Team executive Summary

Leadership Styles Illustrated in the Film Dead Poets Society
Author’s Name
Institution

Abstract
Leadership has numerous definitions, but the different definitions agree that it involves guiding a group towards attaining a common goal. There are several leadership styles, and they vary depending on individual personality. From the film Dead Poets Society, the different characters depict diverse leadership styles. For instance, Mr. Keating illustrates what it takes to be a transformational leader or a visionary leader. Transformational leadership is one that aims at inspiring team members to be better whereas visionary leadership focuses on strategic thinking and seeing the bigger picture. Autocratic leadership is illustrated in the film by Mr. Nolan. Autocratic leadership is one that the leader has total control and does not engage their subordinates in decision-making. Another leadership style that is illustrated in the film is transactional leadership. Transactional leadership aims at setting a definite chain of command, and good deeds are rewarded whereas the bad ones are punished. In the film, Mr. Perry and Mr. Nolan depict transactional leadership. Therefore, the film illustrates the diverse types of leadership and further indicates that personality impacts a leadership style.
Keywords: Transformational leadership, transactional leadership, autocratic leadership, visionary leadership

Introduction
The motion picture Dead Poets Society is based on John Keating, a new English teacher in a boys’ preparatory school.

The new teacher uses unconventional methods to reach out to students at the Welton academy facing enormous pressure from the school and their parents. The new English teacher manages to inspire students such as Todd Anderson, Neil Perry, and others become better and follow their dreams. The film depicts different forms of leadership that will be addressed in the essay.
Different leadership styles illustrated in the Dead Poets’ Society
Transformational leadership
Transformational leadership is a type of leadership that aims at inspiring team members by making use of effective communication and creating a surrounding that fosters intellectual stimulation (McCleskey, 2014). The motion picture Dead Poets’ Society depicts this form of leadership. The new English teacher, Mr. Keating depicts this form of leadership. Transformational leaders are inspiring, and this quality is evidenced by Mr. Keating who encourages his students to live life fully and grab opportunities if they want to experience life. Further, Mr. Keating encourages the students to have diverse ways of looking at situations. Another instance that illustrates transformational leadership in the motion picture is how the students start valuing poetry, a subject that was once hated at Welton Academy. Through his transformational leadership approach, Mr. Keating also inspires the students to reform the Dead Poets Society that was previously dormant. From the motion picture, it becomes evident that a transformational leader such as Mr. Keating aims at inspiring team members by making use of effective communication to reach out to the subjects.
Autocratic leadership
Autocratic leadership is one where the leader has total control. This is to imply that leaders do not engage their subordinates in decision-making. Further, autocratic leaders make decisions solely, communicate them to their juniors and wait for their subordinates to implement the decisions. In the film Dead Poets Society, the director of the Welton Academy, Mr. Nolan depicts the autocratic leadership style. Mr. Nolan has a fixated mind on the four pillars that the institution is based on and expects all students to follow the guidelines. Further, Mr. Nolan’s personality is authoritative an aspect that characterizes autocratic leaders. Autocratic leadership is also seen in the film when Mr. Nolan uses corporal punishment and also beats up Charlie Dalton, a student who challenges him in public. Therefore, this is an indication that autocratic leaders are sole decision-makers since they do not engage their subordinates in the process.
Visionary leadership
This is a leadership style founded on thinking strategically and seeing the bigger picture. In the motion picture Dead Poets Society, this leadership style is depicted by Mr. Keating. The new English teacher tends to do things differently and also takes initiatives. Mr. Keating is risk taker since he does not follow the conventional ways applied by his predecessors in teaching but instead uses an approach that encourages the students to become free men. Therefore, Mr. Keating depicts the visionary leadership style since he is a risk taker and is willing to do things differently.
Transactional leadership
Transactional leadership focuses on group organization since it aims at setting a definite chain of command. In this form of leadership, good deeds are rewarded whereas the bad ones are punished. In the film Dead Poets Society, Mr. Nolan and Mr. Perry who is Perry’s father depict this kind of leadership. Mr. Perry wants to make it clear to Perry that he is the head and therefore his son should follow his instructions. On the other hand, Mr. Nolan indicates that a subordinate should do as directed by their senior. Additionally, Mr. Nolan punishes students for bad deeds and tells those that excel in academics will get enrolled in prestigious tertiary learning institutions. Therefore, the film indicates that transactional leadership has a defined chain of command and actions have rewards or punishments.
Conclusion
From the motion picture, several leadership styles such as transactional, transformational, autocratic, and visionary leadership styles are evidenced by the characters. It has also become evident that a leader self-development determines the kind of leadership style a person will have (Reichard & Johnson, 2011).

References
McCleskey, J. A. (2014). Situational, transformational, and transactional leadership and leadership development. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, 5(4), 117-130. Retrieved from http://jbsq.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/June_2014_9.pdf
Reichard, R. J., & Johnson, S. K. (2011). Leader self-development as organizational strategy. The Leadership Quarterly, 22, 33-42. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2010.12.005