Operating a warship is an organizational nightmare. More than a hundred people must harmoniously work together to operate the sails, maintain the weaponry and prepare for immediate battle. All the while, these sailors must be motivated through dire adversity and keep calm during times of alarming panic. There is no time to micromanage people or precisely instruct them on their tasks; the lieutenants and captain on board must trust that their subordinates will make the correct decisions or else all that awaits them is certain destruction. In Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, the viewer is introduced to the 197 crewmembers aboard the H.S.S. Surprise, an English man-of-war warship that has been ordered to pursue the larger and much stronger enemy warship, Acheeron. The crew’s journey leads them across the world in pursuit of the Acheeron as they seek to capture it as a prize. Given the strong leadership that the captain displays, the unrelenting motivation he instills and the strong organizational culture of the HSS Surprise, it is no surprise that they are indeed able to defy all odds and defeat their stronger foe in battle thousands of miles away from their homeland.
Leadership is an ambiguous quality that is not easily defined, but Captain Jack Aubrey of the H.S.S. Surprise clearly exemplifies it. By applying various leadership theories to Aubrey we can explain exactly why he is such an effective leader. The first group of leadership theories that should be considered are trait theories “that propose personality, social, physical or intellectual traits differentiate leaders from non-leaders” (Langton & Roberts, 2007, p.389). Trait theories are convenient because they assume that certain traits make a person a natural leader, which let the selection of leaders become a black and white process: either you have it or you do not. Currently, the traits that have the greatest, although moderate, correlation to effective leadership are as follows:...