Iron Man vs Captain America Who Would You Follow?
The Marvel universe contains many amazing characters who are fantastic heroes and great leaders. Characters like Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Panther, Nick Fury, and Captain Marvel to name a few. Throughout the comic books, movies, and t.v. shows Iron Man and Captain America are two leaders who stand out among the Avengers.
Captain America, Steve Rogers, bases his leadership style on his strong moral compass and his military experience. His philosophy is that you should take ownership of what you do and always strive to do the best that you can. He holds himself to that standard and expects the same from others.
Iron Man, Tony Stark, gained leadership skills from his time in the corporate world. He understands and respects everyone’s skill yet also understands that not everyone can be trusted to do the right thing. Stark is a believer in the old adage the road to hell is paved with good intentions, while Rogers sees the world as if you have good intentions the road won’t lead to hell.
Both men want to help people and make the world a better place, but they do so with very different leadership styles.
In the movie Captain America: Civil War (2016) their leadership styles are highlighted and put to the test. Due to collateral damage done after a battle that the Avengers participated in, the United Nations voted to create an accountability system that would hold the Avengers in check.
Tony Stark agrees with the governmental oversight, and feels that even superheroes need to be held to a certain standard. Steve Rogers disagrees and feels that by joining the Avengers, they should hold themselves to those standards and should not have governmental oversight as well. This disagreement leads to a split of the Avengers who divide into either team Iron Man or team Captain America.
While both men want the best for their team and for the world, they leadership styles clash in an explosive way. To avoid having a clash as dramatic as this in the real world, leaders should take a step back and detach from the situation at hand. If either Stark or Rogers had taken a step back, they would have realized that the other was just doing what they thought was right. While they still may not have agreed on how to handle the situation, it would have made a compromise that much easier to attain.
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Here are some books to check out:
The Virtues of Captain America: Modern-Day Lessons on Character from a World War II Superhero by Mark D. White
The Avengers and Philosophy: Earth's Mightiest Thinkers by William Irwin and Mark D. White
