Case Study on Leadership Saving Mr. Banks (2013)

Case Study on Leadership: Saving Mr. Banks (2013)

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Part 1: Leadership Styles of the Two Primary Characters: Mr. Walt Disney & Mrs. Travers

Walt Disney’s leadership style blends the key features of the democratic and authoritative styles. He is a visionary leader who maps the way for his followers and sets expectations, while energizing and engaging them in the process of management. He is also democratic because he shares information with his team of employees about all issues that affect work responsibilities, seeking their opinion and approval before major decisions. He runs his company with a lot of love, evident friendship, and the notable involvement of every employee. For example, in Saving Mr. Banks (Hancock, 2013: 21:03), he insists on being called Walt, and is in first name basis with all of his employees. According to Iqbal, Anwar, & Haider (2015), such leaders inspire confidence in their employees, make them feel valued, and instill a sense of commitment and value in their abilities. The employees understand what Walt Disney desires not just from them but also for the company, in terms of direction, commitment, and how to go about every step of their role and responsibilities. Blanchard, Hodges, & Hendry (2016). The benefits to Disney’s participative and visionary leadership style is realized throughout the battle to win over Mrs. Travers. His ability to engender trust and help in the promotion of cooperation and tea spirit from every employee are beneficial to the company. It is clear from Saving Mr. Banks (Hancock, 2013: 1:05:21) that Disney’s democratic and authoritative styles have allowed the employees to be creative and has led to their growth and development. Walt Disney rarely tells his employees what to do, he leads through sharing his vision, and enabling the employees to be innovative through ideas and implementation of the same. His leadership style gets the employees to do as he wishes but in ways that feel more as if they want to do it. Combined with his authoritative style, he leads his team out of any uncertainty by allowing people latitude and choice on the best ways to achieve company and individual goals.

In Saving Mr. Banks, the character of Mrs. Travers portrays autocratic leadership. According to Iqbal, Anwar, & Haider (2015), autocratic leadership is exhibited in a leader whose style shows individual control relating to all decisions without much input from other members of the team or group. Mrs. Travers shows how autocratic leaders base their choices on their own judgments, interpretation, and ideas without necessarily factoring in the opinion of others, even when the others are experts on a matter that the autocratic leader is not. For example, at the start of the movie, Mrs. Travers, without consultations or taking into consideration the opinion of her lawyer, cancels an important contract and insists on having everything her way (Hancock, 2013: 4:50). She is very detail-oriented and asserts control over every matter, even dictating how she should be addressed by her own lawyer. She is obsessed with being right all the time, lacks empathy and does not seem to read social cues properly. Her leadership style is exerting, assertive, controlling, and she always wants to be in charge of every decision. Her leadership style comes out as a bit delusional, for example when she demands that the proposed film features no red, despite the setting being in London, England where everything from buses to mailboxes are characteristically red. She threatens to cancel the cooperation with Walt Disney if all of her demands are not fully met. She leaves no room for a bargain, even though some of her demands are not very realistic. Overall, Mrs. Travers uses her own beliefs to decide on everything and exercise authoritarian control over others and all situations, a characteristic of the authoritarian or autocratic leader.

Part 2: Leadership Styles of the Supporting Characters

Ralph is an exceptional character in the way he remains bubbly despite Mrs. Travers overwhelming and constantly gloomy nature. He is a ray of sunshine in a very dark day, when his happy and lively persona is pitted against Mrs. Travers uptight and ever-agitated personality. Their differences emerge in a conversation where Mrs. Travers prefers the rain as it is more responsible since it brings life, but Ralph counters this by expressing how happy he is for the sun because it also brings life (Hancock, 2013: 11:31). As a supporting character, Ralph’s servant leadership style allows him to take the weight of Mrs. Travers stubbornness. He helps Walt to soften Mrs. Travers heart, by driving her around without losing his temper, bringing her tea, and joining her in her moment of breaking down on the grass and so on. Although Walt gets to work on softening Mrs. Travers’ position too in one or two instances, Ralph gets the bulk of this task, dong it with so much grace because of how he is as a servant leader, a role that he executes with utmost perfection.

Ralph is a servant leader in more ways than one: he put the needs of others first, shows empathy, listens, is aware of the surrounding, is persuasive, and displays stewardship. Two of his strongest leadership qualities include empathy and fostering healing through spiritual and emotional well-being. Servant leadership allows Ralph to not only recognize but also understand the emotions and feelings that Mrs. Travers is going through. For example, in the film (Hancock, 2013: 32:13), Ralph is able to recognize and understand that Mrs. Travers is not in a pleasant mood. He constantly checks his rare view mirror to check on the emotional condition of Mrs. Travers. He seems to know just what to say to trigger a conversation that takes his passenger away from her own thoughts. He deeply experiences emotions to match those of Mrs. Travers as evidenced by his constant sighs and facial expressions. Because Ralph understand Mrs. Travers so well, despite only knowing her for a short while, his actions are all motivated by a real desire to help her navigate a new country and understand how to cope with the overwhelming demands of making a film. He succeeds as a servant leader by making a friend out of a very unlikely partnership, evidenced in the concluding scene in the film (Hancock, 2013: 1:51:28) where Mrs. Travers lovingly embraces him.

Ralph’s listening skills and awareness allow him to foster a sense of healing. Burch, Swails, & Mills (2015) mention that servant leaders are very good with other people, connecting emotionally and being able to see the world from their point of view. In Saving Mr. Banks, Mrs. Travers is broken, as seen through her constantly complaining and disapproval of almost everything around her. She seems utterly unmoved even in situations where everyone else awes pleasure. Ralph recognizes this and takes on the challenge of being there for Mrs. Travers. He connects to her on an emotional level, insists on calling her Mrs., against her will, and takes on the role of a friend, knowing very well that this may not be reciprocated. By taking on this role actively, Ralph is able to inspire a markedly exceptional level of faith and trust from Mrs. Travers. In the end (Hancock, 2013: 1:51:28), they are happy to see each other, Mrs. Travers smiles and embraces her friend, Ralph, who through servant leadership was able to connect to her, understand her, and even insisted on calling her friend.

Ralph faces a mountain of a challenge in managing to establish a relationship with Mrs. Travers, without showing signs of frustration or anger. Clearly, Mrs. Travers is both condescending, rude, and very opinionated. It is very easy for Ralph to decide to only perform his role as a driver ferrying her from one point to the next. In their first encounter, Ralph’s servant leadership allows him to recognize that Mrs. Travers would not be his conventional client. She slams the partition window shut to keep out Ralph’s bubbly interaction and chooses to remain in her somber mood. This is especially a challenge for Ralph who is keen on establishing a relationship. He uses the foresight of a servant leader to break through the barrier by predicting how Mrs. Travers would act or respond. He relentlessly tries to get her to communicate and is very persuasive. Ultimately, he overcomes the challenge and is able to connect to her on a personal level. It is clear that Ralph is committed to see others grow, and is therefore actively involved in their journey towards the same.

Part 3: Forgiveness and Servant Leadership

Servant leadership is all about forgiveness, not just for the shortcomings of others but also for oneself in a process of healing and being able to overcome emotional and spiritual challenges. In Saving Mr. Banks, the concept of forgiveness is paramount to the entire story. Mrs. Travers is very uptight and prefers to see disappointment in everyone else as a way of coping. She does not understand the concept of forgiveness and is yet to forgive her father who put his own family in a lot of problems from his drinking and poor decision-making. Ralph, on the other hand, is a servant leader who easily forgives. For example, he forgets about the poor treatment from Mrs. Travers and moves on quickly to try and forge a relationship. He is happy to connect to her emotionally even when sometimes it backfires on his face. He chooses forgiveness over resentment, a quality that is uniquely characteristic of servant leadership. In another example, Walt Disney displays qualities of a servant leader where he overlooks al of the misery that making the film Mary Poppins has brought to his company and staff members. He is not bitter against Mrs. Travers but also attempts to understand why she is so difficult, obsessive, compulsive, and controlling. In these instances, I learnt that forgiveness and servant leadership go together. Forgiveness improves every relationship in the film Saving Mr. Banks. Forgiveness allows the Ralph and Walt Disney to tolerate Mrs. Travers, and bring out the best in her in the long run. I learnt that the servant leader desire to honor every relationship that they are a part of, even when the relationship is strictly professional. For example, Ralph does not look at Mrs. Travers as a client but as a friend in need of emotional help. I have appreciated how the film combines the role of servant leadership and forgiveness to bring out the qualities that matter in every relationship.

Ultimately, forgiveness is an important quality in a servant leader because it improves a relationship and fosters a way forward for everyone involved. It allows one to shed off their pride and embrace a spirit of forgiveness, overlooking the shortcomings to focus on the positive. Walt Disney is able to forgive Mrs. Travers, so does Ralph, and others involved in the film. Most importantly, Mrs. Travers forgives herself and her father, a situation that allows her to start enjoying the world.

References

Blanchard, K., Hodges, P., & Hendry, P. (2016). Lead like Jesus revisited: Lessons from the

greatest leadership role model of all time. Thomas Nelson.

Burch, M. J., Swails, P., & Mills, R. (2015). Perceptions of administrators’ servant leadership

qualities at a Christian university: A descriptive study. Education, 135(4), 399-404.

Hancock, J. Lee, Thompson, E., Hanks, T., Giamatti, P., & Newman, T. (2013). Saving Mr.

Banks. Widescreen. Retrieved from HYPERLINK “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvLywdHpuFY&t=350s” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvLywdHpuFY&t=350s

Iqbal, N., Anwar, S., & Haider, N. (2015). Effect of leadership style on employee

performance. Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review, 5(5), 1-6.