Movies are a great way to learn about leadership. And not many movies can compete with the Princess Bride (Reiner, 1987) when it comes to learning leadership. Let’s take a look at how leadership is demonstrated in each of the characters, based on the work of Komives, Lucas, and McMahon (2013): in Table 8.2: Examples of Common Roles in Groups (Komives et al., 2013, 323-324). These roles are as follows: “Information Seeker, Opinion Seeker, Opinion Giver, Summarizer, Clarifier, Gatekeeper, Encourager, Mediator, and Follower.” (Komives et al., 2013, 323-324; explanations of these roles may also be found there.) All of these roles are excellently displayed within the movie, most of them many times throughout. First, the dashing Westley is a born
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In all their dealings with one another, it is evident that “leadership has to do with relationships… [It] is inherently a relational, communal process.” (Komives et al. 2013, 94) And the movie itself as a whole very cleverly frames leadership. Perhaps one underlying theme of the whole movie is that any time two or more people are together and communicating, they form a group that will need to display a multiplicity of the “common roles in groups” as shown in Table 8.2. (Komives et al., 2013, 323-324) Difficult though it may be to believe, when Inigo Montoya and Count Rugen finally met, even though they had their differences, they had still formed a group, and they still demonstrated certain group-building roles, such as Summarizer and Opinion Giver (although it is this author’s personal belief that their collaboration might have been more successful had a Mediator been present.) Without these group-building roles, however, any attempts at communication would have proved futile, and any common goals would have been next to impossible to attain. Clearly, then, the Princess Bride may serve as an admirable object-lesson for those aspiring leaders eager to expand their
In all their dealings with one another, it is evident that “leadership has to do with relationships… [It] is inherently a relational, communal process.” (Komives et al. 2013, 94) And the movie itself as a whole very cleverly frames leadership. Perhaps one underlying theme of the whole movie is that any time two or more people are together and communicating, they form a group that will need to display a multiplicity of the “common roles in groups” as shown in Table 8.2. (Komives et al., 2013, 323-324) Difficult though it may be to believe, when Inigo Montoya and Count Rugen finally met, even though they had their differences, they had still formed a group, and they still demonstrated certain group-building roles, such as Summarizer and Opinion Giver (although it is this author’s personal belief that their collaboration might have been more successful had a Mediator been present.) Without these group-building roles, however, any attempts at communication would have proved futile, and any common goals would have been next to impossible to attain. Clearly, then, the Princess Bride may serve as an admirable object-lesson for those aspiring leaders eager to expand their