Karate Kid... psychology style

Everyone remembers the movie Karate Kid... well, it was an entertaining yet meaningless movie, at least until last week... until a psychologist asked me to watch the movie from a different perspective... so I did, but I hope I won't take this as a bad habit... :)

I was in Brussels, one of these courses on leadership... at the beginning I thought it would be like at the Army Academy... do this, do that, don't argue... but it wasn't entirely true...
ok, if there are two categories I tend to distrust are lawyers and psychologists, but I have to give it to him, it was interesting...

So, here we go with some background info... there are four kinds of Situational Leadership: S1, where the leader has to be instructive and directive, because the collaborator is a newcomer (low competence, high motivation), this is a one way communication scenario... S2, where the leader is coaching as with time the motivation of the collaborator can decrease but with two way communication... S3, where the leader is motivating as the collaborator is generally high in competence and have to boost his commitment to match it with the competence... two way communication... and finally S4, where the leader is delegating, having full trust in his collaborators (high competence, high motivation) and requires just feed back, thus one way communication again.

Now, what about Karate Kid? Well, believe it or not, I will convince you of this S1-S4 theory as it was used in the movie... S1: Daniel-San goes to Miyagi to seek help, he wants to learn karate to defend himself from older guys who already beat him up... Miyagi agrees, and says: "I say, you do, no questions..." ... "I teach, you learn...".... S2: commitment drops after Miyagi asks Daniel-San to paint the whole house and wax all his cars... so he takes the matter into his own hands, and shows Daniel-San why he did all that, and what purposes will serve in the near future... S3: Daniel-San is karate ready, but still doubts of his chances of winning the tournament... Miyagi works on personal relationship with him, celebrating Daniel-San's birthday... S4: the tournament... Miyagi hardly says a word, let Daniel-San find his way to victory, giving him just the minimum support necessary...

Well, if i have convinced you or not, it don't really matter... I just know next time I will watch a movie, I will do it "old style", with some snacks and a beer and no weirdo-psychology in mind... So I would leave you with some highlights from the movie...

Daniel-San: "...if I win... but if I don't, they'll bury me where I fall..."
Miaygi: "Either way, problem solved"

Daniel-San: "Do you think I stand a chance in the tournament?"
Miyagi: "No matter what Miyagi think, Miyagi not fighting"

Daniel-San: "You are the best friend I ever had"
Myiagi: "You are pretty OK too"