The movie The Hurt Locker presents a good case study to look at the situational approach to leadership. This movie focuses on Sergeant James and the rest of his Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit that are stationed in Iraq and responsible for disarming improvised explosive devices (IED). Sergeant James was appointed to this unit after their former leader was killed in action by an IED. Leading this type of unit puts the leader in many different types of situations where they have to adapt their leadership style in order to achieve their goal and keep everybody alive. This blog post will look what Sergeant James did well in this movie and what his shortcomings were as well by applying the situational theory of leadership.
Sergeant James was very good in a couple of areas of leadership. There were multiple situations throughout the movie where his leadership actions enhanced the abilities of the men in his unit and resulted in some of the men’s lives being saved. During one scene in the move the unit was stranded in the middle of the Iraqi desert and they were being pinned down by snipers. Sergeant James and another man lead the defense by taking out the enemy snipers with a long range rifle. During this time Sergeant James displayed two different types of situational leadership (PSU, L5, p15). At first he was a directive leader when everybody was scrambling throughout the chaotic situation. After things settled down and the unit had their bases covered he turned into a delegating leader so that he could get the most out of his unit. A good example of this was when Specialist Eldridge, who was typically a very nervous soldier, spotted movement at the rear of the unit. Eldridge asked James for direction and James consistently said that it was his call to make. Eldridge ended up shooting the man who was in fact an enemy combatant. Sergeant James was a very effective leader in this example and in other similar situations. However, he had leadership shortcomings in other areas.
One of Sergeant James’ main flaws was his need for an adrenalin rush. This need took away from his leadership abilities at times throughout the movie. At one point in the movie his unit responded to a call at night where a bomb exploded in the city. James and his team determined that the bomb was remotely detonated by somebody who was standing directly outside of the blast perimeter. He directed his team to go into the alleyway to search for the culprit. Some of the men objected saying that this was not their responsibility as a bomb squad and that there were plenty of infantry units that should go after the men. However, James still ordered his men to go after the man and Eldridge was injured and taken captive by the enemy when they split up. The unit ended up saving Eldridge but he still had to be airlifted out of combat. Eldridge angrily blamed James for causing this injury to him and said it was because of his maverick methods. James displayed this type of leadership style throughout the movie and would have been a much better leader by being more reasonable.
Reference:
Penn State Word Campus (2013). Psych 485 Lesson 5: Situational Approach. Retrieved on April 21, 2013 from https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/