Commander Bonzo Madrid was the epitome of a bad leader within this novel. Bonzo was the commander of Ender's first army, Salamander Army. He had to get rid of his toon leader to be able to let Ender join his team, and this enreged Bonzo, so he took it out on his commanding skills.
What qualities make bonzo a BAD leader:
-
He is frustrated/angry all the time and takes it out on his team
-
Revenge is his main focus throughout the novel. He tries to get back at Ender even when he helps the team, when instead Bonzo should be focused on winning and being a leader instead.
-
He thinks that he is better than everyone. He has his conceited Spanish pride, overconfidience which gets him nowhere.
-
He is always quite impatient. He didn't like it when Ender was always practicing with the launchies, when instead he should be patient with Ender and teach him like a good (leader) commander should.
-
He makes decisions without including the members of his team, and against Ender.
Bonzo should have expressed his leadership in a different way, a way that would've helped the team instead of hindered them. The team suffered in the end by being defeated all the time. Bonzo's anger towards Ender grew stronger and stronger when Ender became a commander of his own army (Rat Army). Bonzos anger and bad leadership led him to his death. This could've been prevented if Bonzo was a better person, with better leadership qualities.
