Jonathan Campbell - The Effectiveness of Jack Sparrow as a Leader

Captain Jack Sparrow, swashbuckling pirate extraordinaire, falls short fairly often as he sails the seven seas, due in part to the general ineffectiveness of his leadership amongst his ships general population. However, the support provided by select members of his close circle, combined with some pirate antics and self-prescription of Caribbean rum, proves to be enough for him to keep on his jolly path. So: why the discrepancy?

 The key can be found amongst his crew. Jacks focus is narrower than his crew, leading his crew in searches for particular artifacts instead of making sure they are being paid. While Jack searches for the key to the chest that contains Davy Jones heart, we see his crews become impatient, pushing them towards yet another mutiny.

His close confidants however, are motivated by things outside of booty, such as love or loyalty or some other intrinsic reward. Jacks animal magnetism and charisma compel them to believe in what he believes, or at least believe in him enough to humor the good captain.

However, in the end, Jack loses the pearl, due in large part to his tunnel vision. While jack had leadership ability in droves, he lacked simple managerial skills that are needed to a keep a crew of that side together. Perhaps for the best, his organization maroons him in an eastern pirate port, choosing to follow a leader that would better suit their needs. Jack then transitioned into, frankly, the position hes best at: an independent contributor. Finally free of the stresses his crew caused, Jack could pursue his ultimate goal: immortality via the fountain of youth. 

Matthew Ricks

February 28^th, 2016

Conflict Management in Disney Movies: Cars

In my favorite Disney Pixar movie “Cars,” Lightning McQueen, a show-boating rookie race car is on his way to California for a tie-breaker race after a 3-way tie in the piston cup when the unthinkable happens! On the road to California, McQueen winds up rolling out of his hauler on the highway and in a frenzy, he speed and drives recklessly as he tears up the stretch of Route 66 that runs through the tiny little town in Carburetor County, Radiator Springs. McQueen winds up getting busted and impounded by the old sheriff in town where he is sentenced to repaving the road in return for his freedom. Lightning McQueen finds conflict with Doc Hudson, a retired race car, because of his arrogant ways and the way that he looks down on the small town cars due to the fact that he is a famous race car.  The conflict grows stronger as Lightning McQueen rushes to repave the road and leaves it in worse condition than when he started. The two resolve conflict as Lightning McQueen learns the value of hard work after finding out the two have common ground in racing when McQueen discovers that Doc, is actually The Fabulous Hudson Hornet, winner of five Piston Cups.

"Float like a Cadillac; Sting like a Beamer"

-Lightning McQueen 

Cortlyn Buck
Conflict Management: Cinderella

Fairy tale stories recounted and narrated to us as children, act as a medium to convey underlying messages within each story on ways to handle conflict and manage it correspondingly. “Conflict is a normal and natural occurrence of interacting with one another. The cost of resolving conflict is negligible relative to the cost of leaving conflicts unresolved”(Belak). In life, conflict must be utilized for the greater good of resolving problems. Walt Disney has shown how to resolve arising conflict through several movies that have been produced i.e. the fairy tale of Cinderella. The main character Cinderella herself, struggles in facing many conflicts with her evil step mom and evil stepsisters. Cinderella is portrayed as a virtuous character; moreover this angered her stepmother due to herself and her two daughters being immoral in comparison. Though Cinderella was treated poorly, she kept to the moral high road and did not let the evil bring her down. This story correlates to adversities in the work force such as, when one is presented with a bad manager who is unjust without reason, and presenting favoritism in the work place. When one is in this situation, they must have the mindset of Cinderella in order to manage the conflict. Even though your boss may be “evil” one must choose to remain kind and thoughtful. Cinderella teaches us that we are able to act appropriately, even though mal behavior is surrounding us. Cinderella also establishes the importance of perseverance through unpleasant tasks with a compliant work ethic, making the impossible seem possible. In doing so, you instill optimism in yourself as an employee, and with that, things may take a turn for the better.

However, with these points being made it is a leader’s duty to be mutual and not displaying favoritism. The leader must recognize a problem when it has arisen and devise a plan to resolve it. “Difficult behavior can inhibit performance in others and will only deteriorate if left alone, contaminating more people and incurring hidden costs for the organization”(Belak). Additionally, the leader should not abuse the power for one’s own agenda, but utilize it for the greater good of the business or organization.

In conclusion, both parties play an integral role in the overall success of the group. Each individual must recognize their part they must play and excel it in.

                                                                Work Cited:

Belak, Tony. "How To Handle Difficult Behavior In The Workplace." Medite Everything Mediation. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2016.

Intro to Conflict Management: Lilo and Stitch

Corrina Benavides

In one of the more famous Disney movies, Lilo and Stitch, Nani, Lilo's older sister, is forced to constantly manage conflicts revolving around Lilo while being forced to adapt to her new environment. While the movie centers around Lilo and her alien companion, her older sister, Nani, faces the larger, life-altering struggles that reside in the background. Because the two sisters lost their parents so early in life, Nani is forced to adapt the parental role. This causes a rift between her and Lilo as Nani tries to step into new responsibilities. In her effort to run the household and raise Lilo, she runs into issues with Child Protective Services. Her deconstructive approaches towards controlling Lilo, the constant screaming and arguing, cause her more trouble than it's worth between not only her and Lilo, but her and Mr. Bubbles, the agent from CPS. Later on, in an instance after a serious argument, Nani sits on a hammock and tries to talk the situation out with Lilo. She tries to reason with Lilo as they both face the struggles of losing their parents and trying to adapt to life in the aftermath. 

In an article by David Dignath, two types of conflict management are described. Conflict avoidance and conflict adjustment are two common methods used by individuals. Conflict adjustment, which is described as individuals "investing more effort in the current task to overcome the conflict," is utilized by Nani. Rather than her character simply giving up on raising Lilo and being intimidated by CPS, she works even harder to keep what is left of her family intact. 



Source:

Dignath, David, Andrea Kiesel, and Andreas B. Eder. "Flexible Conflict Management: Conflict Avoidance And Conflict Adjustment In Reactive Cognitive Control." Journal Of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, And Cognition 41.4 (2015): 975-988.ERIC. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.

Veronica Phillips 

February 28th, 2016 

Conflict Management in Disney Movie: Inside Out

In various Disney Movies created by Pixar, conflict introduction through personal relationships is shown by characters throughout the movies in order to reach a certain point and allow the viewer to understand the learning lesson given. Growing up as a child, I have always viewed Disney movies as movies that taught me not only life lessons at a young age, but also how to manage a conflict and resolve it with a solution that each side of the parties can agree upon. Inside Out created by Pixar is a movie that has tremendous conflict throughout the film but is later overcome by a character that did not believe in herself in any way. When both of the characters Sadness and Joy are lost in a maze together, Joy begins to blame Sadness for them being lost and not being able to be home where they should be with there friends. Sadness begins to feel guilty and acknowledges that there is a conflict and what the conflict is on each side of the parties. According to the article The Impact of Relational Holism On Conflict Management Styles in Colleagueship And Friendship, “Differentiation is acknowledging that there is a conflict and what the differing sides of the conflict are. It is the first step to conflict management because it is the part of the process when both sides get a grasp of the other side of the party.” Once the conflict is announced between both Joy and Sadness, they begin to work as a team and try to figure out how they can return home in time for them to save Riley from danger. This movie has taught me that although there may be a conflict between you and someone else, there is a solution to that conflict waiting to be resolved. Although conflict is temporary, there is a strategy that can be used in order to overcome that conflict and allow both party’s to understand one another when even working in a team to solve that conflict just as Joy and Sadness in Inside Out. 

Source:Kim, Sang-Yeon, Jihyun Kim, and Tae-Seop Lim. "The Impact Of Relational Holism On Conflict Management Styles In Colleagueship And Friendship: A Cross-Cultural Study." Studies In Communication Sciences 13.(2013): 58-66. ScienceDirect. Web. Feb. 2016.