Twelve O'clock High - The Ultimate Leader

Twelve O’clock High chronicles the tale of a bomber regiment in World War II, headed by the incomparable General Frank Savage. Savage’s results as the leader of the 918th can be stated as nothing short of exceptional, and observing his behaviors and the relationships he builds throughout the war is a study in leadership under extremely difficult circumstances. Wartime is one of the most difficult environments a person can experience, and one where a person is challenged to perform extraordinary behaviors, but interestingly one where personality must not be a determining factor in performance, and that the system must function perfectly. Meaning simply that in war people are wounded and killed and someone must take their place and absorb their functions with immediacy and effectiveness not often required in the business world. Frank Savage’s personality is important to his success as the leader of the 918th but not crucial, evident in Major Stowall’s statement regarding the difference between Savage and Merrill being “two inches in height”; however they had disparate results with the same organization.
The film begins with the failure over a period of Colonel Davenport, original commander of the 918th, and pointedly the General in charge questions Davenport’s failure stating, “But he looks so good on paper… man like that can’t cut it, we’re in trouble.” As one would expect, the General is most assuredly receiving harsh criticism from his superiors due to the 918th’s troubles, but he regards the situation properly, does not make the fundamental attribution error and just blame Davenport, instead he grabs his hat and goes to speak directly with Davenport. Through skillfully approaching and questioning Davenport (the General simply states that “A man makes his own luck” and avoids blaming Davenport therefore diffusing the detrimental natural defensiveness one would display in Davenport’s position) about the errors made on his latest mission. The General realizes that Davenport had become too attached to his men and a change in command was needed, relieving his command with a brief “A man has only so much to give and you’ve given it”. Therefore he assigns Frank Savage to command the group. Savage behaved admirably throughout the entire development as he removed the rose-colored glasses to truly examine his friend Davenport’s performance, he brings his friend’s failings to the attention of his superior, and most importantly is prepared to assume Davenport’s position when he criticizes Davenport’s performance. This is crucial because Davenport is such an able person, and would typically become defensive of his efforts, which were substantial, probably lashing out at Savage with statements such as “Well, why don’t you take over then?” as most are want to do when put in Davenport’s shoes. As Savage is prepared to assume the reigns he feels more comfortable criticizing his friend (he also knows him well and is therefore less inclined to make the fundamental attribution error and more likely to turn his attention to the system) displaying excellent leadership skills.
Subsequently, Savage begins command of the 918th with his stated goal being to give them pride in their accomplishments, to achieve a group attitude that “the last thing a man will want is to be left on the ground.” However Frank knows that the system at Archbury is broken, otherwise his capable friend would not have been broken, and his approach is to redraw the black lines that the military intended on the base by becoming very strict. Savage adopts the opposite attitude of Davenport, who was buddy-buddy with his “boys”, as he sees discipline lacking on the base. He also reprimands personnel immediately, makes necessary personnel changes, and closes the saloon on the base, all to signal to the troops that a change in the failing system has begun, and that he intends to mold the group into a successful combat unit. Discipline is crucial in this situation because the safety of the troops depends entirely on their ability to maintain proper formation on their bombing runs, which of course would allow for zero buffer zone in the system, something that Davenport may have realized but because of his personal closeness with his men he could not see. This is illustrated in his refusal to replace his navigator. Interestingly the troops immediately attempt to rebel, but Savage has anticipated this knowing that if he can show them mission success and a safe return his men will begin to trust his judgment and actions. Though we are not privy to Savage’s personality in his previous command one can tell that Savage himself is not usually a strict disciplinarian, but he sees the problems in the system as resulting from a lack of discipline, therefore he amends his own personality enough to result in the disciplinarian behaviors required by his position at the moment. Gregory Peck does an excellent job of portraying this change when his character, Frank Savage, first arrives at Archbury, and he reprimands the gate guard for not checking his credentials.
Savage’s leadership skills, specifically his abilities as a contingent leader, are displayed through interactions with two of his soldiers Lt. Colonel Gately, and Lt. Bishop. Gately is the son and nephew of decorated high-ranking officers who, until Savage arrives, has been underachieving for his skill set. Instead of ignoring him, or cutting him loose, Savage skillfully berates Gately in private challenging his bravery and honor and then demotes him to commanding an airplane full of ‘failures’ ordering him to paint “Leper Colony” on the nose. By calling Gately “yellow” Savage flips the internal motivation switch for Gately. Gately knows he is brave, honorable, a well-trained experienced pilot, but because throughout his life people have always only seen his last name he hasn’t yet had the situation to prove to others what he knows about him. Because Savage treats him with an honesty, equality, and fairness he had yet to experience, Savage spurs him to action and Gately eventually rises to the challenges placed before him. The honest assessment Savage gives him in their first meeting, coupled with the commitment he makes to Gately to stick it out with him, proves beginning of the foundation of trust further setting the tone for Savages’ interactions with the entire group. Tailoring his leadership style to what is needed for each situation Savage’s conversation second private conversation with Bishop is key to group cohesion as he adeptly uses words like “we” and “us” displaying to Bishop that he is a partner leader, that he values Bishop’s opinion as an able mid-level leader. Again Savage shows the variability in his approach contingent to the situation, and Bishop hears what he needs from Savage to enable him to withdraw his original application for transfer.
The true transformation in the 918th comes when Savage pilots a plane on a mission where every group abandons their mission because of poor weather. Savage daringly ignores the command to return, feigning ignorance, and leads the group to an extremely successful result. Key to this mission was Savage’s putting himself at personal risk at the helm of a bomber, a behavior that validates him as a commander to his troops that were specifically skeptical of his abilities when he stayed on the ground. Not unlike Savage’s preparedness to assume command of the 918th his piloting of the bomber exampled his willingness to take the reigns in the face of his own criticism. Following the mission Savage displays a most important leadership characteristic in that he humbly requests commendation for his troops but not for himself. Humility in success is the way a leader can prove through action that he values the contributions of his personnel. This finally leads to Savage getting a cheer when he commends the group in a briefing; an action that prior to these actions elicited no response whatsoever.
In the film’s final act, Savage is temporarily broken. The death of certain personnel, and rigors of the wartime environment, finally starts to take its toll on the hero, and he breaks-down before leaving on a mission. The changes that Savage has made in the system at Archbury however stands true, and all the disciplinary action, personnel shifting, piloting missions, and even commendations made proves sufficient as the mission is successful even without its leader at the helm. Davenport makes a pointed comment proving that Savages’ changes in the system had been successful stating that “You’re riding in every crew station and in every cockpit.” Therefore his men remembered and embodied his teachings and system he established, they recalled the pride he had helped them generate in themselves, and they executed their mission to near perfection. This must be the goal of any leader regardless of the organization they are in, to establish a system that functions without the presence of their personality, and that their teachings are in the forefront of all their people’s minds so that each person can execute their function within the system to the best of their abilities.