environment in the new white civilization. This affected Mike because he did not fit in socially, appearance wise, educationally, nor financially. Mike did not have a huge conflict with his gender, but when he began playing football, he had a hard time using his aggression that a male naturally possesses. Mike was far too gentile to succeed at football in his beginning stages. 3. All throughout the movie it was tough for Big Mike to exercise his verbal communication, making it difficult for his peers and new family to identify who he was, or what he could excel at. A specific time in the movie when his non-verbal communication spoke words was when Michael and S.J. get in a car crash. After the incident, while S.J. loves the attention from the EMT’s, Leigh Anne and Mike are having a talk about the accident, and the possible outcome. Mike keeps extremely quiet as Mrs. Touhy explains how lucky S.J. is that he did not receive more injuries, and how the airbag was prevented from injuring S.J. Because Mike does not show her his arm early in the conversation it leaves Leigh Anne in confusion. When he was asked what happened to his arm, he simply replied with “I stopped it”. When the verbal dialog was used, immediately Mrs. Touhy had realized his natural protective instinct. From there, Leigh Anne knew Mike had the best interest of the family and their well being. 4. Different styles of listening applied to The Blindside. Non-Judgmental- When Leigh Anne went to lunch with her friends they were negatively talking about Mike, and the social outcast perception he has brought to their family. Although, she didn’t appreciate their comments, she understands that what she is doing is against their social norms. She was also able to maintain a critical response to all of her friend’s evaluations. Surfacing and Depth- When Mikes teacher was in the teacher break room, they were all conjugating on how dumb Big Mike was. When his teacher decided to make a stand …show more content…
Styles of Leadership:
The Traits Approach- In reference to the traits approach for leadership, in my eyes, S.J. demonstrated great leadership abilities to Mike. When Mike was lost and confused in the beginning of the movie, instead of shying away, S.J. talked to him and showed in the proper way to act, talk, and even dress. When Mike started to play football, he understood the need to address Mike’s physical shape and demanded that he began to train properly.
The Functional Approach- Mike’s football coach tried to coach Mike the same as every other player without understanding that Mike was unique and needed to be approached and taught in a different manner. When Mike was struggling understanding the concept of the game, the coach figured he was useless, but if he had taken another approach he would have understood earlier how much of an impact Mike could have.
The Transformational Approach- The Blindside was based off Mrs. Touty ability to transform Mike from outcast to future role model. Every action she took was beneficial to Mike, whether it being coaching, offering tutoring, or providing housing- all had an effect on Mike’s self awareness and