Kiley Pooler

Humn 2210-Hon02
Price
05/05/16
Ron Swanson

Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing, Ron Swanson, said this to Leslie

Knope in one of the first episodes of Parks and Rec. Leslie a high strung independent woman

who loves her job, had become over involved in several projects. She ultimately failed them and

came to her boss, Ron, a mean, American loving, meat and wood carving enthusiast, for advice.

After allowing Leslie to let out her frustrations, he simply told her those two sentences. While

brash and blunt, Ron Swansons call to simplicity makes him a great leader.

Before analyzing Ron Swanson as a leader, we must first analyze him as a man. In

todays society, while we now know it is impossible, Ron tries to be as much like Natural Man as

he can. While Ron does live off of many tools, he tries his hardest not to use things like medicine

and technology. Rousseau believes, ...we inflict upon ourselves more ills than Medicine can

provide Remedies! (p. 137 Second Discourse). In many cases, Ron avoids going to the doctor's

office as much as possible and tries to cure his own illnesses. He thinks hospitals are a waste of

money and men should learn to take care of themselves like they once did in the wild. This

makes him a stubborn and sometimes weak man due to his illnesses and beliefs. Ron tries to

revert and stay away from all of the evils that create inequality in Rousseaus Second Discourse.

He tries to live off the land as much as he can. When avoiding problems he often runs away to

his cottage and goes hunting where he must obviously work to earn his food. He constantly

makes call to avoid the internet, stay off of computers and stay off the grid. In his desire to

avoid modern technology he furthermore avoids any possible friendships as well. He hates

socializing and the products that have come about from our sociability. He looks at the products
we have created and most certainly agrees with Rousseau in that they have only further lead to

our inequality and make us weak. All in all, Rousseau says that for Natural Man, The only good

he knows in the Universe are food, a female, and rest; (p. 142 Second Discourse). Ron most

definitely tries to abide and live by those three main rules. I'm a simple man. I like pretty dark

haired women and breakfast food. (Season 2, Episode 8).

Unfortunately for Ron, he is not a Savage man and never will be due to his sociability.

Sociability has capitalized on his pity for others. In todays modern terms pity can now be simply

defined as love. Rousseau defines this as a tender and sweet sentiment [that] steals into the

soul (p. 165 Second Discourse). Ron, who was originally very pessimistic and had no desire

to raise a family, eventually, grows to love Diane Lewis and her children. They marry and he

raises the kids as his own (Season 5, Episode 11). This development of his character shows how

love that snuck up on him has made Ron more compassionate and able to connect with others.

Rons hidden sentiment for people is what makes him a great leader.

It is in his relationships and values that define him not only as a person, but a leader. As

any great leader should, Ron exemplifies and abides by the basic values of life defined in the Phi

Theta Kappa textbook. He exemplifies truthfulness with anyone he talks to. He is never afraid to

say how he really feels and believes everyone deserves to know the truth. In episode 14 of season

3, a grade school class is on a field trip and one girl asks Ron if she can interview him. He

interviews with her and tells her all, about what happens within the governmental system, even

the bad. While her parents and the school were extremely upset, Ron didnt care because he

thought the child deserved to know the truth, fully and completely. It is his dedication to

speaking the truth and his mind that allows him to be so realistic. This realism, helps balance out
teams, but it also helps Ron analyze people and assemble teams (something he often does) to

complete great feats and projects.

Freedom, defined as, the desire for liberty persists to the present as one of the

defining values of humanity, (p. 155 PTK Book), shows that everyone has the right to live

however they wish. This is one of Rons favorite and most virtuous of values. While Ron doesnt

like the governmental system, he most certainly loves what America stands for. In a discussion

about obesity in Season 2 of Episode 15, Ron states, The whole point of this country is if you

want to eat garbage, balloon up to 600 pounds and die of a heart attack at 43, you can! You are

free to do so. To me, thats beautiful. More often than not, even if someone is arguably not

doing the right thing, Ron will defend them simply because they live in America and have the

right to do as they please. He will always defend the right to freedom no matter the situation.

The Phi Theta Kappa Leadership Book uses a Confucian Teaching to define responsibility, You

must take care of yourself. To rely on others is a great shame. While Ron does rely on his

coworkers to help him complete projects occasionally, he almost entirely works alone on a lot of

things. This may be seen as a negative, but one could argue that it is his responsible attitude that

makes him do so. He always gets his own work done and rarely ever relies on others for their

assistance. He works with pride and never allows anyone to rush him because he is responsible

for the product being made. It is in his effort to abide by his responsibility that he creates

reliability. Those who work with him know they can rely on him to complete a project and never

let them down.

While one may connotatively define wisdom as sharing your many past experiences and

using them to shape or change your future, the PTK book defines wisdom as ... attaining

detachment, getting away from being too attached to things,(p. 157). Ron is most certainly wise
in both senses. He often gives advice to fellow workers and friends, but he also tries to stay as

detached from their lives as possible. He is often quoted saying things like, the less I know

about other peoples affairs, the happier I am. While this may seem harsh and cruel, it is in his

detachment that allows him to be such a great leader and exemplify and fight for basic human

rights. He wouldnt be as responsible, reliable, fair, or as truthful of a leader without his call for

basic human rights and he himself living by them.

One of the many lessons to take away from Rons leadership style is his amazing ability

to give advice and feedback. Ron offers encouragement to characters in their darker moments

and they have an easy time believing him because he isnt afraid to give criticism (Seven

Lessons). Ron has many quotes and moments on which characters reflect and change their

behavior to better habits because of this. In London Part 2 (Season 6, episode 2), Leslie reaches a

breaking point in her career. Due to the amount of work she pours into her job and the lack of

gratitude she receives from the community, Leslie gets fed up and speaks with Ron about how

upset she is. It is then that Ron says, You choose a thankless job, you cant be upset when

nobody thanks you Dont start chasing applause and acclaim that way leads to madness. It is

in his short phrases and bluntness where Leslie realizes she needs to keep up her hard work

regardless of the recognition. She does her job because she loves helping people, not because of

the applause. Ron sets Leslie back on the right path with his honesty and great advice. He always

knows what to say and exactly how to say it.

Because Ron doesnt really micromanage people and assignments, there are often many

flukes with their projects. This is most certainly a flaw, but not always flawed because he

empowers people to do their jobs by leaving them alone (Seven Lessons). This allows his
coworkers to learn through their mistakes. Kant argues that conflict is the only way we can learn

and the characters most certainly exemplify this idea.

Unfortunately, where Ron really fails as a leader, he doesnt do too much to adjust or

change his leadership style. He is very easily swayed to intemperate leadership styles by many of

his ex-wives. He most certainly lacks-self-control and is occasionally aided and abetted by

followers who are unwilling or unable to effectively intervene, (p. 165 PTK Book). On more

than one occasion Ron has become distracted by his ex-wives and allowed them to literally take

over his life. He has often left works for weeks on end in attempts to get away from them or

simply completely changed his personality and behavior to please them. Ron is easily

manipulated by these women which ultimately inhibits his leadership.

Because Ron tries to be so detached from his work, he is often a callous leader. More

often than not the leader and at least some of the followers are uncaring or unkind, to one of

the characters, Jerry. When he is first introduced everyone in the office says his name wrong, but

Ron fails to correct them and the behavior continues. They often make brash and mean jokes and

ignore what he has to say or what he cares about. Ron fails to intervene, and while Jerry sits idly

by and somewhat lets it happen, we can see the negative effects that come about this. The office

will occasionally disrespect each other or ignore each other, because they think it is acceptable

like the way they treat Jerry.

More often than not Ron is forced to do things he normally wouldnt want to, but does

them for his team anyway. One could argue his complacency is his demise, but in this

complacency he really allows others to grow and learn in their own ways. He is often quoted

when giving advice and it is in his short bluntness that many of his colleagues find the answer to

their problems. Rons desire to be as much like a Natural Man as possible makes him come off as
mean or brash, but beneath his angry mustache is a smile of advice and pity. In his pity he

develops as a person and a leader, but more importantly, he allows others to grow as leaders

themselves.