Record Details

Wizards, Hobbits, and Kings: Leadership in Tolkien’s Middle-earth and Lessons for Business Leaders

Journal of Leadership and Management

View Archive Info
 
 
Field Value
 
Title Wizards, Hobbits, and Kings: Leadership in Tolkien’s Middle-earth and Lessons for Business Leaders
 
Creator Urick, Michael J.; Area of Science in Management,
Alex G. McKenna School of Business, Economics, and Government,
Saint Vincent College,
Latrobe, Pennsylvania, USA
 
Description Several characters in fantasy author J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955) illustrate strong leadership characteristics. Specifically, the characters of Gandalf, Aragorn, and Bilbo are effective leaders because they possess multiple bases of power and engage in behaviors similar to transformational and servant leadership theories. These characters are contrasted with three other characters that are not as effective because they are more transactional in nature and/or draw on only one base of power. Tolkien’s works can be used to help educate business students on leadership concepts and can serve as fictional role models to real-world business managers. Additionally, considering Tolkien’s characters also encourages future research including examinations of the relationship between and importance of the bases of power as well as the use of other creative ways to illustrate leadership.
 
Publisher Institute of Leadership in Management
 
Contributor —
 
Date 2014-12-23
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Peer-reviewed Article
 
Format application/pdf
 
Identifier http://leadership.net.pl/index.php/JLM/article/view/34
 
Source Journal of Leadership and Management; Vol 2, No 2 (2014): Journal of Leadership and Management
2391-6087
 
Language eng
 
Relation http://leadership.net.pl/index.php/JLM/article/view/34/16
 
Rights Copyright (c) 2014 Author & JLM
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0