Larby Amirouche On Why Rick Grimes Is A Good Leader

They say that television and film often mirror real life. Now, Larby Amirouche, CEO and Founder of Ironbelly Tech will look into another good leader, however, he is a fictional character.

Larby Amirouche will share some of his insights on the role of Rick Grimes from The Walking Dead as a good leader.

Who is Rick Grimes?

Rick Grimes is a fictional character and the main protagonist in the comic book series The Walking Dead. It also has a popular television series of the same name which was portrayed by Andrew Lincoln.

Rick Grimes is a small town sheriff's deputy who has a son and a wife. He awakens from a coma after a life-threatening gunshot wound. Eventually, he realized that the world he wakes up on was overrun by zombies.

Rick led the group through many hurdles and obstacles that the apocalypse threw in their paths.

Similar to any other leader, Rick Grimes was not a perfect leader, however, there are several times he has proven that he is good enough.

Larby Amirouche On Why Rick Grimes Is A Good Leader .

Here are a few things that highlight Rick Grimes leadership skills.

1. Leading By Example

Rick Grimes is a natural-born leader. This is further elaborated in the Better Angels episode in Season 2 of the TV series.

He served the group well. He maximized his advantage of being a former police officer and used his instinct to take charge.

He’s gained the trust and confidence of his team by being the example they can follow.

He shares the things that he values. Moreover, he sets clear expectations of how they can work together as a team. He works to resolve problems quickly, and honors his mistakes.

Lastly, Rick makes a great leader because he walks the talk.

2. Taking Responsibility

Across the six seasons of The Walking Dead, Rick has gone through different levels of leadership. But Rick made it explicit that he was the leader of their group during Season 2.

Even though they are facing a dark situation, Rick believes in himself and his capabilities. He knows that he’s the best equipped and qualified to keep the group safe while they’re in survival mode.

3. Being Assertive

Rick has been through some hard stuff so it is expected that he will be hard sometimes.

Along the way, he’s learned to become more assertive and to take risks in order to protect his group and to achieve his goals, almost to the point where he appears reckless.

Rick is actually lucky to be surrounded by people who can offer more level-headed views and opinions to temper his assertive qualities.

4. Brave Enough To Get Dirty

There are many qualities that make a good leader great: confidence, the ability to inspire, creativity, a positive attitude and so on.

But when the going gets tough, that’s the best time to see who is the real leader of a group.

During hard times, a good leader will always offer some help, or even take the responsibility for the team.

These characteristics alone makes Rick a perfect leader for his small group.

How he leads on uncertain times his group knows that they can depend on him when things take a turn for the worst.

5. Improving Strategies

If you are an avid fan of The Walking Dead, you witnessed how Rick Grimes changed as the series progressed.

He was a classic good guy until he realized that his number one priority was to keep his group safe. The fact that he is not living in the same world anymore, added to his urge to help his group survive. Rick changed and became more assertive and aggressive in order to cope and survive in his new reality.

In the course of the show, Rick and his group have tried multiple tactics to survive, including building their own community ecosystem, to assimilating into existing ones.

When things fail, Rick continues to adapt and think of other ways just to survive. Eventually, one of the keys they used to survival has been their own selves. They remain flexible to opportunities and stay agile amidst the situation.

6. Listening To Team’s Opinion

Despite often being hard-headed, Rick does listen to his group and takes advice from those he trusts. He listens to everyone when they have complaints and questions, and even sets up votes for big decisions.

If this is not a good leader, I don’t know what is. Similar to any business or company, listening to your employees and audience is very important.

Going back to Rick, he values what others think and how they view situations. He takes it as a great help in making the final decision.

He knows that he doesn’t have all the answers and he is not perfect, too. Rick shows that he is not an authoritarian, manipulative leader.

7. Empowering his Team

A sign of a great leader is when you want your team to excel in their own ways making you a better team.

All throughout the series Rick has been committed to keeping his people safe. He gives them the training and support to survive in this post-apocalyptic world.

He began teaching his small group on how to kill walkers. He also managed to organize a target practice. He also trusts his people by assigning them on teams and tasks that play to their strengths.

Moreover, Rick encourages his group to find ways of contributing for the greater good of the team. Also, he allows them to step up and become leaders themselves.

Remember, when you support and empower your people you foster a tight-knit community, where you can all rely on each other.

8. Knowing When You Step Back

Concerning the idea of empowering people is knowing when to step back and listen to your followers or even colleagues.

When you know you need help, seek advice from an expert and let them help you.

One great example of Rick knowing when to step back was when they found some temporary peace in the prison. He steps back as leader and is content to let the newly formed council take over decision-making. But the peace didn’t last and Rick assumed leadership again.

Rick is sensitive enough to know when his group guidance and when allow his team to do things.

Conclusion

Rick Grimes and Larby Amirouche are great leaders because they share similar traits. Well, in the first place, Rick is a fictional character so not all leaders are expected to have all these qualities.

Even Larby Amirouche, a successful leader and entrepreneur committed mistakes and faced hurdles along the way but what matters most is how he trived.