Reel Leadership Paper 1. A Leadership Analysis of Oceans Eleven. Prepared by Caroline Blevins

Transcription

1 Reel Leadership Paper 1 A Leadership Analysis of Oceans Eleven Prepared by Caroline Blevins LDRS 3304: Elements of Team Leadership Dr. Eric Kaufman April 21, 2012

2 Reel Leadership Paper 2 Introduction A brief description of Ocean s Eleven is that a group of men are plotting to rob three elite casinos in Las Vegas. This high- risk task requires top-notch leadership skills as well as an immense amount of organization. Many leadership concepts are illustrated in this movie, some more obvious than others. In the movie, group vs. team, factors of success, group socialization and team goals are some leadership techniques that are apparent. In addition, motivation, stress tolerance, group polarization, creativity, diversity and communication technology are also some leadership concepts that are evident in the movie. Unit 1 Characteristics of Teams According to the text, A group exists for a reason or purpose and has a goal shared by the group members. The people in the group have some type of relationship or are connected to one another (Levi, 2011). In the movie, the eleven men collectively were a group because they were formed by Danny Ocean and Rusty Ryan to complete a certain goal, which was robbing the casino. As a group, the men were goal oriented, interdependent of each other and they had structured relations, by knowing the rules and role that each member had. Each member of the group was chosen to work toward accomplishing this task based on the individual skills and talents they each possessed. Danny Ocean and Rusty Ryan were the leaders who had authority and organized the entire scheme. Having the two men hand pick people for a specific job was a huge factor that contributed to their success. Unit 2: Teamwork Processes During the scene where all of the men meet for the first time and had a dinner together, group socialization was illustrated. This process starts as the investigation stage, and the group tries to persuade the member to join. This stage ends after the individual decides whether or not to join

3 Reel Leadership Paper 3 the group. In the movie, Ocean said, If this is not your flavor of vodka, then take some food on your way out and there will be no hard feelings (Weintraub & Soderberg, 2001). What he meant by this is that if they are not willing to complete the duties that are expected of them, they should not agree to be apart of such a high- risk task. Also during the investigation stage of group socialization, the individuals seek out what is expected of them. While all of the men are gathered together, Ocean explains in detail the tasks that need to be accomplished in order to have a successful robbery. This is a representation of the leadership concept of team goals because the books states, A team s goals must be consistent with the mission statement, but goals should be objective, defining the accomplishments that need to be completed for success (Levi, 2011). It is important for the group leaders, Ocean and Ryan, to make sure the group members are informed of what is expected of them before they begin the task. What is expected of them is very stressful and tedious, so the group members should be aware of this. Unit 3: The Emotionally Intelligent Team Although it is not directly related to a scene, motivation is a very apparent leadership concept exemplified in Ocean s Eleven. As explained in the book, the concept of motivation is derived from the motivation one finds within his inner self, and it is later shared with other members of the group. Group members are also driven by the needs that have to be met and they are also driven by their desire to meet those needs. The group has goals that have been set for them, and they plan to achieve them while holding each other accountable. Not only do the members hold each other accountable, but the individual holds himself responsible from the start, while everyone else is keeping each other in check as well. Another way the members use accountability is that what they are doing is very confidential. As individuals, they have to make sure they individually do not share the information with outsiders, and they have to hold each

4 Reel Leadership Paper 4 other accountable and make sure nobody else shares the secret with other individuals. The eleven individuals were motivated by each other and used each other for reinforcement in times of doubt or need. Also, the group of men were persistent because at times what they were doing may have seemed close to impossible, or they may have had physical set backs, but they continued working toward their goal of robbing the casinos. Also in this move, viewers get to see a glimpse of how the characters deal with stress, which illustrates the leadership concept of stress tolerance. Overall, the task of robbing three casinos is highly risky and stressful. The men in the group have to work in high-strung situations, but also know how to keep their composure. In The Emotionally Intelligent Team, it shares that the seven ingredients of stress tolerance for teams are environmental awareness, assertiveness, self- regard, wellness, humor, flexibility and humility. It is important for the men to be aware of the environment around them, both physically and socially. In the days before the robbery is executed, they take much time to observe the casinos and the individuals around. This was an important part of their task because they had to know what to expect in order for them to be prepared to execute their goal. Assertiveness is a key step in stress tolerance that the group experienced. It is important to communicate what is going on correctly or incorrectly, therefore the job can be completed in the most efficient way. Self- regard is important to the group because they are so diverse; each member needs to accept himself as well as each other. If they feel confident in themselves, and in the team, there is a better chance of the task going more smoothly. As the book states, On high functioning teams, all members respect and care for the self- regard of each team member (Hughes and Terrell, 2007). This proves that successful teams have respect for each other. Unit 4: Issues Teams Face

5 Reel Leadership Paper 5 A scene from the movie that illustrated the leadership concepts of group polarization and creativity was the scene where Benedict is watching the surveillance video of the robbery that is taking place. He believes that the robbery is in the process of happening, but it actually happened days ago. Creativity is a very obvious leadership concept shown here because it takes a creative group of people to scheme up a plan as detailed and risky as this. Although the book says that group creativity can be a problem, in the movie Ocean and Ryan were the original masterminds of the task, so they each used their individual creativities instead of composing the plan as a group. Of course the group tweaked the plan and each individual used his own talent to make sure it was perfected, but conflicts were avoided because the original plan was thought of by two people instead of a whole group. In addition to this individual scene, the entire movie was an extremely creative work. The effect of a group discussion can lead to a final decision that is more extreme than the average of the members. This may either be more risky or more cautious, depending on the initial inclination of the group (Levi, 2011) is defined as group polarization. This concept cannot be used in this movie because it is important for the men to stick to their original plan. It would mess the plans up if they decided to change something last minute because details were imperative in completing this task. Unit 5: Teams in Modern Organizations As stated in the book, Diversity in a group stems from differences in demographic, psychological, and organizational cultures (Levi, 2011). The group of eleven men who were chosen to execute the task of robbing casinos was very diverse and this was a huge contributing factor to their success. The group consisted of an Asian man, an African American man, an

6 Reel Leadership Paper 6 older man, twin brothers, and others, and their different backgrounds helped them to form together to complete their task. Also in the movie, the use of communication technologies was very obvious. Without the cameras, surveillance videos, microphones, earpieces and other various uses of technology, robbing the casinos would have been impossible. The book states, Technology directly affects work design, organizational design and communication patterns (Levi, 2011). Technology affected their work in the sense that it made their jobs much more convenient and allowed for the task to be efficiently completed. Conclusion After watching Ocean s Eleven, it is very interesting to see all of the leadership concepts that can be applied to a movie that was created for entertainment purposes, not educational purposes. Leadership concepts are illustrated in every day life, we just don t always take the time to notice. References Hughes, M. & Terrell, J. (2007). The emotionally intelligent team: Understating and developing the behaviors of success. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Levi, D. (2011). Group dynamics for teams (3 rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Weintraub, J. (Producer), & Soderberg, S. (Director). (2001). Oceans eleven [Motion Picture]. United States: Warner Bros. Pictures.