In my opinion, the leader in the film, “The Day After Tomorrow”, is Sam, Jack’s son. In the movie, he displays the qualities that a good moral leader should have. Leadership Concept #1: DiSC Personality. The DiSC personality profile of Sam would most probably be a high “I” as he is communicative, interactive, friendly, optimistic, impulsive & trusting. In the movie, Sam communicates & interacts with the other survivors about his personal life, portraying that he was communicative, interactive & friendly.
He was also impulsive when he almost died when he called his father using a public phone in an already flooded area, & risked his own safety to get out of the public library into the ship to look for medicine in order to save Laura. He was also optimistic, as he believed that they would survive through the event. Leadership Concept #2: Moral Leadership. Sam displays qualities of someone with moral leadership when faced with a moral dilemma. In the movie, Sam was faced with several dilemmas, two of which are, stopping fellow survivors from leaving, & deciding whether or not to risk his life to save Laura, or leave her to die.
In the first dilemma, Sam could have not warned the others that they would die if they headed south, & avoided the conflict between himself & the policeman. If he had not warned the others, he would also have a high chance of surviving as he would not have to share food & other necessities, with the other survivors. Risking his life to save Laura, he portrayed the role of recognising the existence of a moral dilemma; he sacrificed his own safety in order to defend Laura from dying.
He displayed level 3 (Post-conventional) of the model of personal moral development as he followed internalized universal principals of justice & right by burning the library books, which is illegal, to help himself & others survive. Leadership Concept #3: Leadership Styles. Sam displays S4 of Hersey & Blanchard’s situational theory of leadership styles, as he is delegating. He told the small group of survivors that they needed to stay indoors in order to survive, & the group went to find food, & get some books to create a fire without him telling them to.
This shows that he followers’ readiness was R4, as they were able & willing. Leadership Concept #4: Leadership Communication. Sam shows 3 out of the 4 key elements in effective communication. He shows that he listens, as he had managed to catch the message that his father had told him through the phone despite the distractions from Laura & the rising water level. He also has dialogues with people, an example being revealing his feelings for Laura. Sam shares the fact that everyone will die if they went outdoors, this shows that he shares information with others, creating an open communication.
Leadership Concept #5: Charismatic Leadership & Followership. Sam is a charismatic leader as he had inspired & motivated Brian & J. D. to do more than they would normally do, despite obstacles & personal sacrifice, when both decided to join him to get medicine for Laura.
References:
Emmerich, R. (Director), Emmerich, R. , Gordon, M. (Producers). (2004) The Day After Tomorrow. [VCD]. United States: 20th Century Fox. Daft, R. L. (2011). Leadership (5th edition). International: South Western Cengage Learning.
