I do agree with what General Powell and his assessment of leadership.  I would add to that assessment also that along with trust, that decisiveness and flexibility are key characteristics that exemplify a good leader.  Having the trust of those that you lead only goes so far if you do not knowingly lead them to failure. Knowing and understanding that indecision and hesitation can impair your ability to lead and give the perception that you do now know what you’re are doing may hinder and ultimately lose trust that you’ve build with our subordinates.  Also, knowing and understanding that circumstances change and may call for an adjustment or change in action of what you initially decided to do shows those that you lead that you are capable in adapting to unforeseen circumstances and will give any peace of my knowing that you are considerate of both the needs of the task and also the needs of those people that you lead.

 The only character in the movie that I feel showed any sense of good leadership and I think General Powell would consider being a good leader would be General Ripper’s executive officer, Group Captain Lionel Mandrake.  Although locked in a bad position for the first part of the movie, he was able to convince and foster enough trust in his captor after the base was retaken to get the information about the recall codes for the bombers that were deployed to the President in hopes of preventing and unprovoked attack.

 I feel Captain Mandrake is the only character in the movie that showed any situational awareness and was one of the few who questioned whether the orders they were given were proper and lawful and showed his position on the matter once he discovered that the orders given by General Ripper were given improperly and without cause or proper authority.  He had the courage to confront and defy the unlawful orders given to him by his superior and to the best of his ability take steps to prevent further damage from being cause by that situation, although to no avail ultimately.