Castelli !1

Anthony Castelli

Fr. Wiley

LDRS 201

8 Dec 2014

The Role of Honor, Duty, and Respect in Principled Leader Effectiveness

Throughout history the world has come to know great leaders who inspire us to this day.

However, not every leader has the same style of leading but they all have common core values

that instill principled leader effectiveness. It is these values, more specifically three core values,

that shape a person to become a true leader and are inextinguishable for any leader. These values

are honor, duty and respect and each of these become part of the same whole leader. You cannot

have one part with out the other two, it is impossible for anyone to become a true leader with out

these essential parts. To put it in relatable terms, honor, duty and respect are all like puzzle pieces

and once the puzzle is complete only then will there a be a true and whole leader. To have all

three isn't an easy endeavor and requires many trials and tribulations to truly understand and ob-

tain in one’s charchter. To dive further into what it really means to have all three of these values

simultaneously, I want to use my favorite Disney movie of all time that I believe best exemplifies

these values, Hercules.

Everyone knows of the hero Hercules, but for those who don’t Hercules is a demigod

who is the son of Zeus, the king of the Gods. Hercules has the ability of super strength and super

endurance. So what does the son of Zeus have to do with honor, duty and respect? To prove his

worth Hercules had to become a true hero to rejoin his place amongst the gods on Mt. Olympus,

which in essence is also what a true leader is; a hero who inspires all.Therefore, Hercules needed

Castelli !2

to prove himself honorable. Throughout the movie Hercules fought many monsters to protect the

people and earn their praise. From the bloodthirsty Hydra, to the destructive Cyclops, Hercules

maintained being a kind and protective person throughout all his endeavors, showing his charac-

ter to be honorable. Hercules could have had the power go to his head and become tyrannical and

do anything he desired because who could ever stop a man with god-like abilities. Instead, Her-

cules chose an honorable path to keep his humanity despite having the powers of a god, showing

his honor to himself to not change from being a kind and protective person.

Now while no part of the leader puzzle is easy to obtain it is easy to identify. Honor is

such an example. Most anyone can have honor and show honor. But what about duty, the second

piece? Having duty while no easier than honor is hard to really identify. Hercules had his duty to

protect other, meaning he felt obligated to protect them from monsters and other villainous char-

acters. Now it could be argued Hercules didn't have to be obligated to protect them, just prove

that he could protect them so that he can become a true enough hero for Mt. Olympus. Hercules

had no responsibility to protect anyone other than just to prove a point, but he did and that’s

where one can identify his duty. Despite his ultimate goal to rejoin the gods, Hercules still pro-

tected people. At one point in the movie, Hercules sacrificed his powers to protect Meg, his

sweetheart, as well as to save other humans. Hercules did not have to feel obligated to protect

anyone in exchange for his god-like powers. He could have up and left and moved on elsewhere

to keep trying to achieve his “true hero” status. He didn't though, he stayed behind and did his

duty to protect everyone and save everyone from the evil god of the dead, Hades.

So two out of three is ain’t bad right? Wrong! As stated a person needs all three pieces to

complete the true leader “puzzle”. That means Hercules would still be “one piece short.” That

Castelli !3

last piece is respect, a value that is earned not given. Hercules not only has to show he was re-

spectful, he had to earn it. By gaining the people’s praise in protecting them, he earned their re-

spect as their hero and savior. But he still needed to earn his father’s respect as a true hero. Zeus

had said in the movie, “being famous isn't the same as a true hero”. Respect is more than just the

respect of others, it is also respect in yourself, something Hercules needed to become the whole

true hero. At one point in the movie, Hercules needed to confront Hades to get Meg’s soul out

from the Underworld. In doing so he was sacrificing himself to swim for her soul in the River of

Death. Now while this shows how it exhibits love, it is also respect. The two things go hand-in-

hand. Hercules found his self-respect when Meg sacrificed her life to save Hercules from a fall-

ing pillar through his love for her. In order to love someone, you need to love yourself and Her-

cules did just that. He saved Meg and had proved himself a true hero by showing the strength of

his heart. Like any leader, their heart must be strong and unyielding to submit to dark tempta-

tions. At the core of the heart must be honor, duty and respect all of which Hercules had showed

and proved making him a true hero and by extension a true leader who inspired many.

Having these three pieces are critical in becoming the whole true leader. One cannot exist

without the other two. Hercules had proved that, yet despite him achieving his goal, he remained

on Earth because he had loved Meg and served the Earth as its protector from any monster who

would come his way. Even though he wasn’t technically a god, he was still a true hero from all

his trials and tribulations. A true leader too must go through trials and tribulations to achieve all

three pieces, but of course thats not the only way. We all, like Hercules, want to prove ourselves

as a true hero, a true leader. Our journey on how we get there is up to us as it was to all leaders

Castelli !4

beforehand. We may not have the same style or path but we still retain the inextinguishable

pieces of honor, duty and respect.

Castelli !5

Works Cited

Hercules. Dir. Ron Clements. Perf. Tate Donovan, Susan Egan, James Woods.

Walt Disney Pictures, 1997. Film