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Servant leadership is a leadership style in which the leader prioritizes people over performance and acts as a servant to their followers. This type of leadership establishes strong relationships among followers and encourages them to sacrifice their personal goals for the teams sake (Sarratt & Chadwick, 2020). This paper will explore how servant leadership is exemplified in the movie Remember the Titans. The movie depicts the true story of a newly appointed African American football coach, Herman Boone, who intends to create a winning racially integrated team in a world where racial segregation effects are still strong. In Remember the Titans, servant leadership can be seen in the actions of Trainer Boone, the team captain Julius Campbell, and the white assistant coach Bill Yoast.
Although Trainer Boone first defined his leadership style as a dictatorship, he soon shifted to servant leadership. He renounced the idea of racial segregation and united people of different races into one team. According to Sarratt & Chadwick (2020), servant leadership aims to make every team member flourish in different aspects of their lives. This principle can be seen in Trainer Boones actions: while he mainly focused on honing team members football skills, he also paid attention to other dimensions of the players lives. For example, he required Louie Lastik to bring him his test scores every week when Lastik complained that he was unlikely to get to college. Eventually, it brought positive results as Lastik said, I got a C-plus average, Coach. Im going to college (Yakin, 2000, 01:33:24-01:33:28). Boone also strengthened the relationships within the team, which aligns with the principles of servant leadership. Eventually, it allowed the trainer to create a winning team.
Another example of servant leadership in the movie is Julius Campbell, the captain of the Titans team. In the beginning, Julius was self-centered and focused on honing his own skills to become the best player. However, the conversation with Gerry Bertier, another team player, sobered him and brought him to servant leadership. In this conversation, Julius resents, Im supposed to wear myself out for the team? & No, what Im gonna do is, Im gonna look out for myself, and Im gonna get mine (Yakin, 2000, 30:27-30-37). In response to this, Gerry says, Thats the worst attitude I ever heard (Yakin, 2000, 30:40-30:44). Later, Julius seems to pay heed to Gerrys words and begins to sacrifice his ambitions for the sake of the team. In other words, he shifts to the we all win or none of us do mindset, which is key to servant leadership (Sarratt & Chadwick, 2020, p. 12). Hence, Julius exemplifies how servant leaders prioritize group interests over personal ones.
One final example of servant leadership in Remember the Titans is the coaching style of Bill Yoast, a white coach who became Herman Boones assistant. Yoast had many ambitions: to remain the head coach and be nominated for the Hall of Fame. Therefore, when he learned that he had to work under the leadership of an African American, he first decided to quit the job. However, as he realized that if he left, his trainees would also leave, he chose to accept his new position, which is when his servant leadership began. Servant leaders do not just believe that team interests should come first, but they also align their actions with these beliefs (Sarratt & Chadwick, 2020). Yoasts self-sacrifice is best seen when he approaches the judge, who appears corrupt, and says that he would go to the papers, even if he harms himself by doing so. Thus, as a servant leader, Yoast is ready to put the teams interests before his own ones.
In conclusion, servant leaders care about the success of the team more than about their own benefits. Moreover, they try to develop the talents of their followers and help them realize their full potential. In Remember the Titans, with the help of servant leadership, the coaches managed to create a winning team where every members interests were considered, and the team acted as a whole toward the common goal.
References
Sarratt, R., & Chadwick, R. (2020). Team work: 13 timeless principles for creating success and fulfillment as a team member. Fidelis Books.
Yakin, B. (2000). Remember the titans [Film]. Walt Disney Pictures.
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