By Stacey Duke
What starts off as a social studies project, quickly transforms into an altruistic phenomenon in the movie Pay It Forward.
Social studies teacher Eugene Simonet (Kevin Spacey) challenges his students to think of an idea to change the world and then implement that idea. Eleven-year-old Trevor McKinney (Haley Joel Osment) takes the assignment to heart. Within his own family Trevor sees people in need. His mom, Arlene (Helen Hunt), works two jobs and battles alcoholism. She has been deserted by Trevor’s deadbeat dad (Jon Bon Jovi). Trevor’s grandmother is also an alcoholic and is homeless.
Trevor’s plan revolves around the concept that one good deed deserves another. But, instead of “paying back” a person’s kindness, the recipient must “pay it forward” and do something good for three other people. The action must be something the other people cannot do for themselves. At first, Trevor’s plan seems to backfire, but unknown to him, his idea is sweeping the country.
The movie, Pay It Forward, can be linked to two units in the Leadership Development Studies text — Unit Two, “Articulating a Vision” and Unit Eleven, “Leading by Serving.”
In the article, “Enlist Others: Attracting People to Common Purposes,” James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner state that there are two steps to enlisting others. First, the leader has to discover a common purpose. No matter how wonderful the plan seems, if others cannot see the possibility of realizing their own hopes and dreams, they won’t follow. “Leaders find that common thread that weaves together the fabric of human needs into a colorful tapestry.” Trevor applies this principle by trying to discover what people around him want and need.
Kouzes and Posner explain that the second step to enlisting others is to give life to the vision. These authors point out that “the greatest inhibitor to enlisting others in a common vision is a lack of personal conviction. The leader must be able to make the vision tangible by helping others “see it, hear it, taste it, touch it, and feel it.”
The characteristics of servant-leadership are examined in “The Servant as Leader,” by Robert K. Greenleaf. He states, “One is asked, then, to accept the human condition, its sufferings and its joys, and to work with its imperfections as the foundation upon which the individual will build wholeness through adventurous creative achievement.” In Pay It Forward, Trevor is surrounded by human suffering — from his physically scarred teacher to a bullied classmate. He makes a conscious decision to change the world around him.
As Greenleaf points out, “everything begins with the initiative of an individual.” Our thoughts, attitudes, and actions impact the forces of good and evil. Trevor had a vision for developing the good in people. “Behind every great achievement is a dreamer of great dreams.”
