Leadership and Power in The Lion King Essay Example

of his older brother, is obsessed with the idea of becoming king and obtaining power over Pride Rock. He devises a plan with a goal to kill Mufasa and Simba so that he is next in line to take charge. His plan follows the structure of the Path-Goal Theory, which focuses on how leaders motivate their followers to accomplish certain goals. Scar behaves in a very directive manner, delegating the instructions for the task at hand, what he expects to come out of it, how it is to be executed, and in what time frame it needs to be completed.

He first motivates the Hyenas to agree to his plan by saying that when he becomes king, they will never go hungry again. The Hyenas are thrilled about this and comply with whatever Scar says. He tells them to wait for his signal and then start attacking a herd of Wildebeest, so that a stampede will occur. Scar makes sure Simba is right where the stampede will occur, and then he gives the signal. Once Simba is in danger, Scar goes to find Mufasa so that he can save Simba (this is where Mufasa shows is perseverance in the face of obstacles, it does not matter how perilous the situation is, he will go to any extreme to save his son).

Scar ultimately kills Mufasa and tells Simba to run away and never come back. Scar has reached his goal and now becomes king of Pride Rock. When Simba runs away, he meets a Meerkat and Warthog, Timon and Pumba, respectively. They become very close friends and are considered to be a team. A team is defined

as a group in which the members have a common purpose, interdependent roles, and complimentary skills. Simba is the protector, Timon tends to be the leader, and Pumba is the nonchalant follower. Teams develop in rather the same general manner. First, they form, Timon, Pumba, and Simba formed into a team when they first met.

Then, they storm, which occurred when Simba did not want to talk about what happened to him, he wanted to be left alone. Next, they norm when they learn more about each other. Performing is the most effective stage and this occurs when they all go back to Pride Rock and work together to defeat Scar. Before Simba finally returns back to Pride Rock to rightfully take his place as king, he is hesitant and needs time to think about it. Ethics is a main factor here. Ethical theory presents a system of principles that guide people in making decisions about what is right/wrong and good/bad in a specific situation.

It is heavily concerned with the nature of leaders’ behavior and how virtuous they are. A perspective on ethical leadership known as servant leadership emphasizes that leaders should be concerned with their followers understand them; they should take care of them. There is a three-step process to servant leadership: heart check, head check, and hand check. Simba definitely goes through these three steps as he is thinking about what he should do.

Heart check is defined by questions such as: Am I called to leadership, rather than driven to it? , Is my main objective to be helpful or in control? Do I have the best interest of those I lead at heart

or am ‘I’ my primary concern? , Will I gain satisfaction in watching the growth and development of those I lead? Clearly, Simba knew he was called to be king, and he felt it was his duty to help those within his kingdom. He wanted nothing more than to watch Pride Rock grow and transform back into the beautiful and harmonious place it was before Scar was in control. On the other hand, it was clear that Scar took an unethical approach to becoming king. His only concern was himself and obtaining control because he felt like he was owed power.

Head check is defined by purpose, values, image, and goals. Simba realized his fundamental reason for existence was to take over his father’s place when he died. His values, at first, were not aligned with his purpose, but after thinking he realized he needed to challenge Scar and do whatever it took to regain Pride Rock. Simba knew once he did this, Pride Rock would be as beautiful as it was the last time he saw it and his goal of making everyone happy and united would be achieved. Scar, on the contrary, felt his fundamental reason for existence was to obtain all the power, and he did malicious things in order to do that.

Scar wanted the Hyenas and Lions to roam amongst each other and have all of them doing whatever he said; his goal being to obtain absolute control. Finally, hand check deals with the implementation of things (doing what is right). Simba was always very modest and did not like thinking of himself and being king, but he knew that in order

to save Pride Rock and everyone in the kingdom, he needed to triumph over his nefarious, unethical uncle. During Scar’s reign, many horrendous things happened to Pride Rock. For instance, all the herds moved on and there was no food left for anyone; everything was dull and dead.

Scar refused to listen to any of the other members of the kingdom and was very selfish in everything he did. Unlike before, the females had a more prominent role when Scar was in charge. He did not want any responsibilities, so he made it the job of the lionesses to hunt and gather food for everyone. In leadership roles, women tend to be more supportive, participative, relationship- oriented, harmonious, and collaborative. When Mufasa was king, the lionesses were very passive, peaceful and lounged around all day, giving baths to their offspring, behaving very feminine-like.

When Scar came to power, a big reason why Pride Rock transformed was because there was a conflict in gender roles and an inconsistency in behaviors. At the end, Simba, Timon, Pumba, Nala, and the lionesses all worked together to triumph over Scar and the Hyenas. Before Scar’s reign, Pride Rock was considered to have a Sub-Saharan Africa culture. This culture tends to be very concerned and sensitive to others. The concern for family and friends is way more important than the concern for one’s self. During Scar’s time, however, the culture was very different.

There was no harmony and concern for others, but rather dissonance and selfishness. The culture was more identifiable with Germanic Europe, which tends to value competition, aggressiveness, and is more results-driven than people-oriented. Scar was only interested in finding food

and pleasing himself. Once Simba regained his rightful spot as king, the culture transformed back into what it was before. Mufasa and Simba behaved in a humane-oriented way, which is a global leadership behavior. They were compassionate and generous, always protected their families and friends, and never put themselves above anyone else.