Leader Philosophies, Themes, and Strategies Employed through “The Last Castle”
(Information from the film will be written in a basic Times New Roman, Font 12; however the information retrieved from Organizational Behavior resources will be italicized, as well as my added comments)
The Last Castle was packed full of leaders; bad, good, and great according to the numerous leadership philosophies, themes, and strategies that I will identify. The movie begins with Lieutenant General (3-Star) Irwin coming off the bus in his dress green uniform, while in handcuffs. He has the entire prison (staff, soldiers, and prisoners) watching him being escorted into the “Castle” prison. While he is escorted, the prisoners are taking bets on how long he…show more content… Furthermore, withholding resources is one of The 12 Elements of Great Managing (I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right, Ch. 2, The Second Element) Basketball is not considered work; however, it is a part of their daily activities, and withholding items causes friction on the court, which does not allow for everyone to participate. While chaos / a fight arose, other prisoners, the guards, and the Colonel observed, until the Colonel finally gave the order to put a stop to it. Although bean bags were shot rather than “live” ammunition, apparently the Colonel had given orders to aim at the head periodically (calling it an accident), especially when prisoners (or animals, as the Colonel called them often) were killed. This type of leadership is in line with Machiavelli’s, pg. 4, assumed view of human nature in the prison, that human beings are essentially evil… as the prisoners/animals were evil. Also, I compared this accidental killing of prisoners in “The Castle” like the beginning of Sun Tzu. Sun Tzu killed the King’s two favorite concubines because they failed to follow orders. Just like the Colonel gave orders a second time before commanding the marksman to shoot, Sun Tzu gave the orders a second time before he killed the concubines. “When the orders have been made clear, and are not carried out in accordance with military law, it is a