Wicked Leadership in Film

<P><I>Wicked Leadership in Film</I> offers a novel theory of how leaders can contend with so-called “wicked problems” a class of important entrenched and far-reaching political and social challenges (such as climate change or mental illness) that resist ordinary policies and problem solving. Bruce Peabody’s relational theory is built on two central claims. First it holds that we cannot confront wicked problems without understanding how they relate to other leadership challenges such as confronting crises or managing relatively routine decisions. Second the model contends that our leaders’ approach to wicked problems must be understood through their ongoing cooperative or antagonistic relationship with the existing political order—a status that shapes their authority and overall the potential for success. Besides its original argument about wicked leadership this book provides a distinct method for testing this theory: by studying a series of cinematic case studies ranging from <I>Mr. Smith Goes to Washington</I> to <I>One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest</I>. </P><P></P>