Handbook of Principles of Organizational Behavior - Soltanieh ...

216 JAY A. CONGER AND CRAIG L. PEARCE
◆ What are the effects of specific leader behaviors on followers, and do the effects differ
by follower?
◆ What is the importance of background factors, such as the norms in place in the
institution or the role of other infl uential individuals to the process?
◆ How does leadership come to be shared and how do the roles transition between
various characters?
◆ How can empowerment go awry if followers do not have sufficient skills to make
sound judgment, and how can you attempt to prevent this from happening?
◆ How do we apply the principles we have been discussing to organizations?
Film description. The fi lm Dead Poets Society is set at a private school – the Welton Academy
for boys. During their first class with their English teacher, Mr. Keating, the boys are taken
out into the hallway where he tells them they are bright individuals, with the power to
choose their own path – to essentially become self - leaders. This is in stark contrast to the
teaching norms at the academy. As such, Mr. Keating clearly demonstrates empowering
leader behavior. As the movie progresses, we steadily see the boys take on this newfound
empowerment and become effective self - leaders.
One day, one of the boys finds an old yearbook with Mr. Keating in it, where
Mr. Keating listed the Dead Poets Society (DPS) as one of his important school activities.
When questioned about it, Mr. Keating replies that the DPS was dedicated to fi nding
meaning, that the members would sit in a cave near a pond and recite poetry. Subsequently,
the boys decide to start up the DPS once again, ultimately demonstrating effective shared
leadership in the process.
Unfortunately, we also get to witness empowerment gone awry, when the boys abuse
their empowerment and begin drinking, smoking, going to parties, and otherwise running
amok. Upon finding out about this, Mr. Keating counsels the boys to be wise, not foolish,
with their empowerment.
In a plot twist, Mr. Keating is inappropriately made a scapegoat when one of the boys
commits suicide, and he is terminated from his position. When Mr. Keating enters the classroom
for the final time, several of the boys stand on their desks and call him O Captain!,
My Captain!, as a way of demonstrating their sincere appreciation for how he empowered
them to grow and expand their lives. The final message of the film is that people should
think for themselves and be capable self - leaders, while empowering others in like kind.