Assignment 2: Leadership Paper
Kelsey Bynum
American Public University System
This is an essay on leadership styles based on television series House M.D. starring Dr. Hughes Laurie. I selected Doctor Hughes Laurie in this and other episodes because he clearly employs an autocratic style of management. In other words, he unilaterally makes decisions and inclines toward his own logic when faced with hard decisions concerning the direction patient treatment is to go in. Although there are many leadership styles in this particular series; as far as Dr.Hugh Laurie's leadership style is concerned, it has made for a very interesting study respecting the subject matter of leadership and different aspects thereof. Nonetheless, in this series, Dr. Laurie seems to employ other styles contingent upon his situation. For example, in the House M.D. episode "I'm Not Okay" Dr. Laurie employs a Consultative style of management; based on his own physical limitations due to a leg injury that has rendered use of his leg severely limited, enables him to empathize with other patients suffering who are similarly situated and suffering from illnesses that are life changing. And when faced with a patient that has received news that they only have a limited time to live, it is he who brings them to the reality of their own fate through his autocratic leadership style; where the manager decides unilaterally, on matters that materially affect the direction of the organization, without regard for employees. Despite his management style, he not only motivates his employees to look at their patient's dire circumstances from a position of hope, but also motivates them to think in ways that would increase their quality of life for the time that they anticipate they will live.
