Leadership in Middle-earth: The influence of Tolkien’s faith
— Michael Joseph Urick, Graduate Director of the Master of Science in Management: Operational Excellence, Saint Vincent College
Paper given 3 September 2021 at 2nd day of Oxonmoot 2021
As a devout Catholic, Tolkien’s writing is heavily influenced by his faith. His writing also contains many examples of both positive and negative leadership behaviors and traits. Characters from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings that are positive leaders are viewed to make ethical decisions. Tolkien likely viewed ethical decisions to be those that adhere to a set of virtues fundamental to his religious beliefs. One such widely known set of virtues is the Cardinal Virtues. The Cardinal Virtues include prudence (judging things wisely), justice (promoting fairness and human rights), fortitude (using courage and determination to guide actions), and temperance (restraining personal desire and passion) (Richert, 2019). In Middle-earth, good leaders achieve results that benefit a group in a moral manner, and they do so by modeling the Cardinal Virtues. This presentation will draw from examples of and comparisons between leaders in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
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