Running Head: Leadership Analysis - Senna 1 Ayrton Senna’s pursuit of perfection in Leadership Kris Felstead Foundations of Leadership November 24th, 2012 Leadership Analysis: Senna 2 Senna is a film documentary about Brazilian race car driver Ayrton Senna. The film begins with an overview of his journey from Brazil to Europe and his arrival into Formula 1 in 1984. As the film follows Senna it reveals both his personal and on track challenges and triumphs, culminating in his recognition as a global superstar. It is common to hear race fans describe the drivers as heroes. The notion of what constitutes a hero from an outsider’s perspective can be quite different from the challenges a driver goes through to compete in the sport they love. Furthermore, if one examines the leadership criteria it takes to lead a team to a championship, it becomes clear the driver is doing much more than just piloting the car around a track. The relationship the driver has with his team is a delicate balancing act of focusing on the needs of the team, while balancing the need to attain specific objectives each race weekend. It was in this balancing act that Senna displayed his strongest and weakest moments of leadership and thorough this examination it becomes clear he is an authentic leader in every sense of the word. Emergence of a Leader The first footage you are presented with is Senna driving go-karts when he came from Europe in 1978 to compete in the World Championship. The voice over of Senna describes his feeling of competing at that time as “pure driving, pure racing, there wasn’t any politics to be concerned with, or money to be won, but just real racing” (Senna, 1:14). His journey to Europe to race in go-karts was his stepping stone into Formula 1 in 1994. In his monologue he describes his voyage as a challenge which he will never give up, even though it meant leaving his family and friends in Brazil. Leadership Analysis: Senna 3 When a Formula 1 team selects a driver they are looking for the next champion, an individual that has demonstrates great task ability, individual assertiveness, and social acceptability (Borgatta, 1954, p756.) It’s in these traits we start to see the emergence of the Great Man theory and the belief by Formula 1 teams that this combination of attributes will help the driver lead the team to victory. In Senna’s first year in Formula 1 he was driving for an extremely underfunded team by the name of Toleman-Hart racing. During this time it was recognized that the car he was driving was not competitive enough to secure a race win. From the start it was clear Senna was an incredible talent providing some great performances with his underachieving machinery. The turning point came during the midpoint of the season at the Monaco Grand Prix. The race started under light rain and although Senna qualified 13th on the grid, the conditions provided a forum for his to display his driving talents. Each lap he carved away at the field and by lap 30 he was catching the leader by almost 4 seconds per lap. The leader at this time was Alan Prost, a senior driver in the series who was a Formula 1 champion and driving for the best team at the time McLaren. Senna was unable to complete his charge to victory as the race official for the FIA (Formula 1’s governing body) stopped the race due to heavy rain. This signified the emergence of a great talent and if provided with the right situation and support, Senna would emerge as a future champion (Stogdill, 1984, p66). Facing Challenges The race at Monaco wasn’t only a turning point in the recognition of a great capacity for racing but the first test of Senna’s leadership ability. Senna proposed the race was stopped because of the rate he was catching the champion Alan Prost. Since the race was held in France, the FIA housed in Paris, and the race leader of French decent, it was the first time Senna had challenged his notion of sport being pure. Leadership Analysis: Senna 4 In his next year in Formula 1 Senna moved to team Lotus with factory support and more money at their disposal. Senna displayed an incredible work ethic and was the last person to leave the garage on many occasions to ensure they could meet their objectives for the race weekend. He is also one of the first drivers to work directly with the engineer to discuss the mechanics of the car and develop the best setup for race-day. His cognitive ability, problem solving skills, and his motivation for success were clearly separating Senna from just another driver and a motivating force for everyone around him (Zaccro, 2007, p12). It was during his time at Lotus that Senna displayed his high level of Emotional Intelligence not just through his driving but his dedication and pursuit of perfection on every task that would mean the difference between success and failure. This also enabled him to lead the team to performance levels they would have been unable to achieve without him (Boyatzis, 2000, p344). Senna continued to mature as an individual and as a leader but understood that his stay at Lotus was complete if he wanted to realize his dream of becoming a Formula1 Champion. New Challenges in Leadership The 1988 season saw Senna move to McLaren joining the two time world champion Alain Prost. The tension between the two drivers remained stemming back to 1984 and the Monaco race. Senna was pleased to be in identical machinery in the hopes he could prove to everyone that he had the ability to be Formula 1 champion. It was evident that Senna had the pace and dedication to Join McLaren but in the end what you are looking for is an intellect (Senna, Ron Dennis, 20:44). It’s the continual development of self that prompted McLaren to acquire Senna’s services and their belief he would fit seamlessly into the company culture. It was an interesting time at McLaren because Leadership Analysis: Senna 5 Prost felt he was the number one driver and team leader but Senna was determined to demonstrate he was the leader of the team. This tension between the two was growing as each race passed and Senna was finding it difficult to manage his frustration. Prost was known to be extremely political and calculated his words as carefully as he drove on the track. This outward presentation of calculation and self control earned him the nickname the professor. This approach to racing was a complete contradiction to the style of Senna on and off the track. Senna lead with his emotions and put maximum effort into everything. It was through this relationship with Prost that Senna became more adaptive to his environment and understood the importance of responding in a suitable manner off the track, just as he instinctively did on (Moser, 2001, p118). At the Monaco Grand Prix in 1988 Senna was leading the race and so far in front of Prost it was almost impossible for him to lose. The team urged Senna to slow down and conserve his car but his determination to totally dominate Prost lead to him crashing into the wall. This gave the win to Prost and served as a valuable lesson to Senna. He put the teams’ needs after his own agenda and threw away important points for himself and the team. In order to become world champion he needed the support of the team and had to share the responsibility of everyone pulling in the same direction to achieve the goal (Winkler, p40). This was Senna’s first understanding of what it meant to be a Transformational leader and the continued development of his Emotional Intelligence at McLaren. It was also the turning point in the season as his new outlook saw him win the next 6 out of 8 races placing him just ahead of Prost in the championship. The final race of the year saw Senna and Prost fighting for the honour of Formula 1 Champion in which Senna became the champion. This was a huge victory for Senna but his Leadership Analysis: Senna 6 jouney as a leader had just begun. Over the next three years the rivalry would expose the best and worst of Senna’s leadership. Leaders and Adaptation The 1989 season was another ballet between the two teammates Senna and Prost. In the second last race of the season Senna had to win in order to send the championship to the final and deciding race. He was running second to Prost and attempted a pass on the inside which saw Prost close the gap and forced the two cars to collide and lock wheels. Prost got out of his car and walked back to the pits where Senna prompted the race marshals to push him and restart the car. Senna was able to continue but the route he had to take in order to get back on the track involved running down the safety road. Senna was able to secure the victory but after the race the president of the FIA Jean-Marie Balestre disqualified Senna for cutting the chicane to get back onto the track. Senna was infuriated and met with the president to have the verdict overturned but instead received a large fine and temporary suspension of his Super License to race in Formula 1. McLaren was now in a tough situation because Prost had won the championship but felt the need to support Senna because of the loyalty and support they received.