I was watching the movie “Remember the Titans” and I decided to analyze one of the leaders in the film. For those of you who may not know, this movie is true story about the struggles and victories of a newly-integrated high school football team in 1971 Alexandria, Virginia.
One of the prominent leaders is All-American linebacker Gerry Bertier. Gerry stands out as a true leader because of his personality and traits. He was a captain of the team, very passionate and loving, and wanted more than anything for them to succeed. Through out the movie Gerry gives us multiple examples of his emotional intelligence as well as his passion, which we can see in nearly every scene, and most noticeably when he is on the football field. He is a very respectful young man. Gerry loves playing the game, he loves his teammates, and he loves his coaches.
At first when the schools merged, Gerry was a skeptical about having the black players play for the same team as him. When first formal meeting his new head coach Gerry says, “I’m Gerry Bertier. The only all-American you got on this team. You want any of us to play for you, you reserve half the open positions for Hammond players, half the offense, half the special teams. We don’t need any of your people on defense. We’re already set.”(angelfire) This obviously didn’t go over well with Coach Boone, and Gerry was in for a rude awakening. Although he eventually he embraced it all once he realized that they had the same goal, to WIN. Gerry helped unify the team by building a strong friendship with Julius Campbell. He put himself out on a limb and led by example showing that the team should not just be black and white but one unified team.
Gerry portrays an authentic leadership style. Gerry stood up for what he believed in and for what was best for the group. He acted on his values and beliefs and followed many of the characteristics Northouse describes as a servant leader. Foresight, building a community, committed to the growth of people, awareness, and persuasion are only some of the traits I see from Gerry throughout the film. One example of this is when Gerry challenged Julius because he was playing selfish and only looking out for himself on the field. Julius felt that he shouldn’t be looking out for anyone but himself because the rest of the white players aren’t doing their jobs leaving the black players vulnerable. When Julius challenged Gerry he collected himself and really thought about what his teammate was saying without just dismissing it because he was different. At the end of the scene Gerry finally realized that he wasn’t being the best captain. It was his job to bring the team together and unify them. He realized this could never happen if they kept fighting themselves instead of coming together to win.
Another example was when Gerry had to a cut one of his teammates, Ray, from the team. This was an especially hard decision because Ray was one of his closest friends. Ray had been purposely missing blocking assignments and playing bad on purpose because he did not want to be on the same field as his black teammates. Gerry had to make a hard but necessary decision for the team.
https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/su15/psych485/001/content/11_lesson/04_page.html
http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/pc1/wydg.html
Elizabeth A Fahey says
I think that making the connection with “Remember the Titans” is a brilliant choice. There are several leaders and styles throughout the movie. I think the scene between Julius and Gerry not only shows Gerry’s servant leadership but also reflects the leader-member-exchange theory. Studies have shown that strong exchanges between leaders and members leads to successful groups. Julius and Gerry illustrate that perfectly. Gerry was leading on the field, but it was only after Julius pointed out the deficits in Gerry’s leadership that the team went on to win repeatedly throughout the season. In a sense, they both then became transformational leaders as well as they were able to affect change within the context of their football team – crossing racial bridges and creating new perspectives in their teammates with regards to race relations.