More modern media leadership examples

Buffy…yes I said Buffy. As in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  This class has prompted me to look at leadership around me at every opportunity and frequently pop culture gives great examples.  We have already discussed some Star Trek references, now we are moving into the modern time.  Pop culture attempts to mirror reality which is why people identify with it.  Buffy the Vampire Slayer, for those un-indoctrinated, was a show based on the premise that a blonde, popular cheerleader-type girl is bestowed super-natural powers of stregnth and agility so she can fight and save the world from vampires and demons. Strange I know.  Here is the leadership lesson. In the mythology of the show other girls who carried this same burden/gift died very quickly in their battle – part of the show is that Buffy is  different.  She survives time after time despite actually being killed a couple of times in the course of the show.  How does she do it, what is different? All of the other “Slayers” are loners; they are isloated and have only one ally who even knows their secret.  Buffy on the other hand has friends and she leads them into battle with her even though they have no “super powers”.  Because of her team, her support system and the way she leads her group, she surpasses any girl before her and defeats more evil than anyone ever could.  How does she do it?  First, she trusts her team.  Time after time she goes to them for advice, research, support, she trains them, gives them jobs and fighting responsibilities and she cries on their shoulders when needed.  Yet at the same time she understands her burden and responsibility to keep others safe.  In the show she is the “choosen one” the one with the responsibility but also with the special gifts to make it possible for her to accomplish the goal.  The other team members do not have her ‘special’ gifts but they follow her into life/death situations everyday. She acted as a shepard to her team relying on them trusting them and then also never forgeting her obligation to lead them.

The show introduces another character, Faith, who is also a Slayer but has a totally different outlook on life.  Faith is very emotional, rageful, selfish and is very much the “loner” type.  She has had a hard up-bringing and does not trust people at all.  These two women are both capable of being the leaders, of defeating the bad guys and saving the world.  But in the end, Buffy is the one who accopmlishes the goal.  At one point in the show Faith takes control and tries to lead but fails.  For those familiar with the show you’ll see how when you reflect how Buffy’s style of leadership makes it possible for her to accopmlish her goals and more.  She was dedicated to the task, she was moral, she puts the needs of others ahead of her self at nearly all turns.  She developed a cohort of people around her she could trust and during times when she was absent from the group for months at a time sometimes, the group was able to continue fighting and winning to the best of their ability.

It may seem silly to refer to these science-fiction based pop-culture references but what this class has done for me is emphasize that leadership is a way of life and what is important is to look for examples of leadership all around.  If I am conscious of leadership models around me, I will be more conscious of leadership in my own life and efforts.

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