Worth it: Introverted leaders on film

Cinematic portrayals of introverted leadership styles are few and far between, but a few show how quiet strength can trump braying and bullying.

It’s only within the last few years or so that I’ve been willing to call myself an introvert — and even learn to embrace the label.

For most people, and certainly within popular culture and the movies, introversion has a decidedly negative connotation. At best it’s associated with being shy and socially awkward. Commonly introverts are thought of as being standoffish or even snobby. Not rarely people think of it when they hear about violent loners who lash out after years of isolation and bullying.

In this conception, introversion is something that happens to you, like the onset of some dread disease, not a fundamental part of a healthy person’s makeup.

Let’s face it, most people prefer extroverts — even introverts, it seems. Who wouldn’t rather be the life of the party than the quiet person in the corner?

But there’s been something of a movement by introverts to reclaim and rejigger the definition to something more salient. Susan Cain gave a seminal TED talk about how introverts can actually be good leaders, which she subsequently turned into a best-selling book, “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking.”

As someone who has worked to hone his leadership skills around this same timeframe, the idea of introverts using these qualities as a positive attribute within an organization or endeavor was very attractive to me.

Naturally, wearing my other hat as a film critic, that got me to thinking about portrayals of the introverted style of leadership in movies. As you might guess, there aren’t very many.

The portrait of a leader on film is usually the standard one: someone who’s strong-willed, brash, outgoing and who uses their natural charisma to bend others to their will. Good or bad, this is the model that holds sway.

Think of George C. Scott in “Patton,” Leonidas in “300” or Princess Leia in the Star Wars saga. Extroverted leaders may come in all shapes and sizes in the movies, but the essential makeup of their personality is surprisingly similar. They are confident, decisive, externally focused … and usually loud.

Still, there are a few notable cinematic figures who have reflected an introverted style of leadership.

The one that immediately comes to mind is Tom Hanks’ Captain Miller in “Saving Private Ryan.” He’s a man who commands the respect of his unit even while remaining rather distant and even aloof. He delegates nearly all the day-to-day commands to his faithful sergeant (Tom Sizemore), and seems almost hesitant to engage the soldiers in idle chit-chat.

The perfect example of how he relates to his men is the fact he represents such a mystery to them. They have a years-long bet to gamble what his job was back home in the States, with all sorts of crazy guesses spat out over time. Miller is aware of the lottery and tacitly encourages it — not to inflate his own ego, but because it gives his men a framework to respect him without having to actually actively work at it.

This is a prime example of how introverts tick. We don’t like to expend excess time or energy in social engagements we see as unnecessary or unfulfilling. Miller allows the enigma around him to build because it serves a purpose for him — and also because he knows the revelation that he’s a high school English teacher will only serve to disappoint, and probably cost him some of the approbation he’s enjoyed.

When the mission begins to go south and Miller faces increasing insurrection from his unit, he deals with it by turning their questions and complaints back on them without relying on intimidation or threats to get what he wants. The “gripes go up” discussion is probably as good an encapsulation of the introverted leadership model as there is on film.

Miller shares his men’s resentment of their mission — eight men sent to die to save one — but frames it as an easy-to-understand pairing of duty with reward, in this case earning the right to go home.

“He better be worth it. He better go home and cure a disease, or invent a longer-lasting light bulb,” Miller says of the titular Ryan.

Miller eventually forms a bond with Corporal Upham (Jeremy Davies), the un-soldierly translator assigned to the mission, precisely because of their shared introversion and love of literature. Even then, though, he holds back large pieces of himself, like refusing to flesh out the cherished image of his wife wearing gardening gloves. “That one I keep just for me.”

Capt. Miller is a great example of the “quiet strength” that heralds the best aspects of introverted leaders. He leads by example rather than harangue, invites buy-in to a shared purpose rather than blanketly invoking his authority or dispensing threats, and gives just enough of himself on a personal level to help those he leads see him as an empathetic figure without allowing the type of over-familiarity that invites disobedience.

In our current age, which seems to value bluster and confrontation over integrity and compromise, the type of leadership shown by Miller exemplifies qualities I’d like to think many people are thirsting for.

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Below are a few other examples of introverted leaders I came up with. Please note, I don’t seek to suggest a value judgement that ‘introverts make for better leaders’ or ‘extroverted leaders tend to be evil ones.’ Being introverted doesn’t make a person good or bad, so I’ve included dastardly or ambiguous figures because they reflect the qualities of introversion.

Caesar, Planet of the Apes 2011-2017 trilogy

Caesar (Andy Serkis) is essentially a combination of Jesus and Adam in the reboot of the “Planet of the Apes” franchise, which I’d argue is one of the finest science fiction in movie history. Beginning as a chimpanzee who was experimented upon to achieve high intelligence, he initially befriends a human scientist before realizing he must declare war on their kind to save his own. Even then, he orders his ape underlings to refrain from unnecessary killing and tries to provide an enlightened example of leadership. He attempts to foster Koba, a malicious subordinate, into his style of leadership but is eventually betrayed after placing too much trust. Caesar is a leader who struggles to balance divergent impulses and factions, and not always without great collateral damage.

Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games trilogy

For me “The Hunger Games” reside on a much lower tier of science fiction/fantasy. But the protagonist, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), is a prime example of a reluctant leader who only takes up the mantle begrudgingly, but finds herself able to inspire others through her example of a teen from very humble origins — literally hunting small animals to feed her family — to the primary rebel rising up against an oppressive system. She is in many ways a figurehead, at least early in the beginning, but comes to embrace her role as the match that lights the fire.

Bilbo, Frodo and Aragorn, The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings

I think most people would see the natural comparison between Bilbo (Martin Freeman) and Frodo (Elijah Wood), with the latter essentially being a younger reproduction of his uncle. They’re comfortable, clever, unambitious hobbits who like their quiet lives of solitude, but find their mettle during world-changing adventures. They surprise themselves with their ability to make bold decisions. Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) might seem a stranger likening, but I’ll stick by it. He begins the saga as Strider, a scraggly and mysterious ranger, and over the course of LOTR comes to grasp his role as someone who can lead armies of men against the scourge of Sauron. Indeed, Aragorn’s self-doubt is the subtext of J.R.R. Tolkien’s book that finds its full expression in Peter Jackson’s films. He winds up leading by example and through reason, exhorting others to find their best selves, such as King Theoden, Eowyn or Frodo. He has to, of course, because initially he has no power other than a largely forgotten name and a broken sword. But he reforges himself into someone who is worthy of claiming the throne of men.

Tess McGill, Working Girl

Tess (Melanie Griffith) is a shy secretary who’s been looked down up on her whole life, treated as a blonde bimbo despite earning a bachelor’s degree through night courses. She’s thrilled to be assigned to a rising female executive (Sigourney Weaver), but is betrayed when her idea for a lucrative merger is stolen by her new boss. She finds her gumption and launches an intricate plan to make the deal happen on her own, impersonating an executive and forming a partnership with another (Harrison Ford), which turns romantic. Tess initially folds when exposed as a secretary, but with sufficient support stands up for herself. The movie ends with her meeting her new secretary and promising to create the sort of supportive, inclusive relationship based on the introverted mindset, rather than the scheming, hierarchical one typified by her former boss. I don’t know that there’s a higher incidence of introversion among women, but I do think it’s true that this style of leadership, where you seek to strengthen bonds and bring out the best in others, is regarded as more “female.” (Not to mention the kind I’ve preferred during my own career.)

Michael Corleone, The Godfather trilogy

Is there a better contrast of the leadership styles between extroverts and introverts than that of the fabled brothers, Sonny and Michael Corleone? Sonny (James Caan) is gregarious, impulsive and loves the spotlight, while Michael (Al Pacino) is quiet, contemplative and prefers to operate in the shadows. It seems clear he’d be content to stay out of the family business until Sonny is assassinated and his father nearly so. But he finds a knack for long-term strategizing and outwitting those who would threaten his family’s position. Not to mention, he’s driven to prove himself to his father, and finds they are more alike than he’d ever suspected. This obviously leads to some very depraved acts that he’ll eventually come to regret. But Michael’s ability to subtract emotion from decision-making is a common quality of introverts.

Hiccup Haddock, How to Train Your Dragon trilogy

I’m just noticing as I write this how many of these introverted leaders come from cinematic trilogies. Maybe it’s because these sort of epic “hero’s journey” type of tales often involve figures who are humble or unsure of themselves — in other words, what most people would consider unsuitable for leadership — learning to create their own model over time. Hiccup (Jay Baruchel), a scrawny wimp in a tribe of chesty Vikings, learns to use his smarts first to compensate for the poor comparison he makes with his father, Stoick, and eventually to supplant him, achieving far more as chief than his forebears. His empathetic qualities — a hallmark of introversion — allows him to befriend the natural enemy of his people, the dragons, and eventually prove himself as an ally. He turns his bullies into his staunchest friends and supporters.

Billy Beane, Moneyball

The hard-charging, conventional wisdom-busting GM of the Oakland A’s may seem more like an extrovert than introvert upon first glance, I’ll admit. But Billy Beane — played by Brad Pitt in what I think is his finest performance — displays a lot of the qualities of introversion. The most noticeable one is his craving for solitude. Billy famously refuses to watch baseball games in person, preferring to work out in the weight room or drive around in his truck. Billy claims it’s superstition, but one of the defining features of introversion is the need for regular intervals of aloneness. That’s the definition that first made me think of myself as an introvert: they expend energy around others, and regain energy when they are alone. I can attest to the critical need for “me time” to focus one’s thoughts and not fret about interacting with others. It’s also notable that in his meetings with his scouting team and manager, Billy can be gruff and combative. But it’s always because he’s trying to convince others to see the wisdom of the new paradigm he’s trying to build rather than just ordering people about. He even allows his chief scout to toe right up to the line of outright insubordination before he acts, perhaps underlining a potential weakness of introverted leaders. Their instinct is that if they give others trust, it will returned. As we saw above with Caesar and Tess, this isn’t always the case when more conventional types of leadership figures come along, who tend to misinterpret introversion as weakness.

In my introverted mind, it’s the trial of our age: Too many people confuse leadership with dominance, whether onscreen or in the halls of power.