Film Analysis; the Iron Lady
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Film Analysis; the Iron Lady
“Leadership is the process by which an executive imaginatively directs, guides and influences the work of others in attaining specified goals”, Theo Haimann. Leadership can be defined as the position held by an individual that allows him or her to exercise personal influences on the followers and directing their efforts to attain an objective. Leaders emerge in a group by virtue of their exceptional qualities and personality attributes, and sometimes by the virtue of the common agreement of a group of individuals. A leader, whether male or female, is expected to perform certain roles and generally influences a huge audience. Women leadership in the contemporary world has elicited several debates; it is commonly understood that women leaders have to do efforts against a myriad of odds to seize any meaningful position in society. the depiction of women leadership is one of the frantic efforts of filmmakers to pitch themselves as having a keen eye on the events happening worldwide. The movie The Iron Lady is a biopic film, reflective of the journey of a remarkable leader Margaret Thatcher; the only lady Prime Minister of Britain. This paper seeks to analyze this movie with the objective of assessing the leadership style of Thatcher, and the ways she dealt with the challenges alongside facilitating her goals and objectives followed by some key takeaways from the movie.
The Iron Lady as a Leader 1008
Margaret Thatcher was born in Grantham, England on October 13, 1925, to a local businessman; she was introduced to politics by her father who was a member of the council of the town. She is the longest-serving prime minister of the UK and held office from 1979 to 1990. The movie is an excellent example of a woman who smashes the class and gender barriers and emerges as the most esteemed figure in a society particularly dominated by males. During the course of her presidency, the policies he implemented have been referred to as “Thatcherism”. She was given the title “Iron Lady” by a Soviet journalist dubbed for her uncompromising and adamant leadership style. She was not only the leader of the ‘Conservative Party’ from 1975 to 1990 but also the leader of the entire nation.
The leadership style as depicted by Thatcher in the movie and in general according to the sources is assertive and forceful. The most suitable term used for her leadership style is ‘autocratic leader’, such leaders generally take, “Do as I say” approach. Often the leader takes most of the decision-making responsibilities ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"Wdzudrl2","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Rast III, Hogg, & Giessner, 2013)","plainCitation":"(Rast III, Hogg, & Giessner, 2013)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":114,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/rhLtY1cq/items/RIURJUBW"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/rhLtY1cq/items/RIURJUBW"],"itemData":{"id":114,"type":"article-journal","container-title":"Self and Identity","issue":"6","page":"635-649","title":"Self-uncertainty and support for autocratic leadership","volume":"12","author":[{"family":"Rast III","given":"David E."},{"family":"Hogg","given":"Michael A."},{"family":"Giessner","given":"Steffen R."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2013"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Rast III, Hogg, & Giessner, 2013). Such leaders generally take the approach to dictate work, methods, and processes to others, less inclined towards the group decision making the approach. These characteristics of her leadership style offered her several benefits, she was able to take Britain out of recession with her ability to efficiently and quickly make decisions free of the laborious democratic process. Her authoritarian leadership style was most suitable in the periods of high-pressure. That is why she is greatly admired by her ability to get things done in a limited time. Leaders adopting this leadership style might face controversies owing to disgruntlement amid co-workers resulting from the notion that they do not have any input and power in the decision ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"JFXgkLer","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Rast III et al., 2013)","plainCitation":"(Rast III et al., 2013)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":114,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/rhLtY1cq/items/RIURJUBW"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/rhLtY1cq/items/RIURJUBW"],"itemData":{"id":114,"type":"article-journal","container-title":"Self and Identity","issue":"6","page":"635-649","title":"Self-uncertainty and support for autocratic leadership","volume":"12","author":[{"family":"Rast III","given":"David E."},{"family":"Hogg","given":"Michael A."},{"family":"Giessner","given":"Steffen R."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2013"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Rast III et al., 2013). According to the critics, the movie exaggerates her inflexibility and resolution as she was in real life ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"yRVSOxVT","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(White, 2012)","plainCitation":"(White, 2012)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":100,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/rhLtY1cq/items/3GD4RWD5"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/rhLtY1cq/items/3GD4RWD5"],"itemData":{"id":100,"type":"article-newspaper","abstract":"Meryl Streep rescues the film from caricature, says Michael White, who met Thatcher many times as the Guardian's sketchwriter from 1977-84","container-title":"The Guardian","ISSN":"0261-3077","language":"en-GB","section":"Film","source":"www.theguardian.com","title":"The Iron Lady portrays a very different Margaret Thatcher from the one I knew | Michael White","URL":"https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/jan/03/meryl-streep-margaret-thatcher-iron-lady","author":[{"family":"White","given":"Michael"}],"accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",12,3]]},"issued":{"date-parts":[["2012",1,3]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (White, 2012). Thatcher was rather realistic, even indecisive that was seldom visible in the movie.
She is highly regarded as the most charismatic leader in history, having robust self-confidence and the ability to articulate her solid vision. She also held the capability to impose her strong charismatic personal authority. The most prominent leadership qualities of Thatcher as exhibited in the film are grit, stigma, and authenticity; also confirmed by the external analysis of her personality as a women leader. The movie depicts her as a fighter, fighting all the odds, standing for her individual principles and in doing so, she is often obstinate and uncompromising. It is often said that this leadership approach of her let her exit, however, her distinguished leadership style made her the most remarkable lady. She is also said to have very empathetic and appreciative of those not at her level. She was not the listening leader; she utilized her femininity and her strengths in a male-dominated world setting an example of a great leader.
The effectiveness of her leadership style can be understood from the fact that Britain's economy was revitalized. Besides, Britain's spot on the global political landscape reinforced. However, one might wonder that she might be more successful and remarkable by having a group of external guides or trusted advisors to test her imagined solutions to be better equipped to win her combats. Studies coincide with her approach of leadership, for instance, the author of Women and Leadership: A Contextual Perspective describes 'the iron lady' as aggressive, self-confident, dominant ambitious and a manifestation of how things ought to be in reality ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"eT3TeFlQ","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Klenke, 2004)","plainCitation":"(Klenke, 2004)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":99,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/rhLtY1cq/items/F426WBPE"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/rhLtY1cq/items/F426WBPE"],"itemData":{"id":99,"type":"book","ISBN":"0-8261-9794-9","publisher":"Springer Publishing Company","title":"Women and leadership: A contextual perspective","author":[{"family":"Klenke","given":"Karin"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2004"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Klenke, 2004). Great leaders might become better by taking their own approach, following their own instincts and avoiding overdoing. Her leadership style is admired by many scholars and she has been deemed as an incomparable leader in their works on leadership.
She was the first female PM and took over a country where the unions were the real power and Parliament was a castrated rump. She was ruthless in breaking the power of the unions but was that any worse than the flying pickets and outright abrogation of power by the TUC who would use any and all methods to gain and hold power? Add to that the IRA campaign of terror and the general feeling that Britain was a basket case and you had a Nation that was in desperate need of a reboot. She did all of that in spades. It was said that she was the only one around the Cabinet table with any balls and it was her willingness to court disapproval in order to do what was necessary that set her apart from the other politicians of the day. She went overboard in trying to remake the country is reflected in the fact that her own party ousted her in the end. Some policies like the poll tax and privatization of State-owned enterprises were ideological rather than well thought out policies and the long term ramifications are still being felt today. However, she was the one who reached out to Gorbachev and started the process of ending the cold war.
To many people in the U.K. Margaret Thatcher was not a great leader, she was a very decisive figure, history has tended to paint her premiership with rose-colored spectacles, but in reality her time as PM was very controversial and fraught with recession, social inequality, and social fragmentation in the U.K. so the premise of the question is loaded. She did have qualities, of course, she had a very strong personality, was intelligent and well educated (as a scientist), she was also (contrary to the historical version of her) quite flexible and pragmatic when she needed to be. She could also, of course, be stubborn and very set in her ideas of how things should be. She was also at heart an English nationalist and she tended to ignore the parts of the U.K. that weren't England (people from the North of England often think she ignored them as well).
Gender or Minority-based Challenges and Thatcher High-level Leadership
Structural inequalities have left a particular impact on the advancement of women, in addition to other barriers. Margaret Thatcher's refusal to consider the interdependent nature of society, when forming judgments, led to additional damage. She is not considered feminist because apparently, she did not act as a feminist, addressing women issues. She praised women in her speeches and played upon women's stereotypes ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"0dRTM6li","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Katz, 2012)","plainCitation":"(Katz, 2012)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":115,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/rhLtY1cq/items/CMMGHK6B"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/rhLtY1cq/items/CMMGHK6B"],"itemData":{"id":115,"type":"article-journal","title":"Margaret Thatcher, Golda Meir, and Indira Gandhi's Actions and Rhetoric Regarding Feminism and Gender During Their Ascent to Power","author":[{"family":"Katz","given":"Ariel"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2012"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Katz, 2012). Yet she was a true feminist throughout her life, breaking all the women stereotypes and proving women's power in a male-dominated field. Being a woman, she had to face many ordeals; she became the first leader of any political party in the UK and had to break new grounds for other women. During that time, gender issues in labor unions pushed feminist issues and female leaders had to draw a line between feminism and their position in the party which she managed efficiently (Stone, 2016).
In spite of this great victory, Margaret Thatcher refused to formally declare victory even after she had reached the Central Office. On the 4th of May, Thatcher was congratulated by the Queen, yet she even then refused to declare victory and claim the Prime Minister title for herself. It was not until an official confirmation by the Parliament that Thatcher accepted the title for herself. The most significant aspect of this decision is that Thatcher’s campaign revolved around reinforcing an image of a strong and serious candidate. Thatcher had to overcome a number of obstacles in her quest, especially thrown at her by the Labor government, yet she still had to overcome the greatest obstacle yet; becoming the first woman Prime Minister of Britain. Thatcher had to tread very carefully while overcoming these obstacles, as any mistake on her part would have led to fingers pointed at her entire gender and not just her party. Being the first woman in the position, it was important that she set forth a high standard for her gender also and this explains why she wanted to avoid drawing attention to her gender. In this case, the issue of gender was critical as she was aware of the public’s tendency to attribute mistakes to her gender and not her successes.
If this campaign were to happen in contemporary times, the issue of Thatcher's gender would have been the headlines and a major point of discussion among the other candidates. Although it seems that gender was also a main issue in the 1970 elections, however, there is disagreement over the matter. For many, Thatcher's gender did not matter as much as her politics. One reason behind this is the nature of electoral politics in Britain itself, which allows people to vote only for a candidate with party tickets. Hence, it is difficult to say whether it was Thatcher's politics or her person which led to her election victory. As a matter of fact, both factors played a significant role in the elections and influenced voter opinions. These influences have been highlighted by Stone (2016) who examined evidence and records from both sides of the political spectrum, in particular, television appearances and ad campaigns. Stone (2016) suggested that Thatcher was smart enough to present conservative political opinions in a manner that they would seem more acceptable, thus able to win support from a range of voters despite leaning heavily to the Conservative side herself. On the other hand, she would take a strong standpoint on various existing issues that reinforced a certain persona in the minds of her voters.
Despite all the barriers she had to face as a woman building her political career, she leaned in and did not limit herself based on the idea of being a woman. She dealt with all those challenges that came forth and chose not to lead back and disengage herself. For instance, as a mother her responsibilities towards her family and children did not hold her back, she knew what she was meant for and accomplished while fulfilling her family errands as well.
Thatcher’s Persuasion Skills
Thatcher was no doubt one of the most persuasive leaders in history. Her life story depicts the ways she was able to persuade her followers and made them believe in her ideas. When she joined the office, employment was at the rise and she took on the Union which was highly dependent on her ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"gJAjIOLO","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Drexler, n.d.)","plainCitation":"(Drexler, n.d.)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":116,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/rhLtY1cq/items/DYPPLTQI"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/rhLtY1cq/items/DYPPLTQI"],"itemData":{"id":116,"type":"article-journal","container-title":"DAVID T. LOHREY","page":"51","title":"PERSUADING AN AUDIENCE: MARGARET THATCHER’S SPEECH TO THE FOREIGN POLICY ASSOCIATION (“THE WEST IN THE WORLD TODAY”)","author":[{"family":"Drexler","given":"Irina"}]}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Drexler, n.d.). She had a firm belief in her ideas; this made her followers and fellows believe in her ideas as well. She knew exactly what has to be done and her ability to foresee the outcomes of her policies influenced others as well. Her strong determination was the key to her success and belief others had in the iron lady. Her strong confidence not only assisted her to stand up to tyranny but also earned her a lot of respect and a voice people trusted and loved listening to. Despite being a woman leading a whole group of men, she influenced the crowd always. She would definitely have made to make an influence in the UK without a strong belief in her abilities.
Besides, she took the most strategic moves that elevated her followers’ confidence in her. For instance, she developed political ties with U.S. President Ronald Reagan for the benefit of both nations. This move of her allowed both sides to attain mutual goals and is said to have built a contemporary conservative movement. Her nickname or title 'Iron Lady' is also associated with her strong unshaken rhetoric. All of the speeches she delivered in the public, as reflected in the movie give an outlook on her firmness as a leader ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"cLcARanV","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Drexler, n.d.)","plainCitation":"(Drexler, n.d.)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":116,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/rhLtY1cq/items/DYPPLTQI"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/rhLtY1cq/items/DYPPLTQI"],"itemData":{"id":116,"type":"article-journal","container-title":"DAVID T. LOHREY","page":"51","title":"PERSUADING AN AUDIENCE: MARGARET THATCHER’S SPEECH TO THE FOREIGN POLICY ASSOCIATION (“THE WEST IN THE WORLD TODAY”)","author":[{"family":"Drexler","given":"Irina"}]}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Drexler, n.d.). All her speeches make her an epitome of good and influential leadership, where a leader not only induces people to act but also provides them with the directions. She signified herself as British in her speeches using the pronoun “we”, for instance, in her speech delivered to the Foreign Policy Association ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"y9Qh9KG4","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Drexler, n.d.)","plainCitation":"(Drexler, n.d.)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":116,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/rhLtY1cq/items/DYPPLTQI"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/rhLtY1cq/items/DYPPLTQI"],"itemData":{"id":116,"type":"article-journal","container-title":"DAVID T. LOHREY","page":"51","title":"PERSUADING AN AUDIENCE: MARGARET THATCHER’S SPEECH TO THE FOREIGN POLICY ASSOCIATION (“THE WEST IN THE WORLD TODAY”)","author":[{"family":"Drexler","given":"Irina"}]}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Drexler, n.d.). This speech is an excellent example when she is able to manage all the economic and political themes convincingly. Besides, she never faltered in her convictions; her unrivaled force of will enabled her to influence the British Politics for the next thirty years.
Relevant Concepts
The life of an iron lady and the way it is depicted in the movie can be related to several concepts pertaining to management, motivation, administrative approach, the role of effective work-life balance and the outcomes one faces while attaining something bigger for others. Her life also highlights the significance of family life and work-life balance. The movie, though, does not highlight on her relationships. Some of her interviews and biographies demonstrate her successful relationship with her family members. After her marriage, she moved to London with her husband and became a mother of twins while she was studying. She also went through worry and guilt; she continuously worried about the development of her children. In her interview, she elaborated on how she made efforts to keep a balance between her career and family life. "A married woman who wants to have a full-time job needs to be extremely well organized. She has to be able to deal with domestic affairs quickly, make up her mind about household menus and shopping lists.", she said. Her life gives admirable lessons on self-management and organization alongside highlighting the significance of good work-life balance. She further shared her relationship with her husband at different occasions and the dedicated most of her success to his support.
The movie also reflects on one of the most important managerial concept; conflict and conflict management. The protagonist, Thatcher, in the movie faces several forms of conflict. These conflicts range from conflict within herself and with the other key people she who surround him. Her old age depiction in the movie is more reflective of her internal conflicts while her role as a prime minister leads to everyday work conflict regarding day to day events. Most of the conflicts stem from her uncompromising and inflexible nature ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"yRVSOxVT","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(White, 2012)","plainCitation":"(White, 2012)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":100,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/rhLtY1cq/items/3GD4RWD5"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/rhLtY1cq/items/3GD4RWD5"],"itemData":{"id":100,"type":"article-newspaper","abstract":"Meryl Streep rescues the film from caricature, says Michael White, who met Thatcher many times as the Guardian's sketchwriter from 1977-84","container-title":"The Guardian","ISSN":"0261-3077","language":"en-GB","section":"Film","source":"www.theguardian.com","title":"The Iron Lady portrays a very different Margaret Thatcher from the one I knew | Michael White","URL":"https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/jan/03/meryl-streep-margaret-thatcher-iron-lady","author":[{"family":"White","given":"Michael"}],"accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",12,3]]},"issued":{"date-parts":[["2012",1,3]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (White, 2012). Tough, she has also mirrored effective conflict management, at the end of the movie she changed her outlook and perception of the few matters that tortured her during her career. She was able to manage herself, her family responsibilities and her political career. She also took assistance from others as part of a conflict management strategy. In the movie, she is a very well developed character, who often takes help from others and manages her throughout her political career in an efficient manner.
Interpersonal and communication skills are a strong factor that managers require to excel in the contemporary business environment. The communication skills of the iron lady were very charismatic. She expressed her thoughts in a simple yet very powerful manner, the way she delivered her words demonstrated passion and eradicated any element of ambiguity in the speech (Katz, 2012). The way something is delivered has a high influence on the audience and it is pivotal in accomplishing the purpose. Her communication style reflected her intellect and also influenced others to adopt a more pragmatic way of thinking. In a male-dominated field, she was able to express her feelings and direct others towards the right course of action. It was due to her communication skills; she was able to get the bill approved by the House presented in her maiden speech. She was the youngest of 630 members in the House that day. Her speeches introduced her to the audience, the general public who believed in her and later chose her as the president.
Conclusion
Nicknamed as the 'Iron Lady' Thatcher’s life is full of countless lessons pertaining to uncompromising leadership and politics style. She remarkably articulated taking the right approach according to the goals and objectives that one needs to accomplish. Her leadership style enabled her to attain her goals; she significantly reduced the power of the unions, enriched the working classes by giving them the right to own their own houses, closed down government-subsidized industries that kept working people in squalid conditions. This is a great leadership lesson every political and organizational leader can take. In addition, being a woman, she took the most relevant approach breaking the gender and class-based stereotypes. Thatcher was a controversial figure who provoked a passionate response from both her supporters and detractors. There was so much more than this film could have done as it lacks the areas that exhibit her accomplishments and the way she managed her relationships alongside her political career. Too much time was spent dwelling on her last years as a doddery old dear and not enough concentrating on her profound impact on Britain and the World, though one can take excellent examples of leadership, persuasion, dealing with the stereotypes, and much more from her character.
References
ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Drexler, I. (n.d.). PERSUADING AN AUDIENCE: MARGARET THATCHER’S SPEECH TO THE FOREIGN POLICY ASSOCIATION (“THE WEST IN THE WORLD TODAY”). DAVID T. LOHREY, 51.
Katz, A. (2012). Margaret Thatcher, Golda Meir, and Indira Gandhi’s Actions and Rhetoric Regarding Feminism and Gender During Their Ascent to Power.
Klenke, K. (2004). Women and leadership: A contextual perspective. Springer Publishing Company.
Rast III, D. E., Hogg, M. A., & Giessner, S. R. (2013). Self-uncertainty and support for autocratic leadership. Self and Identity, 12(6), 635–649.
Stone, T. W. (2016). Defining the Conservative Woman: Margaret Thatcher, Politics, and Gender.
White, M. (2012, January 3). The Iron Lady portrays a very different Margaret Thatcher from the one I knew | Michael White. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/jan/03/meryl-streep-margaret-thatcher-iron-lady
