“Overcoming fears, especially fears of stepping beyond the boundaries of one’s tribe, is a special need for the leader.” — Thomas E. Cronin
Sometimes we have to travel a great distance to find that our original starting point is where we truly belong. This is the lesson learned by Homer Wells (Tobey Maguire), a young man who sets out to experience the world, after living most of his life in an orphanage. Adapted by John Irving from his own best-selling book, The Cider House Rules, the story begins as Homer is being groomed as the successor to Dr. Wilbur Larch (Michael Caine) as the doctor who oversees the operation of an orphanage in St. Cloud’s, Maine. The doctor instructs Homer in obstetrics for unwed mothers and the care of the children abandoned at the orphanage.
Because Homer and Dr. Larch do not share the same views concerning the practice of medicine, Homer decides to strike out on his own to see the world beyond his isolated home. On an impulse he leaves the orphanage with an unmarried couple who have come to use Dr. Larch’s services. After traveling to the coast, Homer takes a job as an apple picker and lobsterman, living with black migrant workers in a cider house. This experience leads Homer to explore who he really is and what he wants from life.
In his article, “Thinking About Leadership,” in Unit One of the Phi Theta Kappa Leadership Development Studies text, Thomas E. Cronin points out that several factors go into discovering your own personal leadership philosophy. “What a man thinks about himself,” Thoreau wrote, “that is what determines, or rather indicates his fate.” Cronin adds that “one of the most paralyzing of mental illnesses is wrong perception of self.”
When Homer finds a set of rules posted in the cider house, he learns how arbitrary “rules” often impact the decisions we make in life. Some people live their lives a certain way because that is what they have been taught. One of the migrant workers wisely reminds Homer, “You know they ain’t our rules, Homer. We didn’t write ‘em. I don’t see no need to read ‘em.”
Sometimes these rules are passed on from generation to generation or leader to leader without anyone really knowing how the rules came to be. If no one ever questions the rules, decisions are often based on outdated information. According to Cronin, strong leaders know how to challenge these rules and “provide the risk-taking, entrepreneurial imagination for their organizations and communities.”
Cronin also identifies seven key ingredients for effective leadership: knowledge of one’s self, a sense of priorities, creativity and entrepreneurialism, a sense of humor, the ability to resolve and create conflict, integrity, and knowledge. Each of these concepts can be applied to Homer’s journey to maturity as he copes with a crisis of conscience over abortion, medical ethics, racial prejudice, and the pain of lost love.
Homer’s experiences at the cider house force him to face the philosophies taught by Dr. Larch and to uncover his own personal strengths. Eventually, Larch’s death leads Homer to return to a leadership role at the orphanage where he discovers he is now ready to handle the task. As Cronin points out, “Respect and responsibility generally migrate to those who are fair, compassionate and care about the values, beliefs and feelings of others.” After his long odyssey to discover his place in the world, Homer finds that responsibility leads him back to his original starting point.
