MISTER ROBERTS
Presented for your learning pleasure by:
Tony “Advocate for the little guy”
King
Brian “The New Guy” Miller
Rob “This is my last
Class DuCote
CAST AND CREW
• Captain James Cagney
• LTJG Roberts Henry Fonda
• ENS Pulver Jack Lemmon
• Doc William Powell
Story Line
• WWII story aboard the USS RELUCTANT, a U.S. Navy cargo ship
• Most of the war has passed, the ship has not seen any action. Ship honors is a Palm tree for cargo handling
• Fleet goes by in opening and is observed by LTJG Doug Roberts who desperately wants to see combat action
LTJG Douglas Roberts
• Cargo Officer• Loved by the
shipmates• Wants combat action• Numerous requests for
transfer denied by Captain
• Conflict between Capt and him is strong
The Captain
• Career Officer• Strong-willed• Leads by intimidation• Feels career threatened
by Roberts’ constant transfer requests
ENS Frank Pulver
• Laundry and Morale officer. Likeable!
• Does neither Laundry or morale…stays in rack avoiding the Capt!
• Easy going, yet smart..very Walter Mitty-like
Discuss the leadership traits of the three main characters
• The Captain
• LTJG Roberts
• ENS Pulver
Compare and contrast the leadership styles of the Captain and LTJG Roberts. Which one would you
want to work for and why?
• Tyrant vs. The People’s Leader!
• Napoleon’s Complex?
This is the climatic scene in the movie. Can anyone relate to this scene?
Assess and classify the leadership styles of the main characters using Situational Leadership II model (Blanchard, K, et al., 1985). (textbook page 56). Use both “D” and “S”
models.
• The Captain
• LTJG Roberts
• ENS Pulver
• Doc Uh, yes sir. For 14 months
now.
Who are you, mister? Are you
one of my officers?
THE FOUR LEADERSHIP STYLESHigh Supportive
And
Low Directive
Behavior
S3
High Directive
And
High Supportive
Behavior
S2
S4
Low Supportive
And
Low Directive
Behavior
S1
High Directive
And
Low Supportive
Behavior
Su p
por t
ive
Beh
avio
r
(High)
Directive Behavior(Low)
(High)
Development Level of Followers
D4 D3 D2 D1Developed Developing
HIGH MODERATE LOW
Del
egat
ing
Supporting Coaching
Directing
Assume you are the Captain of the Reluctant. Using the Contingency Model (textbook, pg. 77), analyze
LTJG Roberts’ leadership style and provide an assessment.
• Leader-Member relation
• Task structure
• Position power
• Final assessment: LCP is ____ on the contingency model
Contingency ModelGOOD POOR
HIGH LOW
STRUCTURE STRUCTURE
HIGH LOW
STRUCTURE STRUCTURE
STRONG WEAK STRONG WEAK
POWER POWER POWER POWER
STRONG WEAK STRONG WEAK
POWER POWER POWER POWER
Leader-Member
Relations
Task Structure
Position Power
Preferred Leadership Style
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Low LPCs
Middle LPCs
High LPCs Low
LPCs
Summary
• Movie has great comedic value, and teaches some valuable lessons about leadership styles
• In the end, which style of leadership depicted in the movie in best for the Navy, or any organization?
• Disappointment: The Doc. Sage leader who does not lead…know any of those?