12 Angry Men

1. NIDA NAEEM
ASSIGNMENT ON ’12 ANGRY MEN’
LEADERSHIP
ROLL NO: 36829
Question number one: Explain which idea is more relevant in this scenario assigned
leadership and emerging leadership?
The idea that is more relevant in this scenario is emerging leadership that can be effectively seen
throughout the movie. 12 Angry Men” focuses on a jury’s deliberations in a capital murder case.
A 12-man jury is sent to begin deliberations in the first-degree murder trial of an 18-year-old
Latino accused in the stabbing death of his father, where a guilty verdict means an automatic
death sentence. The case appears to be open-and-shut: The defendant has a weak alibi; a knife he
claimed to have lost is found at the murder scene; and several witnesses either heard screaming,
saw the killing or the boy fleeing the scene. Eleven of the jurors immediately vote guilty; only
Juror No. 8 (Mr. Davis) casts a not guilty vote. At first Mr. Davis’ bases his vote more so for the
sake of discussion after all, the jurors must believe beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant
is guilty. As the deliberations unfold, the story quickly becomes a study of the jurors’ complex
personalities (which range from wise, bright and empathetic to arrogant, prejudiced and
merciless), preconceptions, backgrounds and interactions. That provides the backdrop to Mr.
Davis’ attempts in convincing the other jurors that a “not guilty” verdict might be appropriate.
Question number two : Explain traits of both the leaders in this movie and explain why the
one of them was successful and other fails?
In the movie 12 Angry Men, there were two different types of leaders among the jury. The first
was the designated leader, the foreman. He was already appointed to be the spokesman of the
group when we are first introduced to the cast of the movie. We can see from the beginning that
he uses a democratic style of leadership more than any other style. He always wants to know if
his fellow jurors agree with the proposed method of vote when a vote occurs. He seems to listen
more to the other jurors than to provide and comments or opinion. From the beginning you can
see that the foreman sits back and does not interact much with the somewhat uncontrollable
group. Had I been the foreman I would have put more effort into getting some say about why
they were voting guilty, and not jump into the voting of a verdict.
There also seems to be a few emerged leaders throughout the movie. The first being the man who
argues with any comments that opposes the boy's guilt. He seems to have a personal reason for
seeing the boy sentenced to death. He tries to tell the others to vote guilty, kind of in an
authoritarian way.

2. The most important emergent leader was the eighth juror Mr. Davis’. He was the only juror to
vote not guilty from the beginning. He used a laissez-faire style of leadership in that he only
brought about inconsistent points about the trial yet he did not try to direct the individual jurors
towards the not guilty verdict. The inconsistencies that he points out slowly convince the other
jurors to vote not guilty. The one important leadership quality is his ability to stay calm and
focused. He doesn't lose his temper like some of the other jurors.
The first important factor was that Mr. Davis’ character was willing to stand alone in his vote of
“not guilty” – putting himself in the position of one versus eleven. Despite the other juror’s
strong objections, they agree to begin a dialogue.
In addition to his willingness to stand alone, Mr. Davis’ vote and need for further discussion
raises the interdependent nature of the group. Due to the requirements of a unanimous jury, the
decision of Mr. Davis’ forces the other jurors to come together toward a solution.
More than any one action performed by Mr. Davis’, it was his attitude and treatment of others
that set the tone for a cooperative community within the jury deliberation. Mr. Davis’ stood
strong in his efforts to listen to others and respect their opportunity to share. Throughout the
deliberation, Mr. Davis’ refrained from saying that he was right and the others were wrong. This
stance led to a more sincere dialogue toward a solution. In my experience, respectful listening
and sincere consideration tends to influence others in the group in a similar manner. As Mr.
Davis’ continued to be sincere and respectful, other jurors began to take that stance as well. This
domino effect led the group to cooperate as a community.
Question number three: Explain the team building process and the role of leadership in it?
In scene after scene, we witness the intense interactions among members of a jury in a murder
case. Charged by the judge to "do your duty," these jurors must work together as a team in order
to determine whether the accused is guilty or not guilty.
The role of leadership in maintain the team building process focuses on
Open inquiry
Accepting responsibility and decisions
Equality of team members as participants
The need for listening
The need of speaking your opinion and reasoning
Value of conflict in uncovering ideas and information
The role of diversity in making effective decisions
The movie is divided into five key-message segments of leadership as a team:
Segment 1: A Different Kind of Leadership: Effective team leaders encourage everyone to
participate on an equal basis.
Segment 2: The Decision-Making Environment: A work group entrusted with a decision cannot
allow itself to avoid its responsibility, but must stay together and work through its differences.

3. Segment 3: An Assumption of Equality: "One person, one vote" is the operating rule for
effective teams. Every idea is heard without judgment or comment, every idea has equal value.
Segment 4: The Nature of Conflict: When team members have a common goal and feel
accountable to each other, conflict can safely be used to see and understand varying points of
view.
Segment 5: Diversity and Inclusion: Quality decisions depend on tapping the diversity of
experience present in a group.
Question number four (a) : How did the leader use the situational approach?
There are some valuable leadership lessons that we can draw from different situations in this
movie
Perhaps the most obvious is having the courage of our convictions, especially in the face of
pressure from others. The lead character – played by Mr. Davis’– is under significant pressure
form his fellow jurors, but he is determined to explore all of the evidence before he reaches a
conclusion. He chooses principles over expediency.
Important decisions should be given time. In the movie, a boy’s life is in the balance – if found
guilty, he will be executed. So Mr. Davis ‘wants to talk things through, not to rush to a snap,
potentially prejudiced decision.
Davis sees the importance of influencing others. He builds alliances – often by the force of his
arguments, sometimes by listening to the others.
For me, one of the key leadership aspects that is displayed is the way that Davis repeatedly
acknowledges his own uncertainty. He can’t be sure if the boy is guilty or not, he frequently
concedes that he could be; but the evidence is patchy, they are dealing with incomplete
information sets, with evidence that hasn’t been adequately tested by the defending lawyer.
Davis demonstrates his principled approach, but not a dogmatic one.
He creates and manages tension. Davis creates uncertainty in the minds of his fellow jurors and
allows them to follow their own thoughts. He knows that the tension is difficult – some want to
make a quick decision and leave, others are torn.
He also knows that it’s essential that he maintains his composure, clarity and focus. Even in the
midst of all of the emotions that fill the room, and as the actual temperature rises, Davis (largely)
stays calm and measured.
Finally, names and titles aren’t the source of leadership. In the movie, the only time that any
characters’ names are revealed is right at the end of the movie. The background and jobs held by
each of the twelve men is only revealed slowly as the plot progresses. The jury foreman
exercises little leadership – others assume different leadership roles as the drama unfolds.

4. Question number four (b): What was the developmental level of the subordinates? do you
think leader appropriately handle these developmental level?
The Twelve Jurors:
A summary of the anonymous characters helps to flesh out their characters and backgrounds.
The order in which each eventually decides to vote "not guilty" is given in brackets:
 Juror #1 A high-school assistant head coach, doggedly concerned to keep the
proceedings formal and maintain authority; easily frustrated and sensitive when someone
objects to his control; inadequate for the job as foreman, not a natural leader and over-
shadowed by Juror # 8's natural leadership
 Juror #2: A wimpy, balding bank clerk/teller, easily persuaded, meek, hesitant, goes
along with the majority, eagerly offers cough drops to other men during tense times of
argument; better memory than # 4 about film title
 Juror #3: Runs a messenger service (the "Beck and Call" Company), a bullying, rude
and husky man, extremely opinionated and biased, completely intolerant, forceful and
loud-mouthed, temperamental and vengeful; estrangement from his own teenaged son
causes him to be hateful and hostile toward all young people (and the defendant);
arrogant, quick-angered, quick-to-convict, and defiant until the very end
 Juror #4: Well-educated, smug and conceited, well-dressed stockbroker, presumably
wealthy; studious, methodical, possesses an incredible recall and grasp of the facts of the
case; common-sensical, dispassionate, cool-headed and rational, yet stuffy and prim;
often displays a stern glare; treats the case like a puzzle to be deductively solved rather
than as a case that may send the defendant to death; claims that he never sweats
 Juror #5: Naive, insecure, frightened, reserved; grew up in a poor Jewish urban
neighborhood and the case resurrected in his mind that slum-dwelling upbringing; a
guilty vote would distance him from his past; nicknamed "Baltimore" by Juror # 7
because of his support of the Orioles
 Juror #6: A typical "working man," dull-witted, experiences difficulty in making up his
own mind, a follower; probably a manual laborer or painter; respectful of older juror and
willing to back up his words with fists
 Juror #7: Clownish, impatient salesman, a flashy dresser, gum-chewing, obsessed
baseball fan who wants to leave as soon as possible to attend evening game; throws
wadded up paper balls at the fan; uses baseball metaphors and references throughout all
his statements (he tells the foreman to "stay in there and pitch"); lacks complete human
concern for the defendant and for the immigrant juror; extroverted; keeps up amusing
banter and even impersonates James Cagney at one point; votes with the majority
 Juror #8: An architect, instigates a thoughtful reconsideration of the case against the
accused; symbolically clad in white; a liberal-minded, patient truth-and-justice seeker
who uses soft-spoken, calm logical reasoning; balanced, decent, courageous, well-spoken

5. and concerned; considered a do-gooder (who is just wasting others' time) by some of the
prejudiced jurors; named Davis
 Juror #9: Eldest man in group, white-haired, thin, retiring and resigned to death but has a
resurgence of life during deliberations; soft-spoken but perceptive, fair-minded; named
McCardle
 Juror #10: A garage owner, who simmers with anger, bitterness, racist bigotry; nasty,
repellent, intolerant, reactionary and accusative; segregates the world into 'us' and 'them';
needs the support of others to reinforce his manic rants
 Juror #11: A watchmaker, speaks with a heavy accent, of German-European descent, a
recent refugee and immigrant; expresses reverence and respect for American democracy,
its system of justice, and the infallibility of the Law
 Juror #12: Well-dressed, smooth-talking business ad man with thick black glasses;
doodles cereal box slogan and packaging ideas for "Rice Pops"; superficial, easily-
swayed, and easy-going; vacillating, lacks deep convictions or belief system; uses
advertising talk at one point: "run this idea up the flagpole and see if anybody salutes it"
Juror #1 is a high school football coach; his position in the jury room is a foreman. If it were not
for Juror #1, there would not have been any order in the jury room. He acts as a mediator for all
of the arguments that went on in the jury room. He controls and leads every discussion, speaking
order, voting, and demonstration. He takes on the leading role and handles it well. He also
brings organization into the jury room by organizing the jurors, the discussions, and the votes.
With the leadership traits that Juror #1 brings into the jury room, he allows the trial to run
smoothly and effectively. He keeps jurors on task and centered on the focus of arriving at either
a guilty or not-guilty verdict. He emerged at the very beginning as a natural leader, because he
stepped up to being the foreman, or the one who ran the deliberation.
Juror #5 was very timid and passive. In the jury room, he acts with respect because he is
very unsure about the case, and really does not know how he feels about things. So when it is his
turn to talk he passes to hear the others before he makes the wrong assumption. With these
actions he shows a lot of respect for not only the boy on trial, but also to the other jurors.
However he seemed as if he needed someone to emerge as a leader for him to follow. He did not
seem as if he was very confident in his own thoughts. Juror #6 is a salesman, who is impatient,
opinionated, and rude. He shows little respect for anyone but himself. He shows that he is very
impatient by not even thinking about the trial but rather the baseball tickets that he has for that
night’s game. He just wants to get out of there as soon as he can. It was not until after he was
sure the game was over, that he began to show any interest in the case. He is very opinionated
and that definitely stands out in the jury room. He does not care what anyone has to say. He has
his own beliefs and does not care or want to hear anyone else’s views. He is also known to be
rude, because he shows no compassion or thought towards the boy on trial and he just wants to

6. get it over with. He does not even stop to think that someone’s life is on the line, he is too
concerned about his own.
Question number five Explain the entire scenario in the light of contingency model?
The movie “Twelve Angry Men” is about twelve male jurors, brought together in a
deliberation room to decide whether a boy is guilty of killing his father. The deliberation starts
with an 11-1 vote for guilty. As the movie progresses, the one man who had a reasonable doubt
about the guilt or innocent of the young boy, convinces the other members of the jury to question
the facts presented. This movie examines the application of leadership concepts in the
characters of each juror. Throughout the movie several leaders evolved, the main one being Juror
#8, the man who stood alone from the get go with a not-guilty verdict.
There may be varying perspectives on the theories of leadership evident in the movie, but
the underlying principle is the same: A leader is someone who moves a group of people toward a
common goal by means of social influence. Mr. Davis (Juror #8) illustrates important principles
of leadership and influence in which the right person can lead group members to achieve a
common goal, yet go through positive individual changes.
Leaders are defined by two separate characteristics; those who are appointed as the leader
and those with no special title that emerge as influential. Leadership is influenced and Juror #8
is a perfect example. He was able to influence his fellow jurors to see as he saw and change the
vote to not guilty even though it was a long and arduous process. In the movie, Juror #8 portrays
a character that gains respect by others for emerging as a leader. He takes pride in the fact that
he believes different than the other jurors, and does not let the fact that he is the “minority”
inhibit him from trying to change the opinions of the other jurors.
The movie opens with the jurors casting guilty votes to determine a thoughtless verdict.
All eleven jurors, except one (Juror #8) voted guilty. This is a deviant trait, however, this
deviant trait leads into an emerging leadership that the other characters respect. As a leader,
Juror #8 stands out for various reasons. One of the most prominent is at the beginning of the
movie. He begins to display task-oriented approach by offering up a new idea to the group. In
this case, it was the idea of the boy being not guilty. Although the men were upset with him, the
thought had crossed their mind long enough to realize he may be right. By offering up his
opinion and a new suggestion, he opened the door for the other jurors. This then creates new
options and processes for the group to explore. However, this also created tension and power
struggles. Juror #8’s point was that he had no substantial evidence to prove that he knew the boy
was not guilty, but he had enough doubt to make the claim. For example, juror #8 is constantly
ridiculed by the smaller minded of the jurors: the bigot or the sports fan. Others, however, are
more open-minded and are curious to hear what he has to say. The old man (Juror #9) displayed
a supportive style. For example, the old man sitting next to Davis seemed to be the most
intrigued by Davis, simply because he had the courage to be different.

7. In the beginning, certain traits, such as his aggressiveness orpersuasiveness, may have
identified juror #8 as a leader. However, he begins to emerge as the leader by elaborating on
what every juror was trying to say or making suggestions to keep the group focused. Toward the
middle of the movie, he had persuaded almost half of the jury to vote not guilty. They even
started to go up to him and ask him what he really thought about the case. All he could say was
all of it could have “possibly” not happened.
This holds that attaining appropriate leadership behaviors depends on the situation. He
conveyed the appropriate attitudes and patience to go along with the readiness level of the other
jurors to switch their votes. Juror #8 was also a good listener and this could have also earned him
so much respect. For example, he really tried to understand the supported evidence that the
stockbroker had to offer. Davis emerged as a very successful leader because he showed value in
others, empathy, seriousness and integrity. For example, he votes not guilty and shows empathy
not because he is sure of the boy's innocence, but because he wishes to talk about the serious
case without emotionally pre-judging the eighteen-year old boy because he saw value in others
and life. He shows empathy because in scenes he asks the jurors to imagine themselves in the
boy’s shoes awaiting death sentence, physical abuse and torment by father, growing up in the
slums etc. He only asks that each member look deep within them, and be as honest with them
selves as possible. Another quality is that of trust. He trusts that the team members will make
the right vote. He emerged into a leadership position, all because of the respect he earned by
others. They learned a lot from him, as others watching this movie surely did. Leadership is
rooted in character.
Transactional leadership is a two-way social exchange in which there is reciprocal and
mutual influence between a leader and the group. Juror # 8 demonstrates transactional
leadership traits such as setting clear group goals and assisting group members in achieving those
goals. He leads the jury that is ready to convict through a series of stages in which groups ready
to acquit or convict, and those undecided-develop and then disintegrate.
As a majority to acquit develops (the vote to acquit or convict must be unanimous). We see the
group dynamics shift until Juror #8’s lone voice is joined by 10 others. Psychodynamic theory is
present in the scene in which the motivation behind the single-handed holdout's passion to
convict becomes apparent. He has displaced his anger towards his estranged son onto the
defendant, a "no good, ungrateful kid" like his son.
There were several leadership styles or approaches that were evident in specific jurors. Juror #1
appeared to be a natural leader. As described earlier, he took the initiative to get things in order,
and keep the deliberation on task. According the book “Leadership: Theory and Practice,” there
are five major leadership traits: intelligence, self-confidence, determination, integrity,
sociability. The first, intelligence, does not insinuate that one must be book smart.
“Intelligence is having strong verbal ability, perceptual ability, and reasoning. Your IQ does not
necessarily reflect an effective leader. The second trait, self-confidence, “…is the ability to be
certain about one’s competencies and skill.” Juror #1 most definitely exhibits self-confidence.
He does not hesitate to step up as the foreman, which is essentially the leader of the group. The

8. third trait, determination is defined as having the desire to get the job done and includes
characteristics such as initiative, persistence, dominance, and drive. All of these were displayed
by juror #1, which helped them from declaring the case a miss-trail because a unanimous vote
could not be reached. The other jurors were ready to end the fight, but juror #1 kept pushing
them and eventually it paid off. The forth trait, integrity, is the quality of honesty and
trustworthiness. This was the least displayed trait of all. However it was evident that the other
jurors were comfortable with this juror being the foreman. The fifth and final trait, sociability, is
the ability to seek out pleasant social relationships. Within the context of the movie, there were
not many pleasant conversations. The conversations usually included jurors yelling at one
another. Juror #1 did try to keep the arguments to a minimum, however, with 12 different
viewpoints, there is bound to be an argument.
The Psychodynamic Approach seemed to be the choice for juror #2. The Psychodynamic
approach states that leaders are more effective when they have insight into their own
psychological makeup. Juror #2 seemed to think that it was nearly impossible for the boy to
forget the movie he was supposedly at during the time his father was murdered. Juror #8 began
to ask juror #2 when he went to the movie last, and what movie he had seen, and who had played
in it. Juror #2 began to realize that he could not remember either, and he was not even under any
emotional stress. After he realized it was possible to forget the movie, and who played in it, it
raised a reasonable doubt in his own mind.
We felt that Juror #6 displayed a Style Approach to leadership, particularly an Authority
Compliance style. According to Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid, Juror #6 is very results
driven. This was very evident in the fact that he simply wanted to find the boy guilty because he
had baseball tickets for that night. He showed no concern for the other members’ opinions or the
fact that he would be sentencing a boy to death. The authority compliance style is described as
being task oriented and showing little or no concern for people. Juror #6 definitely exhibits this
behavior.
On the other hand Juror #8 displayed a Transformational Leadership style. He was very
compassionate, and showed high regard for others as stated earlier. Northouse describes it as:
“Transformational leadership is a process that changes and transforms individuals. It is
concerned with emotions, values, ethics, standards, and long-term goals, and includes
assessing followers’ motives, satisfying their needs, and treating them as full human
beings. Transformational leadership involves an exceptional form of influence that
moves followers to accomplish more than what is usually expected of them.”
Juror #8 certainly displayed all the characteristics of transformational leadership. He was
concerned about changing the opinions of the other jurors, and to raise a reasonable doubt in
their minds to the guilt or innocence of the boy. He not only had to convince them he should be
found not guilty, but also that what he was saying was true. He knew his facts and was able to
present them in a way that related to each juror. He was confident in himself, and able to convey
that to the others. He emerged as not only a transformational leader but as a natural leader. He

9. was able to motivate his followers, or at the beginning his opponents to think and look deeper
into their minds.
The jurors had a huge decision to make, whether or not a boy would live or die based
upon the findings presented by the prosecution. The jurors would have to live with their decision
for the rest of their lives, a decision no one should take lightly. In all decisions, individuals
should act ethically. Many however do not. The jurors took a very carefree approach in the
beginning hoping to make the decision quickly and leave. They did not want to put forth any
extra effort in making this decision. They thought they knew all they needed to know. When
facts began to present in the jury room, many had forgotten very important ones. Even after
these “new” facts were presented they still wanted to quickly decide. It took a long time, but a
decision was made, not-guilty, one, which I think all the jurors would be able to live with.
Many times several different leadership styles and approaches are frowned upon,
however the differences could prove to be beneficial as they did in this situation. When you
present your point of view, regardless of the initial support, you will be heard, and you may just
be the voice another person needs to hear to speak out against the majority. Being the minority
is not easy, but you must exert the confidence and determination and be bold.