The Walking Dead Leadership Essay

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Effective leadership is an important skill in today’s society due to numerous organisations that shape the way we live, work and play. Since different people have different personalities, it is hard to define what makes the best leaders. The Walking Dead, by Robert Kirkman, is a famous zombie series that present leadership in different forms. It is about Rick, who wakes up from a coma and finds out about zombie apocalypse. When he meets Morgan and Duane, he hears what has happened, so he sets out to Atlanta to find his missing wife and son. When he arrives at Atlanta, he encounters survivors. He gradually takes on the role of leader among a group and later, a community. There are several traits that make him as a leader, and among them, three styles catch my attention because those leadership styles are also found in institutions in today 's society. First, Rick knows the importance of people around him, including friends and families. Like Rick, great leaders cannot survive without a healthy network because those people are the ones who can stay next to them and support the leaders till the end. For example, when Morgan and Duane help Rick, he pays them back by giving them guns and a safe car. “... I’m just doing my job. I can’t think of a better way to protect and serve under the circumstances” Even though he can take their help for granted, he doesn’t ignore them and tries to help them by giving essential needs to survive. This type of leadership is similar to today’s affiliative CEOs, who are masters at establishing positive relationships. Often the employees like their CEO, so they are very loyal, and have high trust. The CEO also helps to keep every employees on the track with frequent praises and feedbacks. This creates a harmony within the group, therefore, the company often shows the best performance with best result. By recognizing the significance of every single person and not neglecting anyone, Rick creates a positive relationship among the survivors and makes them to follow him as a leader. Secondly, when disagreements happens, Rick believes in himself and leads to right decisions. …show more content…
Disagreements always happen within a group and there is someone who doesn 't agree with leader’s decisions. Everytime Rick encounters this situation, he not only treats them all with respect but also lead them in the ways they need to be led. He uses techniques like competing, avoiding, controlling and collaborating very appropriately. Among those, he uses controlling the most. For example some people in the camp are against the shooting gun lessons, including his wife Lori. However, Rick believes it is essential to show his son how to shoot. This eventually saves Lori and his son’s life when there is a sudden zombie invasion. This style of leadership is similar to the classic military style of leadership, which is commanding. Often, those leaders give clear direction with powerful stance, without each opinions needed. But the difference is that he includes praises and criticisms which makes the commandment to be more effective. Also, Rick does not punish people when they don’t agree with him. Due to an urgent situation that had no time to discuss, a turnaround is needed, so Rick’s commanding technique suites very well as a leader. Thirdly, Rick pushes himself to his limit. There are times when people think they

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