The success of military action during the war times has leadership as the main component. The leaders are therefore shaped in relation to the situations they face in their life and daily life activities. The leaders have a great effect on the outcomes during their interaction with the diverse information, people, resources and the general environment they operate in. This movie also shows the first phase relating to the Second World War. The situation exposed to General Frank Savage while leading the bomber squadron in England during the Second World War. This therefore helps in demonstrating the leadership styles of General Frank Savage. The way he approached the people, resources and the general environment influence the way and styles of leadership. The successful military operation was therefore essential in presentation of the strategies and the leadership styles.
General Frank Savage portrays the charismatic leadership style. The actions of General Savage seems to be degrading but he still maintained the right tract in leading the military operation. General Frank Savage is a charismatic leader due to the fact that he is assertive, radical and unconventional in relation to the military operation that he led. This is demonstrated by the fact that he is a change agent in relation to the successful military operation. General Savage came to the realization that Gately had the potential of being a wonderful and competent officer while at the same time acting as a pilot. General Savage had the desire of Gately becoming a selfless person. Salvage therefore shows the transformational tendencies therefore shows the charismatic leadership style and traits. General Savage is a change agent who believed in transformation of the individuals into more constructive people in the society.
General Savage also demonstrates transformational leadership in that he emphasizes on transformation of the selfish people to selfless leaders in the society. The selfless state is therefore a clear example of transformational leadership which was portrayed by General Savage in this movie. The transformational leadership also involves both the charismatic and visionary styles of leadership styles and traits. The transformational leadership style demonstrated by General Savage helps in attainment of output which is higher than the normal expectations of the leaders. Savage enforced high professional ethics which challenged the men through sense of purpose and guidance in the military action. The inner beliefs of General Savage enabled him to understand needs and the hopes of the unit. Transformational leadership is also reflected and demonstrated by the shared values so as to win commitment and loyalty of his followers. General Savage managed to influence the people through meeting the needs of his followers successfully. He turned the whole unit into a productive and efficient fighting machine. This was made possible by creating a pool of followers.
During the initial stages of the movie, General Savage practiced autocratic style of leadership. He conducted his activities and operations without participation of the followers. There was no communication between the followers and General Savage and this amounted to one of his failures and weaknesses in leadership. This led to great opposition from the followers leading to poor performance of the military operation. This style of leaders instilled a lot of fear on the people leading to a loss of commitment in the unit. The autocratic style of leadership discouraged participation of officers in the operation and this therefore they may not give their best towards achieving the goals of the unit.
General Savage also demonstrated a directive style of leadership which cannot tolerate ambiguity. The people who have this style of leadership makes poor decisions due to less time taken in gathering information for decision-making. This style of leadership may therefore not entail careful analysis of further alternatives. Savage practiced directive style of leadership where he instructed his followers to take his instructions without questioning. After General Savage succeeded in the mission hey decided to adopt the participatory style of leadership where collaborative decisions were made. The suggestions of the team were therefore taken into consideration in decision making. The achievements of the team are of greater concern in the behavioral style of leadership.
In the context of communication, leadership should embrace proper communication in order to facilitate transfer of information between the leader and followers. Communication skills are very essential in leadership. Effective communication facilitates transfer of instructions in order to improve the leadership styles. This will ensure clear transmission of the message to the intended receivers. Barriers of effective communication also influence the leadership styles. General Savage involves adopted various communication skills and techniques in order to facilitate the military operations. Proper communication techniques enabled General Savage to conduct the operations successfully through directions and clear instructions. In this movie, there was a barrier of communication between General Savage and the followers. General Savage assumed that his followers shared his thoughts, characteristics and feelings. There were disagreements between Savage forces and the commands from Davenport leading to the slow military operations. Savage also never tolerated the followers who opposed his feelings and thoughts in the movie.
