Stand and Deliver

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the leadership behaviors noted in the movie Stand and Deliver. This movie was about a teacher who stood up to the school administration, his family, and the community to help a group of underprivileged, mostly Spanish children from an LA ghetto excel in mathematics. Eventually his teaching program had the teenagers passing AP calculus. Despite officials stating the students cheated, hostile students, an unorganized and underfunded school, and a school staff who was not motivated to help his cause or the schools, somehow this teacher rose above and began a program that changed lives. The first type of leadership that will be discussed is the trait theory of leadership. This type of leadership has been proclaimed obsolete by itself in determining leadership ability. According to Bass(2008) this type of leadership began to lose ground in the 1940 's. This leadership theory has been making a comeback in the last few years. According to Kirkpatrick and Locke(1991) leaders possess certain core traits that are noted in successful leaders. It has been made rather clear that great leaders are different than other people and feature different traits. The teacher in this movie was a prime example of this. This leader demonstrated self-confidence, stamina, motivation, courage, skills, and excellent performance in his role as the leader of these students. When the going got tough, he got even tougher and retained a stamina and will that went beyond what other people would tolerate. Many before him had quit and yet he refused to succumb to the same fate.

References:
Kirkpatrick, S., & Locke, E. (1991). Leadership: Do traits matter? Academy of Management. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/210514732?accountid=27965

References: Kirkpatrick, S., & Locke, E. (1991). Leadership: Do traits matter? Academy of Management. Retrieved from  http://search.proquest.com/docview/210514732?accountid=27965