Lost in Leadership

ABC’s Lost is known as one of the most expensive, dynamic and confusing shows in the 21st century. The production’s seemingly unlimited cast of unique characters had something to offer to any type of audience. Although it took me several years after the series ended to give Lost a fair chance, I steadily watched all six seasons and became hooked as the suspenseful storyline unfolded.

Although the main leaders in the show changed dramatically, each had a specific leadership style that carried throughout the six season. Some showed participative decision making and others authoritative. A few leaders were clearly task oriented while others focused on people as a leadership orientation. Finally, these leaders also differed in their perspective of the intentions of the group. Some assumed that members disliked participating and others believed the team enjoyed responsibility.

Jack Shephard was the first individual of Oceanic flight 815 to rise as a leader. After the crash, people blinded by fear, pain over loved ones lost and shock. Jack organized survivors to search for the wounded, stay calm and to remain focused of creating shelter. Though these actions, Jack rose as a participative leader, including others in his plans and building team moral.

As the story unfolded, Jack continued to play as both task and people oriented. He fostered relationships with all survivors and listened to their concerns. When anyone was in harm, he would put any task on hold to get them to safety. He also made tough decisions and concentrated on the task at hand. Throughout the series the main task was to get off the island which other individuals argued to be the cause of a magnitude of recurring issues. Although Jack had strong leadership behavior, he often made uneducated decisions caused by his sense of urgency. During the third season, Jack didn’t allow another character to participate in a dangerous task due to the high risk stating, “For 90 days I have been asked to make decisions-there you go I just made one”. If Jack had listened to Sayid Jarrah’s reasoning, he would have understand that the task was necessary and potentially saved lives. This example also shows how Jack more often had a Theory X perspective on the group by delegating tasks in order to meet a common goal without the expectation that the team truly wanted to responsibility.

In comparison to Jack’s leadership style, Benjamin Linus had a very different style. As the leader of “The Others” Ben practiced authoritarian leadership by demanding individuals to blindly follow his commands without question. In the third season, Jack organizes an unexpected attack on the others with the help of Juliet. After Juliet’s testimony Jack claimed, “ Ben Sent Juliet to test for pregnancies in the group”, which expresses her duty to complete Ben’s demands regardless of the ethical appeal. This example also shows that Ben was task oriented and didn’t care about the people that could be effected along the way. Ben also showed that he obtained Theory X leadership when he threatened those who refused to follow his lead. He believe that force was needed to motivate group members to work and they naturally in’t want to contribute to his goal.