The Shawshank Redemption

The main character in the film, Andy Dufresne, was a highly intelligent and skilled person, both of which are threshold capabilities needed to become a leader (Goleman, 1996). He also displayed (in varying degrees), each of the skills that comprise the emotional intelligence framework. Specifically, Andy routinely exhibited motivation, empathy and social skill, while he only demonstrated self-awareness and self-regulation occasionally.

Andy’s motivation could be seen in two different ways: doing everything he could to get funding for a prison library and continuously planning his future escape from the “fictional” Shawshank state prison. As a successful, educated man, Andy felt that the growth of the Shawshank prison library was of great importance and undertook the task of procuring funding. Through weekly letters and continued effort, he secured adequate funding and resources to allow the library to thrive. Throughout the entire process, Andy was constantly reminded that he would never succeed at his endeavor. Despite the difficulty, Andy continued to maintain optimism in the face of failure.

Andy also had a significant amount of empathy for people. He considered others’ feelings and wanted to help anyone around him. When he first arrived at Shawshank, he kept to himself and the only person he talked to was Red. Eventually, Andy was chosen for a coveted, outside prison job where inmates would tar the prison roof. While doing this work, Andy overheard the main guard, Captain Hadley, talking about an inheritance he would receive. Although a dangerous idea, Andy approached the guard and told him that he could save money using a legal tax loophole. Captain Hadley, after a rather tense conversation, allowed Andy to help him in exchange for a few cold beers for his fellow co-workers. Another way that Andy displayed his empathy towards others was when he spent time in the library mentoring other inmates. A new inmate, Tommy Williams, was a young, married father who had been in and out of the legal system most of his life. After Andy remarked to Tommy that he was not a very good criminal, Tommy decided that he wanted to turn his life around and asked Andy to help him study for his high school equivalency test. Andy agreed to help him and ended up spending time tutoring him, a perfect example of his “ability to develop others”

The Another component of the emotional intelligence framework that Andy displayed was social skill., Andy went on to demonstrate expertise in building and leading teams when he set up the library and supervised inmates to run the library. Another example of his social skill can be seen when Andy inspired Red to try to get paroled, instead of sabotaging his chances by repeating the same answers at each board meeting. Seeing the similarity of Red to Brooks, who could not handle life on the outside, Andy felt that Red would be the perfect companion for his life in Mexico. Their mutual understanding of the difficulties of life both in and out of prison would provide both men with a support system to cope with any changes. The way Andy managed his relationship with Red is an example of Andy’s ability to move people in the desired direction.

The last component of emotional intelligence frame work that Andy displayed was self-awareness skill i.e.  understanding his skills and knowing what he would be able to contribute in order to gain an advantage while he was in prison (e.g., offering to help Captain Hadley, assisting Warden Norton in laundering money). Andy’s brief display of self-regulation was seen when he explained that he originally parked outside the home of his wife’s lover the night they were murdered and had been drinking. Despite having strong feelings (and strong booze), Andy regulated his emotions and instead of entering a potentially volatile situation, went home to sober up.