How Bad Of A Leader Was Charlie Brown?
Posted by Mitch Mitchell on Oct 15, 2012
Following in the vein of my posts on Harry Potter and Kermit the Frog, I thought it was time to take a look at good ol' Charlie Brown of Peanuts fame. I hope the younger crowd is fully up on his background, as he's more than just the once a year Christmas special.
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It might seem weird to look at Charlie Brown as a leader, but let's look at his accomplishments. For all the ribbing and, well, bullying that he suffered, he happened to be put in the position of leadership and being exceptional often. For instance, we know he was the director of the Christmas play. He was also the manager of the baseball team. And he was his school's representative in the national spelling bee where, strangely enough, he finished second in the nation; not quite the ultimate loser that he's been made out to be is he?
Let's take a look at him in these leadership capacities, shall we?
I'll start with the spelling bee because it was more of an individual effort. It turned out that as bad as he normally was in school, he had a proclivity for spelling. He beat out every other kid in his school, then when he realized he had to represent his district in the national competition, and you know it was the national competition because he took the bus to Washington D.C., he studied hard, so hard that he was spelling every word he spoke. He also wanted to represent his area the best he could; that's true leadership. And he finished 2nd; in any other activity that would have garnered him something special.
Let's look at him as a baseball manager. He inherits a team of, well, misfits who really don't want to play the game. His best player is a dog who can't throw but almost had more homers than Babe Ruth, his 2nd baseman carries a blanket, his outfielders can't catch or throw, and almost no one on the team, other than Snoopy, can hit. He's also the team's pitcher, another leadership position, and he's not as bad as he's made out to be if his team knew how to field the ball.
Frankly, who could lead a team of misfits in any endeavor? Yet someone had to take the lead and it's him. He knows the stats and he knows the strategy. What he doesn't know is how to teach his team anything, as if they could learn it anyway. And he's stuck with his team; he can't fire anyone, he can't replace anyone... who could achieve anything if they were bound by those kinds of rules?
Let's look at him as a director of the school play. Once again, thrust into a position of leadership that no one else knew, he obviously took a crash course to learn how to do it because he knew some pretty standard theater terms that not many people have ever heard. And once again he inherited a bunch of misfits who really didn't want to be there in the first place, couldn't fire, and couldn't get their respect, even though he was the leader. Once again his best actor was his dog; man, I love Snoopy! 🙂
So, was Charlie Brown a bad leader, or did he not have support from above? Since we have to assume that there should have been adult leadership, without seeing any, we have to conclude that adult leadership didn't give him any support. He knew what to do, had the tools to lead, but without support from above he had no true authority. He did what he could to get some respect and to get things done, but in the end, as I've stated here many times, without upper management's support nothing good ever happens.
Years ago I was put into that position in an interim leadership position in New York City. I was put over a group of people at a place where the union was very strong. They were told by their union leadership to not let me tell them what to do, beyond them doing their normal job. I had a little bit of support from upper management, but since they were battling with the union I really had no authority to get anything done. I did sway some of the employees to work with me, but in the end the Senior VP of Finance was so horrible, and the situation so intolerable that I left early... and that hospital is now closed for good; I saw it coming I hate to say.
Poor ol' Charlie Brown; I understand you. What about the rest of you?
Probably have been about 20 years ago when I’ve watch it and actually I am not quite sure that I have or just have seen the comics. I can recognize the character, but don’t remember anything from storyline. I guess everybody have been at some difficult situation or position. Similarly, I have tried few things back in the past, working with close team, working in a country where is difficult to change stereotype or working for difficult customer that refuse to assist in any way. I think the resolution from this is always to do your best without putting to much stress and watch for potential health issues.
I’d never, ever thought of Charlie Brown as a leader, so thank you for prompting me to think about PEANUTS on a different level.
Now that you’ve engaged my brain, Charlie seems to me to be sort of a typical middle manager. He’s got a band of misfits below him – like THE DIRTY DOZEN – except the Peanuts gang doesn’t seem to unite and rise above their own issues, plus he has adults over him, especially in the TV versions.
So, back to that fun THE DIRTY DOZEN metaphor, Charlie’s sort of an everyman version of Lee Marvin’s Major. He’s got General Ernest Borgnine expecting results but with a ragtag bunch of criminals to turn into a fighting unit, he’s also got a big job ahead of him. Granted, Lee Marvin gets better results, but he’s LEE MARVIN. Charlie Brown is, well, us.
LOL! That’s an interesting perspective Rhonda, and I’m at a loss in a way because I never saw that movie; yeah, I should be ashamed. I know Charlie Brown isn’t me, thank goodness, because I’ve always had the authority to get change going, which Charlie Brown has never had as a leader.
Charlie Brown’s leadership style reminds me of one of my former managers. Sadly, I didn’t get along with him which means I’d probably not get along with dear ol’ Charlie.
This was fun, Mitch. Do some more leadership reviews of popular comic characters.
I can’t promise that Leesa, and it seems that some of those that I do are out of the minds of people here and there. Still, it’s interesting to evaluate these folks at times, as it is to talk about other things and people who have occurrences for evaluation. I love a good story.
I remember growing up, how I always sympathized with Charlie Brown. I believed he always seemed to get the short end of the stick and that if someone would listen to him and give him a chance, things would go better.
I always thought that people were in some way out to get him, that they were quick to throw him under the bus and then get in and back over him a few more times.
Indeed trying to lead a group can be just like that. But all we can do is what Charlie did, keep trying and maybe learn how to inspire some productive action from even the most ardent opponent.
Mike, I always felt the same way. He was always trying to do his best, but getting no respect and not really having full authority to pull rank didn’t give him much of a chance to get positive things done. But he always kept trying, and that was the best thing about him and why he still provides a great leadership lesson.
There is a psychological set of reasons why people divine their leaders as either one thing or another, Mitch.
Whatever we are looking for, a Leader is a handy person to bring down. Let’s look at what we want, and need first.
That’s an interesting way of looking at things Steve. I hope you’re not saying that it means there’s nothing leaders can do to overcome it.
Mitch – not at all. A true leader knows this in advance, and can use it as a motivation trigger for both them and their team.
I have to admit that it’s still an interesting premise. It almost goes along with my dad’s belief that employers and employees should see each other as the enemy.
I disagree with both statements of course. If I have to view someone as the enemy then I’d rather not deal with them at all. Similarly, if I have to view someone as wanting to take me down, which in my mind means wants to make me look bad or take my job, then I can’t be effective because what’s my purpose for making sure they can do the job I need them to do as good as possible? That type of things wouldn’t motivate me at all; it would make me wary of everyone and I’d become a micro manager.
Mitch,
I’m very impressed that you were able to write a highly educational leadership post on Charlie Brown. That, my friend, is quite impressive!
And, you’re right. He was a much better leader than people give him credit for. Very much a lead from the front type of guy.
He also exhibited another leadership trait. He kept getting the wool pulled over his eyes by Lucy when he’d try to kick the football. He never learned. I think we all get stuck in that position at some point where we have someone professionally close to us and we fail to see the writing on the wall. Hopefully we learn that lesson a little better than Charlie Brown!
Great post, Mitch. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Barry; I try to be creative, and of course love Peanuts. I hadn’t thought about the football; I think I blocked that for some reason. lol But you’re right, he kept trusting her and believing her and she’d still always pull the ball away. Sometimes leaders have to stop listening to what an employee says to them and only notice what they’re actually doing. Good addition!
Interesting that you would have written a post on Charlie Brown’s leadership role Mitch because I never saw him that way at all. However now that I have read your post I see him in an entirely different light.
He definitely was a leader, one that did the best that he could do with what he had. Even if he couldn’t whip his team into being great players the fact that he held them all together speaks volumes.
Thanks Sire. Yeah, people laugh at poor ol’ Charlie Brown and yet he was always there, ready to take the lead even when he ultimately knew it wasn’t going to work. At least he kept trying.