Twelve_O'Clock_High

Twelve O’Clock High Leadership and management styles have played an important role in the learning objectives this semester in Supervisory Management. In class we have learned the positives and negatives that stem from the different leadership styles presented. The movie, Twelve O’Clock High, is a film that takes place in 1943 outside Nazi Germany. It depicts the 918th Bomb Group and the problems that they are having. Throughout the movie we are presented with multiple leadership styles from the commanding officers; Colonel Davenport, Brigadier General Savage, and Major General Pritchard of Pine Tree. Through Colonel Davenport, Major General Pritchard, and Brigadier General Savage at the start of the film we can see the distinct difference between their leadership styles. General Davenport shows a high concern for his navigator trying to take blame for a navigation error that was his navigator’s fault. Davenport shows a high concern for his men and a low or medium concern for production leading me to believe he has a country club or middleman management style. On the other hand there is General Savage who seems to have the exact opposite leadership style. Savage is highly task oriented and shows little if any concern for the men of the 918th. Savage has a managerial style mimicking authority compliance. Major General Pritchard shares the same management style as Savage. Shortly after the conversation Davenport is relieved of his duty and Savage is put in control of the 918th. Pritchard and Savage are both men who believe chain of command stemming from the fact that they are in the military. According to them you must adhere to the chain of command at all times no matter the circumstances. They believe in orders and that orders should be followed exactly. After arriving at the 918th Bomber Group, Savage is presented with a group of poorly motivated and disciplined men. When he first arrives he notices the laxness of security at the entrance gate along with multiple members of the 918th drinking at the pub. As he is trying to find out who has been in charge since the absence of Davenport he finds that Air Executive Officer, Gately, has been at the pub drinking. Savage has him put under arrest and brought to headquarters. He then scolds Gately for his actions and tells him he is one of the major reasons for Davenport’s downfall. This is another instance where a chain of command can be referenced. This is because Gately was supposed to be responsible and use his rank to help Davenport run the unit but fails to do so. Savage then demotes Gately and gives him the worst of the worst airmen to accompany him on his plane newly name the “Leper Colony”. Savage knows that conventional tactics will not work on these men because they do not seem to care. Savage does not believe that the men of the 918th are ready for a delegating style of leadership so he must use a telling style of leadership. The reason for the telling style of leadership is because it promotes a high task orientation with low relationship orientation. Savage needs to be harsh and implement the chain of command that Davenport was not. Savage knows that Gately has an excellent record and excellent schooling. Savage used the demotion a self-actualizing action for Gately. He wants Gately to feel the need to prove himself better than being in the “Leper Colony”. Savage is giving him a chance to redeem himself rather than just shuffling him away. The first air brief is an important scene because this is the first time that Savage is introduced to the entirety of the 918th Bomber group. Again Savage continues with the tough love attitude. Savage tells the men that they need to accept death before they go to fight or they will never come out on top. Savage tells them that the unit will be run differently and there will be no babying of any kind. He finishes his address with an offer to transfer for anyone that cannot hack it. He then speaks to Flight Surgeon Captain Kaiser who relays to the message that the men are suffering from physical and mental stress and the shock tactics he is using is just making it worse. This is when savage changes gears slightly with his approach to make the 918th Bomber Group a tough hard working unit. He decides to instill pride in his men. Right now the men are rejecting the changes that Savage is trying to implement. Savage now needs to follow the right paths when trying to successfully implement the change. Some of the things he needs to do it; build trust, discuss upcoming changes, involve the men in the changes, make sure the changes are reasonable, avoid threats, follow a reasonable time schedule, and implement changes in most logical place. These are just some of the ideas that Savage now can work with in order to achieve his successful move from telling to delegating. One of the first steps that Savage takes is to instill the men with pride. He believes that they hold the same value that he has of pride it is just that they have forgotten. Upon return from a successful mission Savage has a run in with Pritchard. Pritchard asks why Savage did not return when the return call was made. Savage tells him it must have been a “radio malfunction”, which it clearly was not. After an argument Savage tells Pritchard that the men deserve recognition for their success and that there might be some “Radio Malfunctions” in the future also. Savage is starting to move up in his relationship status while he is trying to motivate the 918. Savage is starting to feel for these men but he is also getting tired because they have not removed their transfer requests and they still are not exhibiting any pride in their work. Savage calls Lieutenant Bishop, a Medal of Honor nominee, into his office and asks him why he thinks the men of 918 are not showing any enthusiasm or pride despite their success. Bishop tells him it is because they feel like guinea pigs they feel like they are not fighting for any purpose. Savage then realizes that he needs to fill them with the feeling of purpose, they want to important. This concept is one of key objectives when it comes to motivation a group. After Savage realizes this and has his talk with Bishop the men of 918 withdraw their transfer notice. Savage’s tactics are starting to work and his change is starting to be accepted. Savage has another briefing to tell the men that they are going to get what they asked for, a chance to attack Germany directly. This shows the men that their hard work is really paying off and that this is their reward. They finally have a valid purpose and are no longer guinea pigs. After the return from the successful mission Savage learns that Gately, the man he put in charge of the “Leper Colony” has been hospitalized with a broken back and that he has flown his last three missions with a broken back. This is the final block in the units’ transformation; the most unmotivated member of 918 has shown pride and purpose. So much so that he flew with a broken back so he did not disappoint. The biggest mission that the 918th has ever flown has been handed to them. As the unit is about to leave Savage freaks out and is replaced on the flight. He continues to freak out and then sits in silence while the unit is gone. This shows a major change in Savage. He moved from a telling managerial style to delegating style. He finally has trust in the unit. Trust is one of the key concepts to delegating. This is why when Savage first arrived he could not delegate, he had not trust in the unit. He now had good communication skills with his unit because they trusted him and is judgment. He showed them that he was not just a regular leader, leading from the rear. He flew missions with them and developed a relationship and feeling for the unit. He felt the feeling of being proud. All of this was solidified when the planes started coming back from the mission and the entire 918th Bomber Group returned safe and sound. One of the major ideas of the movie was brought to the attention of the audience in the last scene you see Savage. In the beginning of the film Savage gives Davenport a nice pair of flight boots. Davenport refuses to take them and gives them back to Savage. Savage then wears Davenport’s boots for the length of his time at the base. Symbolically at the end when all of the planes come back he takes them off. In my opinion this mean don’t judge someone until you walk in their shows. Also don’t be quick to criticize; if you were in that situation you might do the same thing. Savage can now clearly see what true morals are. Previously he was hell-bent on forcing the unit to change no matter who it hurts. One of the reasons for this is the fact that he had no relationship with the man he was taking over. As soon as he knew the men and started developing feelings for them he realized it was not moral to be treating them as merely tools to get the job done but as people. In conclusion Twelve O’Clock High was a very informative film on classic leadership styles along with the depiction of a man developing from a telling managerial style to delegation. Not only did the film show the view what not to do but it shows that it is possible to make mistakes but you learn from your mistakes. As Savage moved through managerial styles the movie portrays the key points of leadership styles such as; in order to delegate you must trust the individual you are delegating to and that one cannot lead from the rear. In all this movie taught and emphasized key points of leadership and movement styles.