Norma Rae is a film about a woman named Norma who works for minimum wage in a textile factory. A union organizer named Reuben comes to her town to give a speech about unionizing the textile factory and Norma decides to join his cause. In this film, Rueben is identified as the main leader of the textile factory unionization. However, Norma becomes his protégé, in a sense, and as the film progresses, she learns from Rueben how to inspire workers to fight against the inequality and discrimination that exists. they face in their unfriendly work environment. This is proof that one of the biggest myths about leadership, that leaders are not born nor made, is in fact a myth (p. 9). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay Rueben's leadership skills are evident throughout the film, as would be expected from a man of his occupation. However, through her ability to motivate others to recognize their potential, it is Norma who becomes the key figure in getting the garment workers to form a union. James Burns defines transformational leadership as “a process in which leaders and followers elevate each other to higher levels of morality and motivation” (p. 86). I believe this is a perfect example of a team leadership principle that Rueben, and eventually Norma, uses to facilitate the process of forming a union. According to Burns, the main component of transformation is the leader's ability to observe the real needs of his followers and to influence or modify anything that might obstruct those needs (p. 86). On the other hand, Norma sometimes also displays the characteristics of an autocratic leadership style, which in some cases hinders her goal of forming a union. It is very job-focused and task-oriented, especially when it comes to forming the union. In one scene, she starts arguing with one of her peers for not showing up to work on time, resulting in wasting valuable time and unnecessary effort arguing instead of focusing on the work to be done (p. 47). in this movie, every type of power listed in the manual is present in one way or another. The book states that reward power occurs when a person in a position of power exchanges positive incentives in order to obtain a desired behavior from an individual. When Norma begins to inform her co-workers about the benefits of forming a union, the factory manager attempts to use his reward power by offering her a promotion and raise in hopes of preventing her from forming a union. The next type of power depicted in this film is coercive power, which is the ability to withhold unwanted sanctions in exchange for desired behavior. The best example of this is when the factory manager threatens to fire Norma and ultimately does so and even has her arrested when she refuses to leave the factory. Another type of power in this film is legitimate power, which comes from the perception of authority and is the product of position. It's pretty obvious that the textile factory manager is the primary example of legitimate power because of his position within the factory. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Also on What this film shows is expert power, which comes from the perception that an individual has expertise on a specific topic. Rueben is the. 73-74).