Analysis Of The Leadership Skills Of Chris Gardner – Protagonist Of “The Pursuit Of Happyness”
The leadership trait theory was presented by Sir Francis Galton in 1869 in his groundbreaking book on leadership, Hereditary Genius. The trait theory rests on the premise that the success and effectiveness of a leader is directly linked to the presence of certain psychological or physical traits. In a research study Mumford, Zaccaro, Harding, Jacobs, and Fleishman, five main types of leadership attributes were put forward: cognitive abilities, personality, motivation, interpersonal skills and leader expertise (2000). For the purpose of this paper, two main features of Chris Gardner’s leadership will be analyzed: his cognitive abilities and his personality, to determine whether he possesses the attributes necessary to be a successful leader.
Cognitive abilities: Efficient leaders possess strong cognitive abilities including ability to creatively and critically analyze problems and to present solutions. According to Northouse (2010) successful leaders commonly have “creative and divergent thinking capacities, and memory skills”. He further opines that being a leader means the person possesses:
- Strong analytical skills
- Capability to think in a multidimensional manner
- Ability to think clearly
- Common sense and sound judgment skills
Chris Gardner is the main protagonist of the popular film, “The Pursuit of Happyness”. Gardner’s leadership skills, when analyzed within the scope of the leadership trait theory prove that he is in fact a great leader. A leader possesses strong cognitive ability which makes them capable of looking at a problem or an opportunity from various angles and to make decisions according to the nature of the situation. One of the scenes in the movie in which Gardner talks to his son while playing basketball with him exemplifies his cognitive abilities and his ability to present solution to a problem according to changing situation. While playing, at one point, Gardner told his son that he can never be a good basketball player and that he shouldn’t spend too much time on the court. His son, quite understandably, got upset. Gardner realizes his mistake that, instead of disheartening his son, he should teach him to protect his dreams. He then gives a short moving lecture to his son; he remarks,“Hey. Don’t ever let somebody tell you, you can’t do something. Not even me. All right? You got a dream? You gotta protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they want to tell you you can’t do it. You want something? Go get it! Period!”
Recent studies related to the leadership trait theory have largely focused on studying the personality of the leaders. Most of these studies are centered on identifying the relationship between leaders’ traits and the Big Five model. The Big Five Model identified five attributes that were stated to be most important to leadership: extroversion, conscientiousness, openness to experiences, low in neuroticism and agreeableness.
The factors were arranged in relation to their importance to leadership. Effective leaders are normally extroverts: they are outgoing, sociable and assertive. Being assertive also means these leaders exude positive energy and create energy in others. Leaders have a positive attitude and optimism and they also transmit this attitude in their followers. Chris Gardner was sociable and outgoing, he radiated positive energy and his words and actions always resulted in raising others’ spirits and created optimism in them. The fact that Gardner’s words and actions radiated energy that served to raise other’s spirits is apparent in the way he tells his son to, “Walk that walk and go forward all the time. Don’t just talk that talk, walk it and go forward. Also, the walk didn’t have to be long strides; baby steps counted too. Go forward”. Chris Gardner’s extroversion skills are at their peak in that particular scene of the movie where he goes shabbily dressed for a job interview and tries to win over his boss with wit and humor. Gardner’s words are a testimony to his great social and extroversion skills,
“Chris Gardner: Can I say something? I´m the type of person if you ask me a question, and I don´t know the answer, I´m gonna tell you that I don´t know. But I bet you what. I know how to find the answer, and I will find the answer. Is that fair enough?
Boss: Chris. What would you say if a guy walked in for an interview, without a shirt on, and I hired him? What would you say?
Chris Gardner: He must have had on some really nice pants.”
The second factor of the Big Five Model is conscientiousness which means the leader is dependable, loyal, committed and honest. Gardner’s monologue at the beginning give a testimony to the fact that he was committed to the cause of upbringing his son and to not let the past repeat itself, “I'm Chris Gardner. I met my father for the first time when I was 28 years old. And I made up my mind as a young kid... that when I had children... my children were gonna know who their father was”.
The third factor, openness to experience means the leaders are flexible in their decisions and in their actions, are intelligent and have an internal locus of control. Chris Gardner scores extremely high on the third factor; when he met a bunch of stockbrokers and inquired them about their profession, he became eager to try out the new profession as he thought, “They all looked so damn happy to me. Why couldn’t I look like that? Gardner decided he would try to learn the new profession, no matter how hard it will be, “I’m gonna try to get home by 6. I’m gonna stop by a brokerage firm after work.
Neuroticism refers to a person’s tendency to be nervous, anxious, unconfident, vulnerable and aggressive. People with low level of neuroticism find it easier to remain calm in stressful situations as compared to people with high level of neuroticism who can easily get offended. Effective leaders normally have a low level of neuroticism; the fact that Chris Gardner had a low level of neuroticism is proved by the way he handles the difficulties in life with determination and focus, it is evident through his thoughts too, “The future was uncertain, absolutely, and there were many hurdles, twists, and turns to come, but as long as I kept moving forward, one foot in front of the other, the voices of fear and shame, the messages from those who wanted me to believe that I wasn't good enough, would be stilled.”
Agreeableness refer to leader’s tendency to get along with others; Chris Gardner was a smart leader and had a higher level of agreeableness as he could easily get along with people, whether it was his son, his boss or some ordinary person on the road, Gardner easily struck a chord with them. The traits of Chris Gardner when analyzed for his leadership skills prove that he possessed all the skills necessary to be an effective leader.
