Leadership on Survivor

I think leadership plays a huge role on the show, the people who are perceived as leaders are the ones others are confiding in. On this episode as the tribes are switched up at the beginning, different forms of leadership emerge. When Keith is put into a tribe that has all other members with their loved ones, he starts to feel as if it makes him a direct target, but fortunately for him  there is a bit of drama between Dale and his daughter Kelly and Missy and her daughter Baylor.  Since the two sets of loved ones want to plot to get one another our it makes the third couple Jacqueline and Jon at an advantage of leadership when they are put in the position to chose who they are going to side with for the elimination.  Jacqueline and Jon must chose wisely and they end up siding with Missy and Baylor, resulting in Kellys’ elimination. Leadership is defined as the ability to make strategic decisions and use communication effectively to mobilize group members toward achieving a common goal. Jon and Jacquelines’ decision is made in an effort of strategy and hopes to put them at a greater shot at winning.

Conflicts begin to emerge when different leadership styles and forms come together. At another point in the show, Dale becomes frustrated because Missy (who just switched over from the other tribe) decided to make as much rice as she pleases to eat. The tribes are only given so much and must ration their portions wisely, as Dales previous team had been doing. Missys’ old tribe only left with one or two scoops of rice pays the price, as she obviously doesn’t understand how her new tribe had been successful in retaining their food supply.  Dales’ perspective and leadership style is to ration the rice more effectively to last out the duration of the game. Where as Missys’ idea of leadership wasn’t very apparent as she decided she was hungry and would make as much rice as she pleased. In my opinion she was only looking out for herself and not for the greater good of her tribe, which shows poor leadership.

Our textbook also describes the situational leadership theory which states that effective leadership styles/strategies depend on the situation. Some of the different tribe members on both sides have a tendency to do what they believe is the right thing to do and are not viewing a situation from any other dynamic. Other members are less vocal of what they believe needs to happen and strategizes in other ways to get people to agree with their perspectives.