Ender Wiggins
Inspiring
On another occasion Ender demonstrates the leadership quality of being inspiring when he was single-handedly able to defeat the buggers even through the fact that Graff falsely made Ender believe the whole thing was a simulation, when in reality the whole thing was actually real. In the book it states Graff telling Ender "You were reckless and brilliant and young. It was what you were born for". Which shows throughout the whole battle school the main focus was developing Ender into the most succesfull commander in the whole program.
A connection I can make to my personal life from this is when I went through a similar experience as Ender. In grade 7 I actually made the school flag football team. I was one of the few 7th graders on the team, and compared to everyone else I was significantly small. Even through this I managed to defend opponents twice the size of me. I was able to do this because I believed in myself, and I believed that I am capable of competing against people bigger than me. This is similar to Ender's experience he was able to achieve what he has done mainly because he believed in himself and he was aware of what he was actually capable of doing. A lot of mt friends were actually surprised after hearing this. The next year I made the football team again and I used the experience I had last year to motivate myself and most importantly improve. Our team did so good that we actually went on the win the championship. This significant experience is actually really important for me because it always remind me that I can achieve anything when I am put in tough positions.
In My Life...
This act represents the leadership trait of being inspiring in Ender because even through how difficult and challenging the task given to Ender was, he was able to fight through and successfully take down the opponents. I feel that this is very inspiring because Ender had no idea how much he was putting himself to risk, but little did he know that he was right about to complete the main goal he was put in the military program for which was defeating the buggers. Most importantly he demonstrated being inspiring in this act because he proved all his doubters wrong. For example throughout the whole book many different people doubted him, they thought he was too small and young to be able to make a impact in the military program. But he was still able to remain determined and complete the task that no other recruit in the military was capable of doing. Personally I was really inspired by this because I really felt the message that was being sent, which was that you can do anything you want no matter who you are. Most importantly to prove all your doubters wrong. To further on extend this there is actually a quote by Reed Markham which is “Successful leaders see the opportunities in every difficulty rather than the difficulty in every opportunity". This quote basically means that as a leader you should see all the different opportunities you can find in the tough situations you go through.
Ender demonstrates the leadership quality of being inspiring when he left the Salamander Crew to train and develop with the "launchies" he first started with during the beginning of the military program. In the book it siad "he needed someone to practice with, and in return he he could help them learn some of the things he saw the older boys doing". Ender also states in the book when he is telling his commander he trains with his launchies that "im going to become a good soldier. I won't screw up your regular drill, but im going to practice with the only people that will practice with me and that's my launchies". This shows he was seeking for improvement in himself as well as in his fellow launchies.
A connection I can make to the world is to Martin Luther King Jr because of all the different ways for how he inspired so many people. For example through Martin Luther King Jr's speeches he was able to make so many people change and believe in a certain vision which is that all humans should be treated equally no matter what race or culture you are. He was able to make so many people believe in this vision which goes to show how inspiring he actually was to people. This connects to Ender because through his actions he was also able to make so many people believe in a certain vision which was that there is always room for improvement no matter how good you might seem at something. As seen in Ender to everyone else he might be looked at as too smart, but even through this Ender is always seeking for improvement. Both Martin Luther King Jr and Ender were able to inspire others to dream more, learn more, and do more which actually relates back to the quote. In our world Martin Luther King Jr is seen as one of the greatest leaders ever through the significance his words and actions had on the public.
In The World...
This act of Ender's represents the leadership quality of being inspiring because he actually took the time to go back and help out the people that helped him when he first started. Ender did not care about what other people would think about him but instead thought of how he can help out others. Through Ender's training and development he was actually able to help a few of his friends from the "launchies" rank up crews. This is a act of being a leader because through his actions he was able to make a group of the launchies believe in a certain vision, which was to improve and reach your full potential. There is actually a quote by John Quincy Adams which is “If your action inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more you are a leader”.
Respect
Ender also demonstrates the leadership quality of respect on another occasion when he transferred into the Salamander Crew and became friends with Petra who was the only girl in the whole battle school. Since Petra was the only girl in the program everyone everyone treated her differently and she usually felt isolated to herself. In the book one of the boys told Ender that "Bonzo gets mad if you skin by Petra" and Ender thought to himself "it's such a stupid rule, that set her apart, and made her different from others. Even through this Ender still decided to stay friends with Petra, since she helped him when he first got in the Salamander Crew.
This act of Ender's represents the leadership trait of respect because even though everyone else treated Petra differently since she was a girl, he looked through that and still chose to treat her with the same respect he treats everyone else with. This was a strong act by Ender because he did what everyone else feared of since Bonzo would get mad and punish you if he thought you were working with Petra. This is a very important leadership trait to have because in order to look like a successful leader to others you need to be able to treat everyone with the same amount of respect no matter who they are, or what situation they are in. This really shows maturity in Ender since everyone is older than him but he still chose the right thing to do which is what the other boys feared. There is a quote by John Maxwell that goes by "Leaders become great, not because of their power but the ability to empower others". Ender most definitely did that since he chose to make Petra feel happy and good about herself by being her friend instead of showing hatred because she was a girl.
Ender demonstrates the leader trait of respect in the movie because whenever Ender was put in situations when he would get bullied he would not fight back until he was forced to such as when the bullies start touching him. Even though Ender had double the strength and muscle than the group of people that were bullying him he still decided not to use force until he most definitely needed to. In the book it said "when the sergeant picked on you the other liked you better, but when the officer iked you the others hated you". This was why Ender was always getting picked on. When the boys picked on Ender he allowed them and in his mind thought "go away, I didn't do anything to you". This shows that Ender had no intention to hurt others.
This act of Ender's represents respect because even though Ender has strength that can overpower anyone, he still decides to not exploit this unique specialty, but instead keep it personal to himself. Throughout the whole book there were a variety of different situations where Ender had faced many people going against him, but the main reason behind this was because of Graff since he wanted to make sure that Ender has a mindset tough enough to handle the military program. As a leader you should treat everyone with respect regardless of who they are, or the situation, and Ender actually does this in that piece of scene. Even though he was getting harassed by them he was being the bigger person by ignoring them without using an force to harm them. Even though Ender disagreed with the comments from other, he was still able to remain respectful and this really shows the maturity in Ender. There is a quote by Jim Rohn that goes by “The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully”. This connects to Ender because even though Ender did not respond to the bullies he looked bold, and not weak. This type of attitude leads you into becoming a successful leader.
Confident
Ender demonstrates the leadership quality of being confident on another occasion when he faced a group of bullies at school. Ender had accidently knocked down the leader of the group and write away in his mind he had thought "I have to win this now, for all time. Or I will have to fight it everyday and it will get worse and worse". Ender was confident in finishing it so he beat up the leader that was bullying him and none of the other kids even dared to mess with him after that.
This act of Ender's demonstrates the leadership quality of being confident because he was confident in what he was doing. He knew that if he didn't finish everything right then and there there would be further consequences in the future. This is what made Ender so special he was confident in his decisions and he knew how to react when put in tough situations. If Ender was not confident in what he was doing he would've ran away from the scene and faced the consequences on another day. He did not directly choose to use force but instead he was actually forced, to since he had no other choice. Confidence is a main key in being a great leader as it allows you to show what kind of choices you would make in different situations. There is a quote that relates to this situations that goes by "You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face". This relates to Ender as his confidence against bullies grew when he was put in that position.
Ender demonstrates the leadership quality of being confident throughout the whole movie. One example includes when Ender told Bonzo that he is allowed to train with his launchies in order for himself to become as successful as possible. Ender said "I'll follow all the orders you are authorized to give. But free play is free. No assignments can be given". Ender knew about the rules and when he was allowed to do certain things, he was not interesting in breaking the rules, but instead making an attempt in improving his skills the correct way.
This act of Ender's demonstrates the leadership quality of being confident because when he was talking to Bonzo he told him all the reasons for why he was allowed to do what he did and how it actually benefited him. All of the other members in Salamander Crew were all too scared to actually step up to Bonzo which shows that amount of Confidence in Ender. Ender is really confident in what he does which is why he is so successful in the battle school, along with confidence comes the mindset where you do not fear anyone which is what we see in Ender. His confidence actually mesmerized Bonzo as at first he disagreed but after some time he though about what Ender had said, and further allowed him to train with his launchies. None of the other people in the Salamander Crew were capable of doing this. There is a quote related to this that goes by "Confidence is not that they like me but instead ill be fine if they don't. This connects to Ender as he was not scared either if Bonzo disagreed with him but instead he just wanted to share his opinion.
Knowledegable
Ender also demonstrates the leadership trait of being knowledgeable on another when he was watching the Salamandar Crew go into battle. He domnstrates knowledge because right away he easily pointed out the mistakes the crew was making and the tactics they needed to add in order to defeat the opponent. For example during the first battle for the Salmandar Crew Ender stated that "They persisted assaulting stars that could have been bypassed by wall sliding to a more advanced position.". This shows Ender's understanding of the battle, even though he was not able to participate and had not really been in battle before, he was still able to seek out the mistakes ad find the solution to these problems.
This act of Ender's demonstrates the leadership quality of being knowledgeable because this proves how much knowledge Ender actually has about battles compared to others. Ender did not even participate in any battles before but even through him having that ,much knowledge for how to win really proves he will become a very important commander and leader. I think what really led him to having this much knowledge and understanding of battles was because of the amount of time he put in studying the simulations and really planning on solutions to defeat the opponents. This is a main component of being a leader because no matter how knowledgeable you are, you should always seek for improve and learning new things. There is a quote by Tom Peter that goes by "The best leaders are the best notetakers, best askers, and best learners. This really connects to Ender because he hit all these points through the simulations and when he was watching the battles
Ender demonstrates the leadership trait of being knowledgeable when he played Graff's gravity game during the starting of the battle school. In the game the launchies basically be in a room without gravity. Ender was able to respond to this by have the capabilities to reorient his body to remain stable. On the other hand the rest of the launchies were not able to reorient their body and were just flying across the room. Graff actually saw this and told the rest of the boys "There's only one boy with brains on this launch and that's Ender Wiggins. Take a good look he is going to be a commander while you are still in diapers". This shows the amount of knowledge and power Ender had compared to the rest of the boys.
This act of Ender represents the leadership trait of being knowledgeable because he is capable of outsmarting kids even older than him. Being able to respond to no gravity during your first experience ever is very surprising, which is definitely why none of the other boys were able to reorient themselves in no gravity. Graff also saw that amount of potential and knowledge in Ender which is why he had such strong words for how he is going to become a commander way before the rest of the boys. As a leader you should be knowledgeable as this the main reason for why people are going to look up to you and follow you. If we look at the government we vote for them to be the leader of our country because of the knowledge they share. There is a quote by Cal Ripken Jr that goes by "Leadership is sharing your knowledge and direction so others grow and reach their potential". Ender actually did this as he shared how he was able to orient his body.
A connection I can make from this to another text is to Mulan. Both Ender and Mulan were extremely knowledgeable and actually used their surroundings as an advantage against others. Ender actually saw how the rest of the boys were reacting too the lack of gravity and actually used that to reorient his body in a position where he is stable. This connects to Mulan because when she was in battle she actually used her knowledge to defeat the opponents. For example she fired a cannon at a mountain causing an avalanche that wiped out the opponents. Similarly both characters were actually looked up to as leaders after they demonstrated their sense of knowledge. I feel that these 2 characters really connect to each other as both of them face a series of hatred from people when they joined their military group. But both of them didn't give up and at the end showed up as big leaders.
In a Movie...
