The Iron Lady

Group Project

Plot Synopsis

Leadership Theories

Motivational Theories

Organizational Culture

Influences Of the Iron

Lady

Effectiveness

Power and Position

Implications To H+SC

References

Plot Synopsis/History• The Iron lady explored the rise of Margaret Thatcher from a lower

middle class woman to political leader. The film moves back and forth between time periods of Thatcher’s life to show character development and is designed to reveal how she became such a powerful leader.

• The opening scene revolves around an elderly Thatcher going to the shop for milk, during this there is a news announcement of a bombing in Islamabad. Thatcher, now old and deteriorating mentally is shown to be afflicted with dementia.

• Her old age is shown over a period of three days to convey the helplessness and she now suffers and her lack of power all together. She cannot and will not accept her husband’s death.

Leadership

• Regarding leadership the film quickly delves into Thatcher’s youth and shows how she looked up to her father, a somewhat strong political figure in the town and a voice of unwavering authority.

• Thatcher does not maintain the typical stereotype by becoming a housewife like her mother, instead opting to follow in her father’s footsteps that she admires. She announces she has won a place at Oxford University.

Identity

• The film then proceeds to highlight the struggle of branching out into politics and the problems a young lower middle class Thatcher faces.

• The conservative party is dominated by rich and somewhat upper class characters. After more developments including the marriage proposal from Denis Thatcher she ultimately rises to leader of the Conservative party.

• Interestingly, the film depicts the great changes Thatcher had to undergo to appear more presentable and lady like in order to win.

• After this there are further flashbacks showing the many problems she faced such as the miner’s strikes, Brixton riot, bombings which nearly claimed her life and the build up to the Falkland’s war.

Identity

• After the relative success of the war the film moves into Thatcher’s later political life and her subsequent fall from grace.

• Her adamant refusal to move the UK into greater European integration and more riots in the face of the community charge reveal the gradual loss of party support and confidence.

• Ultimately this leads to a show of no confidence within her cabinet and strained relationships followed by a leadership challenge by Michael Hesletine. The next scenes show Thatcher leaving 10 Downing street with her husband and how it still affects her in the present.

The Iron Lady

• The film ends with a now aged Thatcher adjusting to retired life, her loss of her husband grieves her yet she is shown to be entering a state of peace and lets his ghost leave her. The final scene sees Thatcher doing domesticated work in the kitchen.

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Influences Of the Iron Lady

• Margaret Thatcher’s father was a successful grocer and was also a Methodist lay preacher, he believed in thrift, self-denial and hard work. Margaret’s father was the main influence for Thatcher during her upbringing and this is what gave Thatcher her integrity.

• Thatcher was undoubtedly marked by her upbringing and she worked hard in her father’s shop. She believed strongly in patriotism, hard work and personal responsibility. This was the main influence for her appealing during the time of her election as it was like a breath of fresh air.

Influences Of the Iron Lady

• From Grantham, Thatcher went to Somerville College, Oxford, in 1943. Thatcher gained second-class degree in Chemistry, by this time she considered herself a ‘true blue’ Conservative.

• Churchill’s wartime speeches had given her a sense that ‘there was almost nothing that the British people could not do’; and her energies were increasingly being directed into politics. In 1946 she became President of the Oxford University Conservative Association.

• Soon she was employed as a research chemist and then as a lawyer, but politics was her consuming passion. These are her main influences for becoming a Prime Minster because of her hardworking attitude.

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Leadership Theories• Leadership over human beings is exercised when individuals such as

Margaret Thatcher who have certain motives and goals use resources available to achieve the desired outcome for the followers, despite disagreements or agreements in an organisation or political institution (Burns cited in Hartley and Benington, 2010).

• The Thatcher government had individuals at the top decision making level who exercised power by giving orders and making decisions. This is power of position which does not involve leadership. Leadership involves what a person does above and beyond the basic requirements of the position. Leadership is the persuasion of individuals and innovativeness in ideas and decision making that differentiates it from the sheer possession of power (Hall, 1991).

Charismatic Leadership

• Charismatic leaders are self- confidant, have qualities which set them apart from others especially personality while their presence instil hope in teams and among followers.

• Margaret Thatcher possessed all the qualities of a charismatic leader. She was a strong character who succeeded in leadership due to her personal qualities. She knew exactly what she wanted to achieve and was good at communicating her ideas to gain support.

• Cole (2004) defines a charismatic leader as an individual whose success in leadership is based on the personal qualities. Charismatic leaders motivate teams and followers by focusing on goals and visions until they are achieved.

• In the film Margaret displays the charisma when she

addresses her followers after her victory as the new

Prime Minister by including a poem in her speech

and also confidently addressing a conference after

nearly escaping death in a bomb explosion.

Transactional Leadership• It was evident in the film that Margaret Thatcher exhibited a

transactional style of leadership. Mckimm and Phillips (2009) suggest that transactional leadership takes place within a hierarchical structure like Margaret Thatcher`s government in which she had power and authority over those beneath her but was accountable to the parliament.

• Her relationship with others was primarily defined through the nature of transactions occurring within the government. Transactional leaders make team members achieve organisational objectives through rewards and punishment. Her relationship with her closest colleagues became so strained that reprimands were issued.

• This was demonstrated in the film when she dismissed three cabinet ministers in an attempt to build a cabinet in line with her economic thinking.

• Transactional leadership is centred on the idea that team members agree to obey the leader. One of the ministers released a statement that he had been dismissed because he was against the government`s economic policy.

Authoritarian-Autocratic Leadership• Authoritarian leaders focus on a leadership style which tends to be self- centred and

can also be described as autocratic. McSherry and Warr (2010) suggest that Margaret Thatcher was an authoritarian or autocratic leader who liked to be in charge, did not like to be questioned and expected her colleagues to do as they were told.

• Thatcher was so arrogant and impolite such that most of her party members and ministers suggested that she change her leadership style, listen more and sometimes give in. She said in the film “what kind of a leader am I if do not try to get my own way. I will do what I know is right”.

• Woods (2005) suggests that Margaret Thatcher`s time in leadership required a shift towards a democratic leadership model that is open to challenge, testing and refinement. Margret Thatcher was a leader who was authoritarian and falls under the trait theory. Leaders who fall under the theory are regarded as individuals who are good communicators who know exactly what they want to achieve and the ways of getting support (Bennis 1998).Her leadership was based on Directive leadership.

Authoritarian-Autocratic Leadership

• The way of leadership can be effective in decision-making and achieving goals. This was evident in the film as she made the decision to go to war in the Faulkland Islands. On the other hand it can lead to lack of morale in teams and a feeling of not being valued and rebellion from subordinates. Authoritarian leaders can end up being unpopular in teams due to the autocratic style of leadership. Margret Thatcher had to resign after her leadership was challenged and due the decline in support after serving two terms. Authoritarian leaders tend to focus on personal opinions and goals if they believe they are being true to their own values, this was Margret Thatcher`s downfall. Under democratic leadership she could have created an environment in which:

• • people are encouraged and supported

• • people look for ways of superseding difference through dialogue

• • people are active contributors

• It was evident in the film that Margaret Thatcher had a strained relationship with her closest colleagues. She failed to meet most of the factors that are associated with an effective leader. Her leadership behaviour impacted upon their behaviour and attitude. Leadership is a dynamic process and there is no one style of leadership that is successful at all times. She could have adopted different leadership styles in different situations (Cole and Kelly, 2004; Hall,1991). Home

Motivational Theories.• With reference from the film “Iron Lady” it could be said that there cannot be

change without effective leadership. Poor leadership can be one of the causes of de-motivation which in turn can lead to poor production, low productivity, strikes and disputes over pay among others suggests (Burns 1978).

• However it is significant to be aware that every leader requires to be motivated and that each leader’s motivation can differ with that of others. In the film it is clear that Britain as a nation was going through tough times during the era that Thatcher came into power and that there were problems for instance on economic growth , strikes ,unemployment and gender issues among others. It could be argued that motivation is significant if high productivity and better quality of work with less wastage is to be realised.

Motivational theories• Motivation is hard to define but Rubin and McNeil ,

(1985) cited in (Gross,2001) suggest that it is an idea used to describe the reasons within an individual which stimulate , maintain and direct behaviour towards a goal. Geen(1995) would agree with Rubin and McNeil (1985) as he contends that ‘motivation refers ,in general sense ,to processes involved in the initiation, direction , and energization of individual behaviour ‘.

• In the film the Prime minister’s goals and the motivational system were tailored to the situations that affected Britain at the time. It can be deduced from the above definitions that motivation has a strong connection with human nature and to better understand the link ,motivational theories would be helpful.

Motivational Theories• The two approaches in understanding motivational theories are

either through content theories (what makes people tick) or process theories (how people behave).

• Maslow (1968 ) cited in (Vecchio,2003) on needs asserts that higher needs cannot be realised unless basic needs have to been met. In the film the Prime Minister at one point expressed her concerns over the price of milk which is just a basic need. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs it is under psychological needs which is the lowest. Maslow believed that it was important to meet one set of needs before going to the other and created a pyramid to illustrate his argument.(See Fig 1.01 Next slide).

Motivational theories ( Fig 1.01)

It could be argued that in order to increase productivity and efficiency as well as improve the working environment ,workers need to be motivated. Employers and managers would benefit from Maslow’s theory by recognising and providing these needs.

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Organizational Culture of Thatcher’s Conservative Party

• According to Business dictionary.com organisational culture is made up with unique values and behaviours that are unique to the organisation. It also suggests that organisational culture is controlled by written rules and unwritten rules(What is organizational culture, n.d.). This applies to Margaret Thatcher as the rules that she and the tory party set, are followed by the public. This means that the organisational culture of the Conservative party influences the countries culture.

• In the film we watched about the charismatic leader Margaret Thatcher, we noticed that the organisational culture in the Conservative party changed due to Margaret Thatcher. At first the organisational culture of the Government, due to Labour being in charge, was more left wing and believed in things such as socialism furthermore, there were not many female MPs and woman were not taken seriously.

• However, as Margaret Thatcher came into power she became the first lady to run the country. The organisational culture of the Government changed as there was an increase in female MPs, furthermore, women were given more respect leading to them being given more power after Thatcher’s reign.

• The Conservative party beliefs involve believing in personal responsibility of the individual in society furthermore believing in personal wealth and property. A key part of their culture is believing in society being a free market and that Government should be involved in business (Political Ideologies and parties, 2010).

Organizational Culture of Thatcher’s Conservative

Party

Organizational culture in Health and Social Care

• In health and social care, practitioners must share the same values in an organisation in order for practitioners to avoid problems. This is true as if all practitioners share the same values they can all strive together to achieve their goal as an organization. This is evident in the Iron Lady as when every MP had the same values in the tory cabinet they led England to its biggest economic boom in decades in the late 80s, however due to people having different values in the organization resulted in Margaret Thatcher’s resignation as many MPs challenged her leadership.

Four Types of Organizational Culture

Ngenperformances.com suggest there are four common organizational cultures. These are Hierarchal Culture, Market driven Culture, Clan and Adhocracy.

• The Hierarchal culture includes rational analysis and decision making, rules and actions, Accuracy and care in work details.

• The second common culture is Market Driven culture, this culture involves competitiveness and achievement over competition, high level performance, results focused to drive high performance.

• The third common culture is the Clan culture. Clan culture requires, strong relationships based on trust and openness, people development through coaching, learning and development. caring for others in a compassionate and empathic way.

• The fourth common culture is Adhocracy Innovation, creativity in new ideas and problem solving, entrepreneurial spirit, future-focused vision (Kovary, 2013).

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The Effectiveness Of Margaret Thatcher

• Effectiveness is defined in the English Oxford dictionary as “the degree to which something is successful in producing a desired result.”

• A definition of leadership effectiveness is “the successful exercise of personal influence by one or more people that results in accomplishing shared objectives in a way that is personally satisfying to those involved” (Cooper, Fenimore, and Nirenberg 2004).

• From this definition it can be said that Margaret Thatcher was very effective as she did achieve many of the objectives that she herself had set out to achieve. However these objectives were not necessarily satisfying to everyone involved.

• She gave women a new hope when it comes to

being successful. During Thatcher's rise to

power women were seen as only housewives

however Thatcher proved this wrong by holding

the most important job in England.

The Effectiveness Of Margaret Thatcher

• She was seen as a ruthless leader and in several ways this was true. She was the cause of millions of industrial workers losing their jobs which mainly affected the north of England.

• Although Margaret Thatcher will be seen as being extremely effective as she reached her targets there were many casualties along the way including the millions left unemployed, the Irish hunger strikers completely ignored and the casualties with the Falkland War.

The Effectiveness Of Margaret Thatcher

• Douglas McGregor had developed a model in relation to the different types of leadership. Mc Gregor had two theory's, the X theory and the Y Theory.

(Jim Riley, 2012)

• The X theory is the theory that would be related to Margaret Thatcher. “Theory X assumes that individuals are base, work-shy and constantly in need of a good prod. It always has a ready-made excuse for failure—the innate limitations of all human resources” (The Economist, 2008).

• Due to Thatcher's close association with this theory it is another reason why she is seen as being effective. She felt that people needed an extra push in order to work hard.

Theory: Description:X Theory “- Individuals who dislike work and avoid it

where possible- Individuals who lack ambition, dislike responsibility and prefer to be led- Individuals who desire security”

Y Theory “- Consider effort at work as just like rest or play- Ordinary people who do not dislike work. Depending on the working conditions, work could be considered a source of satisfaction or punishment- Individuals who seek responsibility”

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Power and PositionPower

• Power means the ability to control people, happenings, actions and procedures. It is used by leaders to achieve targets, purposes, objectives and ambitions. Wagner (1983) mentions power as the capacity that an individual has to influence behaviour, values and attitudes, so that other individuals will conform and obey and act in agreement with the leader’s demands and achieving set goals. Richmond (1977) says that effectiveness is influenced by the leader's power. Power may be perceived in either a positive or negative way dependent on how the individual leader approaches different matters.

• The Iron Lady asks questions about the effect of power on family and identity, but it never doubts that Margaret Thatcher went into politics for the right reasons. The film endorses her belief that "one must matter” and that politics is the way to realise such an ambition. Thatcher grasped her power by being an advocate of privatising state-owned industries and utilities, reforming trade unions, lowering taxes and reducing social expenditure across the board. Thatcher's policies succeeded in reducing inflation, but unemployment dramatically increased during her years in power. This has led to The Iron Lady being accused of de-politicization, but in fact the film’s retreat itself serves the ideological agenda of a leader who famously proclaimed that “there’s no such thing as society.”

Power StylesAccording to Robbins et al (2009) power has 7 different styles:-

1. Reward

• This is where the leader offers a reward to their followers for completing tasks. This could be closely linked to transactional leadership as the followers are rewarded for their work. This form of power allows followers to feel that they are appreciated for what they have achieved. Thus motivating them to work in a specific manner, to achieve the targets set. However, this may result in followers expecting a reward constantly. Leaders need to prevent followers becoming accustomed to rewards because if they are not given a reward it can cause negative impact on their performance. In the film Thatcher struggles with the Conservative old guard accounted for much of her appeal. Thatcher’s presentation of herself as someone intolerant of vested interests of all kinds allowed her to strike an “egalitarian tone” that, in turn, enabled the Conservatives to reinvent themselves as a populist party. Thatcher’s political policies were what motivated her to pursue them, what their effects were rewards to her followers promoting independence and hard work (Aitken 2013).

Power Styles

2. Coercive

• Coercive power is based on fear, as the followers act to avoid punishment. This form of power can ensure that the task and goal is met effectively. On the other hand, goals can only be met due to the psychological control the leader has, the followers will never willing trust or be loyal to a leader that uses this power style.

• Thatcher caused people to thrive due to the fear of being disciplined. This is not a positive style of power, as it further demonstrates the power struggles, leadership examples and inequalities, affecting the structure of the government. People were scared of her.

3. Legitimate

• Legitimate power is when the followers believe that the leader has ‘the right’ to instruct them and they have an obligation to follow. The positive impact of this style is that the followers believe that the leader is correct. Hence, they will follow all instructions accordingly. If Thatcher makes the wrong decisions the followers will believe them to be sustainable, they will not question her judgements but will act upon it.

Power Styles4. Formal

• Similarly to legitimate power, formal power is based on the individual’s position within an organisation. The higher an individual is within the organisation strongly correlates to the amount of authority they have over others. This form of power can become problematic if the leader begins to implement the wrong procedures, which in affect can disempower the followers. Thatcher and her party both make use of this power style, as both are deemed to have high ranking within the government. However, she uses authority and position to try to benefit others; utilises her authority to gain control to further her position.

5. Expert

• Expert power is when the followers believe an individual has the knowledge and skills, which qualifies them as a leader. The encouraging impact of this style is that the expert knowledge can be passed on to the followers and they can develop, by becoming self-actualised. For example, passed on her knowledge, this led to divulging the information to other people, the public, and the other parties which affected them. Arguably, the knowledge and skills passed on to the followers could indeed be misused. This can be seen throughout the film in relation to her character as she uses the skills and knowledge she has gained to expose the vulnerabilities of others.

Power Styles 6. Referent

• This form of power is when followers believe that the leader possesses qualities that they admire and would like to possess themselves. Therefore they wish to work alongside the leader to gain these qualities, enabling them to develop as an individual. Thatcher appears to have some qualities that followers admire i.e. determination, courage, stamina, motivation, sacrifice, dedication and inspiration. These qualities are recognised by the public as ideal characteristics needed to enable to progress as a leader.

7. Personal

• Personal power is where a leader does not need a formal position to lead as it is based upon the individual’s characteristics. The constructive impact of this style is that the leader already has the personal qualities to lead. Therefore they are valued, respected and have the capacity to become a positive leader. Thatcher is a prime example of an individual who maintains her dominant characteristics even when questioned and hated for her high status people still respect and value her as a leader. On her rise to power, she had to overcome not only sexism, but class prejudice as the daughter of a Grantham grocer, she came from outside this made the Conservative Party have high but different expectations for her.

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Thatcher's Implications To Health and Social Care

• Thatcher made implications to healthcare during her reign. She wanted the patients interest to be put first, and business managers to be given the power to give opinion on public services. She stated that, ‘there was little sensitivity to the preferences and convenience of patients,’ which shows why she wanted to make changes to the NHS system.

• Thatcher introduced The White Paper, ‘Working for Patients’ which aimed to put the patient first and give them multiple choices of their care. However, due to health services becoming privatised, the relationship between the state and citizen was eroded as the working class in society couldn’t afford to pay for private help, limiting their choice of service.

Thatcher's Implications To Health and Social Care

• In 1988 Thatcher did a review on the current NHS system which influenced her to make changes to the policy. This was due to capacity issues in hospitals and the quality of care given. She created an Act named the National Health Service and Community Act that would grant hospitals to be their own governing body, and health authorities wouldn’t run hospitals but would have to purchase care from hospitals. Thatcher encouraged the community to use private healthcare and created insurance premiums to persuade the public.

• However, changing the NHS system created problems for the working class, and fragmented the system as healthcare became too expensive and health trusts became privatised. For example, the cost of health doubled from 6% to 12%, the ambulance services were no longer provided by health authorities and became privatised, Primary and Secondary care started working against each other and so on.

Thatcher's implications to health and social care

Thatcher was an example of transformational leadership. She encouraged change, and created Acts so professionals could give their opinions on how to improve health care to better society.

She was motivated in making changes, even if the changes didn’t benefit everyone in society. She created vision for the future by privatising services so the patient could have a choice of care, and tried to build strong relationships between society and their healthcare. (http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/transformational-leadership.htm)

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