WARNING: This post contains information from the Disney/Pixar movie, “Inside Out.” If you haven’t seen it yet, I warned you!
As with mostly every Disney movie, I am amazed at how they keep a kid’s attention with the animation and overly done voices, but also manage to keep adults entertained as well. This movie was no different. I found myself reading so deeply into this movie that I often forgot I was here because my son wanted to see it. As the movie developed, I quickly noticed that this movie was about all the feelings we have inside us and how they don’t always go together in the right spots at the right times. I also saw the struggle we have to be happy, when it turns out, that’s not what we always need.
In the movie, Joy (not in the clip) is responsible for keeping Riley (main character) happy. That’s her job. Pretty simple, huh? There are also 4 other emotions (sadness, fear, anger, and disgust) and their jobs are to handle…well…those emotions. While everyone has a job to do and are the leaders of their specific emotions, they look to Joy for guidance. If Joy tells the other emotions to do (or not to do) something, they do their best to comply. If this was an organization, the main function would be to keep Riley happy. Every emotion is there to protect her so she ultimately ends up happy. Fear protects her from getting hurt, disgust protects her from doing things she doesn’t like, and anger gives her aggression at the right moments such as sports. Sadness, well…her job is to make Riley sad and no one really likes that. So, moving on…
These leadership examples reminded me of the Contingency Theory where leaders are matched to situations in which a leader’s effectiveness depends on how well the leader’s style fits the context (Northouse, 2013). If we have 5 leaders in this movie and they all represent a style they are strong in, a certain leader takes over when they are called for. If Riley is trying something new, such as a new school, Fear will step in and guide her through that process. If she is playing hockey and is trying to score, anger will step in and give her the adrenaline boost she needs. However, right behind them is Joy, because the nature of the “business” is to make sure Riley is happy. Again, even though there are 5 leaders, there is one that is considered in charge.
What happens when the wrong leaders are used in situations? What if anger takes over when someone should be happy? What if disgust takes over? In the video, Joy and Sadness have disappeared, leaving the other emotions (leaders) alone. They know the ultimate goal is happiness, but when they try to attain that using their strengths, it ends up backfiring. The reason why they work so well together is because Joy allows them to lead when they are best suited to. “Certain styles are effective in certain situations” (Northouse, 2013, p. 125). In this movie, they know what leader is needed for what situation. They have the benefit of having a leader for every situation called for in their “business.”
For us, that isn’t always the case. In fact, that’s rarely the case. If you work in an organization with one leader, that leader is expected to handle every situation thrown at them. No matter what their strengths or weaknesses are, it’s on them to lead the way. If you have a leader that gets stressed out easily, that can stress out the workers. If you have a leader that is afraid to make decisions, you could have a staff that has no confidence. Looking again at the clip, are you able to see this kind of situation at your place of work? In the clip, there are three leaders trying to accomplish one task. They all think their way works best, yet none accomplish the job.
A critique of the contingency theory is that it fails to explain what to do when there is a mismatch between the leader and organization (Northouse, 2013). Seriously…what do you do? Do you train that current leader on how to be a better leader through development? Or do you swap out leaders and hope the next one is better than the first. I could go on and on about this movie and how it relates to leadership and I just might….in another blog.
Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership (6th ed). Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications, Inc.