Patrick Neiswender<\/p>\n
Chuck Powell<\/p>\n
Leadership, War & Hollywood<\/p>\n
9\/12\/19<\/p>\n
FYSM Writing Prompt 2<\/u><\/p>\n
Being a leader is hard. Having to communicate to people who respond and react to every situation differently provides a challenge for leaders to be able to herd all these people to react towards a common goal. Major General Schofield highlights two different tactics a leader may use, inspiration or fear. Major General Schofield emphasizes the importance of inspiration because it gives the soldiers, \u201ca desire to obey\u201d while fear will only tear down their unit through disrespect and hate towards their leader and other members. The idea of leading through inspiration is beautifully portrayed in the movie Gettysburg, when Col. Joshua Chamberlin addresses the confederate prisoners about why he fights the war. Another great example of leadership with what Major General Schofield believes is when Col. Shaw volunteers their division to lead the charge against the attack of Fort Wagner. To me leadership is not always about barking orders, that is certainly an aspect but most importantly it is about belief. Belief in yourself, belief in your followers in this case your troops, and to believe in what you are doing. These two scenes illustrate the belief in what they are doing is right with Col. Chamberlin, and believing in your troops with Col. Shaw; where both inspire and unite groups of people under the leader as Major General Schofield says in his address to the Corps of Cadets.<\/p>\n
Col. Chamberlin had only recently taken control of the 20th<\/sup>Maine division when he is notified of one-hundred and twenty confederate soldiers were captured and brought to him to be dealt with by any means necessary.After providing the men with some food, \u00a0Col. Chamberlin addresses the prisoners with their options. They could either join the 20th<\/sup>Maine division and fight for the Union or they could choose to remain a prisoner. Watching this scene unfurl, we are able to see how Col. Chamberlin opens himself and shares with the prisoners how the 20th<\/sup>Maine came about, bust most importantly why they are fighting. Always being able to explain the why is a big aspect of leadership in my opinion, and Col. Chamberlin\u2019s answer of fighting \u201cfor each other\u201d shows the prisoners the belief Col. Chamberlin towards his cause which is different than most. Col. Chamberlin\u2019s belief in why he and the rest of the 20th<\/sup>Maine are fighting is what brings together the Confederate and Union soldiers together. For the Confederate prisoners being able to see Col. Chamberlin\u2019s belief in something bigger than himself draws them to him, rather then simply being told to fight by the confederates. Col. Chamberlin is able to unite this group of confederates to now join the union not because of the Union mission, but also not against the Confederate mission, rather the soldiers join because of Col. Chamberlin and how he was able to inspire them to believe in his cause.<\/p>\n Being a good leader however is not all about the big \u201crun through a wall\u201d type speeches. While sometimes necessary, the majority of leadership comes from your actions. In the movie Glory, Col. Shaw is given command of the first all colored division in the Union. During the war, they are never given much opportunity to actually fight, which is the reason many of the soldiers enlisted in the first place. During the beginning of the movie there is some cultural disconnect between Col. Shaw and the soldiers. Later on, however Col. Shaw begins to close this gap through his actions of demanding shoes and uniforms, this starts to make the soldiers believe in him more. One scene that sticks out to me was when Col. Shaw volunteered to be the leading division while attacking Fort Wagner. I believe this follows with what Major General Schofield believes by being able to recognize what your followers want, which is to fight in the first place, and give them the opportunity to do the job they signed up for. Did Col. Shaw most likely know that the majority of them would die? Yes, however volunteering themselves to go first shows the faith that Col. Shaw had for the soldiers who then continue to return their respect and admiration back to him.<\/p>\n What Major General Schofield told the Corps of Cadets was that there are two examples of leadership. One where you are able to give orders that will inspire and unite your troops, or the other were you instill fear which will ultimately provide lack of respect towards everyone in your unit. While I personally agree with Major General Schofield, I also believe that he is missing the aspect of belief. Being able to believe in your cause whole heartedly and address that belief like Col. Chamberlin did, you will get similar results as what Major General Schofield describes. Or another is to believe in your troops like Col. Shaw. By believing in your troops through your actions they will begin to unite around you as the leader just as they did when Col. Shaw volunteered them to be the first unit as they attacked Fort Wagner. Although I agree with Major Schofield this is a proper lead I believe the addition of believing in yourself, your mission, and your people is a major aspect of leadership.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Patrick Neiswender Chuck Powell Leadership, War & Hollywood 9\/12\/19 FYSM Writing Prompt 2 Being a leader is hard. Having to communicate to people who respond and react to every situation differently provides a challenge for leaders to be able to herd all these people to react towards a common goal. Major General Schofield highlights two … <\/p>\n