Analysis of Leadership in the Film “Into the Wild”
Introduction
It is difficult to define leadership. There are multiple opinions regarding this topic. Some experts think it is an innate ability of a person to lead; the others insist that there is no such thing as a natural born leader, as every individual has a potential for leadership. These are diametrically opposite views towards leadership, yet both of them have important points. Those who claim leaders are born, emphasize the significance of their relationship with family and resources available in the early age. The opposite view focuses on the training, learning, and the ability of a person to stay motivated. Overall, there are endless tips, advices, and recommendations how to become a leader, why it is essential, and what a person has to do to reach this goal. However, it is impossible to name one particular factor or set of personal features that can create the most exceptional leader. The main reason for this is the complexity of the concept of leadership. Leaders can be task- or people-oriented, be resourceful or technically intelligent, effective communicators or particularly ambitious, or even combine all these features together.
The main issue here is that there is also no magic potion or a spell that can make a person successful in leadership, as well as there is no formula of success for how to become an ideal leader. Some of them prefer to use authoritarian style, the others apply laissez-faire framework, and some are the advocates of transformational leadership. Each of them can be productive in leading, the others can fail using the most sufficient tools in leading. Despite tons of literature proposing their own vision of how to become effective leader, there is no consensus between the scholars regarding this topic. At the same time, in the last several years, researchers concentrate their attention on the transformations, guidance, and the importance of followers in the successful leadership. It was admitted that it takes a huge amount of work and exceptional self-determination to attain aims beyond the limits while innovating and challenging the world as a leader.
Simultaneously, some patterns, traits, and specificities of personality possessed by successful leaders can serve as an effective example for analyzing this topic. The cases of successful leadership can be observed in life as well as in motion pictures. Movies serve as a useful tool in learning about new skills by showing the patterns of behavior of successful people in their areas of work. It was considered that “Into the Wild” by Sean Penn serves as one of the useful cases of leadership skills, as the emotional and intellectual development of the protagonist puts him in the position of an excellent example of a potential leader, yet, the leader that was not able to live according to his potential.
Discussion
The motion picture directed by Sean Penn “Into the Wild” is based on the real-life story of Chris McCandless, who, despite his remarkable abilities and possibilities, escaped the life in a big city by travelling to the most remote areas. The story is remarkable due to the fact that McCandless wrote down all his thoughts, adventures, and encounters up to his tragic death in 24 years old. “This is the last communication you shall receive from me. I now walk out to live amongst the wild” (Krakuer 49). This was the last message from Chris McCandless, a man, who renounced the world and went “into the wild”. At the same time, McCandless was an achiever, particularly good communicator, and an intellectual, who could easily lead a large company.
It has to be noted that “Into the Wild” is not a conventional story of a leader when it is possible to see how the potential and skills brought individual to success. At the same time, it is believed that McCandless is a wild spirit that possessed excellent qualities of a leader, who is missing in the modern business environment. The crucial characteristic features that could have made him a true leader are absolute honesty, high moral values, industriousness, and particular resourcefulness. These qualities are particularly rare in the modern business environment, making such people as McCandless essential for the modern world. Yet, it is not a surprise that the protagonist chose to escape the wilderness of the modern world preferring the nature.
Analysis of Leadership in the Movie
Modern world is changing rapidly, the tendencies of urbanization and globalization became a motto of the contemporary society. Information has become particularly accessible and so as people. The popularity of the social networks and development of the IT made communication and interaction between people became a crucial characteristic of the business environment. After several resonating corporate scandals and economic downturn in 2008, it was decided that stronger ethical values and leadership are required in business. After all, it was decided that leaders have to execute strong moral values, comply with ethical standards, be able to guide the followers, and be resourceful. Also, in order to make the company adaptable, flexible, and innovative, the leaders have to obtain the same features enabling them to create special environment where people will be willing to transform and change. In “Into the Wild”, the main focus is in the corporate world, despite the fact that the protagonist is living in the wilderness.
The movie emphasized that people are rushing with the purpose not to lose the chance to live prosperous life and to be healthy, wealthy and popular. McCandless’ life was full of such people, from his school to his parents who both become successful in their careers. Yet, the main thing McCandless wanted is to be in control with his life, which reveals a true leader. When the viewer is getting to know the main character, it is easy to see that he wants to be noticed, to make something different. He is a strong person, as since the beginning of the story, McCandless makes decisions on his own, he is proud to make his own money, and to be independent. Despite that, the main character is particularly persuasive, which makes him powerful as a leader.
Sources of Power
The main hero has a personal power that enables him to persuade people. For example, he easily restores personal relationship between a couple making two people he barely knows to find a path to each other (Penn). Also, his personal relationship with Wayne Westerberg, his employer, serves as a good example of the possibility to persuade of the protagonist. He managed to affect Wayne, as he admitted that McCandless was particularly strong person who managed to live according to his beliefs no matter what (Penn). He appreciated people around him and had the ability to create friendly space around those he met during his journey.
For McCandless, freedom was the integral part of his life and he sincerely wanted to gain this kind of freedom by himself in the wild. At the same time, any society has its laws, morality and values it has to follow. Can a democratic society tolerate the rebellion act of Chris McCandless? With his action of protest he opposed himself to all laws and moral obligations towards his parents, friends, and the entire society.
Big 5 Model
Everyone at least once during life ask a question why he/she has to follow the rules and not to go outside the boundaries of the stable existence. The protagonist has a well-developed emotional intelligence, as he is able to recognize other people’s emotions easily, feel compassion and be particularly empathetic. One of the examples is the relationship with his sister, whom he tries to protect from the outside world as well as his parents. He sees how sensitive people might be, especially when they are in the difficult position.
At the same time, the fact of Chris’s decision to run from the world has to be highlighted as well. To understand Chris’s motives it is crucial to dwell into the phenomenon of escaping the social environment and what exactly the real reasons to run from the civilization. There were several instances when people are using such techniques as downshifting. What was the purpose to leave wealthy and prosperous life and became a loner. Nowadays, there are a lot of stories about top managers, leaders of the huge companies who abandoned their usual life and went to live in India, Bali or other places where life is not chaotic and not bound to the rush for goods and bonuses. It is possible that the system of business is bursting at the seams and it is essential to rekindle it. The idea of changing all achievements of the contemporary world to the solitude around the wild nature is in general untypical. Yet, if the strategy of leaving everything behind persists, it is possible to conclude that the modern leadership can be revisited by the contemporary leaders to shape a new generation of people who will guide rather than push.
Skills
With that in mind, it is essential to analyze skills of McCandless, as he had a strong potential of becoming successful leader. Despite being an idealist, Chris had remarkable human and technical skills. The main evidence for this statement was his ability to survive in a wild for a very long time. The story shows that he could find food in wilderness, by killing animals, accommodating himself in the bus, and finding resources on his own to survive. While it is not a straightforward example of business resourcefulness and technical abilities, these scenes still illustrates the capabilities of a very young man to cross a border with Mexico in a canoe or to prepare food by having only a rifle and an old bus.
Human skills, as it was mentioned earlier, were his ability to connect with different people, from hippies to the ordinary dwellers in Alaska and other remote areas. The main problem in him was the ability to see false things in the modern world, his escape is a symbolic reminder that people forget simple things and the real human happiness of being alive, just to be present here in this definite moment in definite time in the world. Some can take it as a flaw, yet it is important to take into account that Chris was especially young and idealistic to be dealing with the modern world adequately.
For instance, McCandless claims, “my point is that you do not need me or anyone else around to bring this new kind of light in your life. It is simply waiting out there for you to grasp it, and all you have to do is reach for it. The only person you are fighting is yourself and your stubbornness to engage in new circumstances” (Penn). It is possible to see that he could have inspired his followers and make them grow by his personal power and emotional intelligence. He is strong in his desire to remain independent willing to follow his path no matter what. The entire premise of the film supports this notion, showing that Chris’s desire to escape the standard life of a highly qualified and rich lawyer was the protest against the ordinary.
Orientation and Managerial Grid
While this protest did not yielded usual benefits of the contemporary business world, it is only possible to imagine what leader he would have been. At the same time, McCandless, despite the fact that he was not a leader in a conventional sense of this concept, it is still important to evaluate his skills and professional orientation in order to synthesize the important qualities of the visionary and innovative leader. Chris could be both task- and people- oriented, because he managed to create productive communication with people and accomplish tasks during his life in wilderness and before it (Parker and Begnaud 10). For instance, McCandless manages to kill and process a moose without practical experience and resources. He does not stop preparing his food for the processing even when it is particularly difficult. In spite of the fact that he is not allowed to sail in canoe, he managed to accomplish it alone.
The protagonist is people oriented, because he appreciates his relationship with people he meets during his journey. While he was willing to escape the interaction with his family and friends, he still gets alone with people who helped him along the way to Alaska. McCandless managed to get along even with people who did not understand his motives, like for example, Mr. Franz, whom Chris charms quite easily in the first minutes of their interaction. This serves as the best example of his people-oriented abilities. This also a good example of his ability to become a team management leader employing 9:9 leadership grid strategy. This conclusion was made on the basis of Chris’s ability to communicate with people and the need to establish the relationship of trust, respect, and honesty. For instance, in the beginning of the movie, in the conversation with his employer, Chris claims that truth is more important than love, material things, and relationships.
The protagonist values honesty and openness in people. It makes him an effective leader and a communicator. It has to be noted that in the modern world of business the qualities of honesty, ethical idealism, and exceptional morality are undervalued, which usually leads to the fraud, economic collapse, and massive financial losses. It was recognized that such kind of leadership existing in the business environment these days leads to devastating outcomes when the entire world suffers the consequences. Therefore, the existence of such leaders as Chris will balance the recent situation.
Un-Favorability
One of the important tasks in the current analysis was to realize the un-favorability of the situations the protagonist encountered with. First of all, since the early age, Chris was raised by very authoritative father and a mother that was particularly soft on him. A crucial contrast created by his parents made McCandless desperate to run away. It is easy to see this in the scenes when Chris’s father turns violent against his mother making small kids watching this. Another example is the constant need of his father to control his children, including Chris and his sister. In the result, the protagonist abandons his future as a lawyer, despite the fact that he graduates from college. In the beginning of the story, he mentions that he wants to continue his education in Harvard, yet witnessing usual communication with his parents, Chris decides to escape the modern world.
It is possible to claim that McCandless encountered with a lot of un-favorable situations during his early life. Chris was born in a good family, an American dream example of a modern life. He gained good education in college and he always stayed very intelligent and polite with people. Particularly, these are the words Chris leaves for his parents: “I’m going to let them think they are right, I’m going to let them think that I’m “coming around to see their side of things “and that our relationship is stabilizing. And then, once the time is right, with one abrupt, swift action I’m going to completely knock them out of my life” (Penn).
At the same time, when Chris turned twenty he gathered for his one-way trip to Alaska, to run into the severe conditions. Despite the un-favorability of the situations, he still does not look like he was an obvious downshifter, who searches for a simpler life. Quite oppositely, he was eager to dwell into adventure, unusual environment, and life without constant presence of the civilization. McCandless’ real desire was to remain on his own, to become truly independent, and be free. Chris realized that he will not be free to choose what he wants, thus, he runs from his personal idea of reality.
Chris could have a supporting style of leadership, because he has never delegated his problems, he also did not direct anyone, and finally, he was not preparing people who were surrounding him. The protagonist believes in freedom of thought and morality, thus, he could have been effective in supporting his followers. Chris could not cope with his father’s point of view towards his future, however, he did not oppose his in all instances. This makes the main hero effective in terms of supporting people, not opposing them even if he thinks they are not right. Chris would have been successful in creating a safe and industrial space for his followers taking care about their well being, despite being authoritative.
At this point, it is essential to view McCandless’s leadership from another angle of this issue. It is impossible to be indifferent to the protagonist, as leadership could be evaluated from different points of view. Leaders cannot be seen as heroes, ideal, and having no flaws. They are humans and when today the majority of the researchers emphasize the need to make the leaders thinking outside the box, it is essential to remember that the more leaders try to become innovative, creative, and being outside “that” box, the more risks they take to become fools or to be ridiculed in the society (Cadwell 72). McCandess executes visionary leadership. He could have created something new, innovate, and make the venture to expel the old and conventional strategies.
Behavior
He behaves differently than people around him, including friends and family as well as merely acquaintances. At the same time, it is possible to see that he is not bound to people much even though he gets along with almost everyone quite easily. For instance, once she meets a travelling couple, who undergoes a difficult period in their lives, he became a friend and a partner, and later on repairs their relationship. Almost every person Chris meets with during his journey helps him in one way or another by providing him with food, resources, or driving him to the needed place.
The reason why Chris McCandless has chosen Alaska was Jack London. The American author is well known for his romanticism of the Wild North. “White Fang” (1906) and especially “The Call of the Wild” (1903) influenced Chris deeply. “London’s fervent condemnation of capitalist society, his glorification of the primordial world, his championing of the great unwashed—all of it mirrored McCandless’s passions” (Krauker, 32). Idealism, romanticism, and high intelligence produced the need to escape flawed world.
Behavior
Chris claims, “make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt” (Penn). It is one of his political maneuvers to escape the lifestyle that makes him unhappy. McCandless makes a crucial decision to go into the wild despite the opposition of his parents, peers, and the entire society. One of the instances when he tries to escape unfavorable situation is refusing to accept new car presented by his parents. While he is forced to take it anyway, later on, several people claim they saw Chris burning it down. In order to achieve one of his goals, Chris managed to get away from his comfort zone and dwell into the pure wilderness.
Chris began his trip to Alaska by thumbing a lift. He managed to meet a lot of people on his way, where get from one place to another may be a problem. Yet, he was persistent enough to travel across the country. It was not a simple luck, but his ability to connect with the others. As we can understand from their words, Chris imprinted himself in their minds forever. He was described like hard working, responsible kind hearted boy, who always carried out all his matters and never let anything behind. According to the movie , One day the hikers have found abandoned car and a note of McCandless that he left in it, burned all his money and now he was going to live alone, without any gifts of civilization, to stand alone without need in anybody else (Penn).
Transformation and Change
The protagonist could have been a transformational leader who brings about crucial changes. First of all, it was admitted that McCandless had non-standard type of thinking. He was especially industrious and prone to innovations. It was admitted that Chris wanted to change the environment where he lived and was eager to change circumstances and travel into the unknown. Such ability requires courage, determination, and the need to be creative, as he needed to survive in the wild. He managed to change his life completely, which shows that the main character was not afraid of changes and transformations if they were desirable by himself. It is possible to assume that Chris would have been good in the company that had to undergo transformations.
As the transformational leader, Chris was good in following the others without directing them and being authoritative. He managed to build good relationship with his employer, a couple, random acquaintances, and Mr. Franz and made them to rethink their lives and priorities. These qualities would be ideal for the leader of the organization that had to, for example, change the governance strategy or move to the foreign market. Yet, Chris was not interested in the corporate world and the impact of big multinationals on the modern world.
Conclusion
In 1992 people walking around the forest saw a scary note fixed to the tree. “S.O.S. I need your help. I am injured, near death, and too weak to hike out of there I am all alone, this is no joke. In the name of God, please remain to save me. I am out collecting berries close by and shall return this evening. Thank you, Chris McCandless. August?” (Krakauer 11; Penn). Later on, he was found dead in the old bus, which served him as a shelter. A photo showing happy Chris on the background of this bus has been found around his things as well. The end of the movie is enlightened by Chris’s images of his family. In the reality, further examination showed that the reason of his death was simple poisoning by food. The end of this story is devastating and frustrating and it raises doubts of proprieties of the entire mission launched by McCandless.
It is quite difficult to decipher McCandless’s behavior, motives of his actions, and the desire to escape the world in 20 years old. It is quite evident that he obtained the qualities needed for the successful leader by being resourceful, industrious, emotionally intelligent, creative, and adaptable. He could have transformed and created, yet he has chosen the life of a vagabond preferring to stay in the wilderness instead of living in the corporate world. However, “Into the Wild” is not only about the loss of possibilities and unrealized potential, it is also the story about the modern world that has to be changed.
While a lot of professionals today discuss business ethics and leadership, the results of these disputes still did not generate any results. The movie raises several issues important for the field of leadership and business in general. First of all, McCandless advises to escape the boundaries and change something at once if it is necessary. It is very often when people resist changes both in professional and personal life. In the result, the companies that aim to launch transformational alterations usually encounter with the resistance. Thus, leaders who will be willing to guide people to such changes are essential nowadays.
Secondly, being a good communicator means to build productive and mutually benefiting relationships with all people, which means that the leader has to “give” as much as to “take”. In other words, leadership requires output in the same way as the contribution of followers. Chris was willing to share an advice or help others, which made people help him as well. Thirdly, it is crucial to find new ways of resolving problems and finding resources to decide crucial problems. The protagonist was able to find methods of solving his problems and looking for a way out of the critical situation. Finally, the leaders have to know how to be open to the world, which will enable them to guide the others and attract people into their team.
In addition, it is hard to explain the phenomenon of Chris’s story. It could be viewed the maximalist vision of an adolescent in an attempt of changing the environment. It also can be perceived as the extreme act of disobedience to the principles, views, and values of the modern society. Chris’s escape is a very courageous act, he had the willpower to implement his desires in action. From the other hand, the story ended dramatically proving that a modern citizen remains to be a child of civilization with its obligations, ideas and views and probably there no escape out of it, but there is a possibility to change the world according to personal beliefs.The rush into the wild was the struggle against the ideas of his family and the world itself. It is difficult to say that it was worth it. It may or may not be a brave decision, as escaping the reality is not an adequate resolution of a problem. Maybe the real wilderness can be found not in the severe climate of Alaska, but in the most civilized and prosperous family. At the same time, the story of Chris McCandless shows that the changes have to be made to improve society, business, and leadership. These domains are interconnected and have to be addressed.
Works Cited
Cadwell, Charles M. Leadership Skills for Managers. 4th ed. New York: American Management Association, 2004. Questia. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
Krakauer, Jon. Into the Wild. New York: Anchor Books, 1996. Print
Parker, Jeanette Plauché, and Lucy Gremillion Begnaud. Developing Creative Leadership. Portsmouth, NH: Teacher Ideas, 2004.
Penn, Sean. Into the Wild. Dir. Paramount Vantage, 2007. Film
