Be, Know, Do And 12 O’clock High
Leadership is one of the most discussed phenomena in academic literature, since it is something that any organization needs to succeed, and army is no exception. It is particularly important to have true leaders in the army, who can undertake responsibility and make people follow them in difficult situations. There are many books that teach how to nurture leadership qualities in oneself, and the book Be, Know, Do: Leadership the Army Way by Hesselbein et al is one of the best works in this field. The movie Twelve O’clock High at first sight seems to have little in common with the above mentioned book; however, it can perfectly serve as a kind of visual aid to this well-known work. General Savage in the movie Twelve O’clock High demonstrates practical implementation of many of the principles of leadership described in the book Be, Know, Do.
First of all, let’s clarify what is leader. The most concise but complete definition is presented in the book Be, Know, Do with reference to the research by James Kouzes and Barry Posner. It states that a leader is “someone you would willingly follow” (Hesselbein et al., 2004, p. 9). This definition does not speak about any specific qualities that a leader should possess but it gives a full understanding of the notion. Really, a leader is called to lead (which obviously follows from the word itself), but true leaders are not simply some persons appointed in a capacity of bosses but highly respected individuals who do not need any appointment to make people follow them. And to become such a person, one should possess some personal qualities.
This leads us to the first thing mentioned in the book: “Be”. Simply put, it talks about the need to give an example to the subordinates. No one can rightly demand from others to be brave or honest if he himself is coward and dishonest. General Savage demonstrates this rule. He is very demanding and even tough with his subordinates but he himself does not violate any rule imposed on others. His behavior has a message: “I am strict but I do the same things I require of you”. General Savage began to enforce discipline from the first minutes of his presence on the station. When he arrived, an MP let his vehicle pass without any check, and general hauled him up for his neglect having reminded that “this is a military post, not a zoo”. Later, Savage had an occasion to demonstrate that he himself respects discipline over his personal interests. When Bishop came to him as a spokesman and told that all boys were going to ask for transfer out, Savage replied that they should put their requests through channels. He didn’t try to keep the matter quiet, he advised to follow the set order.
General Savage was also truly competent thus demonstrating another point of the book Be, Know, Do: “People willingly follow only those who know what they are doing” (Hesselbein et al., 2004, p. 10).
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