Lotso is the shortened name given to Lots- o’- Huggin’
Bear, who is not all he seems. Despite his friendly welcome to Buzz, and his
fluffy pink fur and sweet strawberry smell he is a manipulative and controlling
bear who ensures that Buzz and his friends are introduced to the boisterous
youngest children at Sunnyside Daycare, whilst Lotso and his friends are played
with kindly by the elder children.
His
real motives and aims are concealed and he presents the new toys with a false
ideal of Sunnyside and influences his group to believe that their owners did
not value or care for them.
Lotso does not display any ability to be reflective or proactive. He is an authoritarian leader and does not support the ideas of others.
Lotso
has abused his power to control the environment and has exercised reward power (French
and Raven 1960) to retain Ken and Big Baby's following of his leadership. As
Lotso’s henchmen, they are spared the risk of damaging play with younger
children to maintain their self-preservation, by ensuring that Buzz and his
group are placed in the playroom with the younger children.
Lotso
was aware that his actions would result in Buzz and his group being
harmed. Lotso
over exercised his control by imprisoning the toys and punishing Mr Potato Head
by putting him outside alone in the sandbox. The
extent of Lotso’s personal crusade to achieve his own aims eventually resulted
in his downfall when Big Baby realised he had been dishonest about their owner,
Daisy.
Consequently,
Lotso was an ineffective leader as he was not honest about the motivation for
his behaviour. This was based on his own perceptions of their abandonment by
Daisy and not on the shared understanding of Lotso, Daisy and Chuckles the
Clown. The effectiveness of their team was hindered as one of the three key themes for
effective teams (Hackman 1990) was missing. Daisy and
Chuckles didn't have all the facts regarding their abandonment so
were duped by Lotso. Eventually, they turned against him and did not want to
follow his leadership. Lotso had coached them under a false pretense. Team
members need clear and agreed aims and goals to ensure productivity and harmony.
Steve Jobs –
Apple Co founder.
Steve
was extremely driven and held strong beliefs like Lotso. He developed his
company from his garage and was a self-made entrepreneur with fastidious vision
and drive. He was admired as a charismatic businessman and had high
expectations of his staff to follow his autocratic/authoritarian style of
leadership (Lewin
1939). Steve Jobs has been described as a controlling, bullying character
and his staff feared his response to their work. Lotso’s leadership style is
similar to Steve Jobs, as he focuses on instilling fear in the toys that they
will be used and discarded by the children. Although Lotso’s principles are
morally misguided he believes he is acting in the best interests of his friends
and does not need to consult with them or re-consider his chosen course of
action.
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