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3. Listening: Charlotte is fully present when interacting with others and demonstrates active listening.
She is attentive to the concerns and fears expressed by Wilbur and others in the barn. She responds
with empathy and understanding.
4. Trusting: Through Charlotte’s listening and compassion, Wilbur and the other animals develop
trust among themselves, which allows for a deeper understanding of each other’s perspectives.
Wilbur trusts Charlotte with his life and continues to be loyal to Charlotte even after her death.
5. Caring: Charlotte’s nurturing for Wilbur and the others builds a bond, demonstrating that caring
leaders cultivate strong relationships within their team members. Caring for each other creates a
positive and supportive environment for each of the animals.

Beyond Charlotte: Lessons for the Future
The next generation of leaders, including
Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z, is
emerging in leadership roles. These generations
have grown up with technology and the Internet,
which have shaped their values, expectations,
and motivations. Although technology plays
a crucial role in leadership, it is important to
recognize that a fundamental understanding of
leadership is still necessary and that technology
serves as a tool to enhance leadership skills
rather than as a substitute for them. Focht (2014)
commented that new ideas and technologies
are used by leaders to expand their skills. Even
though Charlotte’s Web takes place on a farm
in a non-technological environment, effective communication, collaboration, caring, and empathy are
demonstrated as the principles of leadership.
Apart from the earlier works of Greenleaf and Focht, a report by the 2023 International Institute for
Management Development identified the following skills for today’s key leadership roles (Anonymous,
2023). Charlotte effectively used her servant leadership skills to meet these identified skills.
1. Relationship building: Leaders strive to build cohesive and engaged teams by investing time
and effort into building and strengthening relationships among team members. This helps foster
collaboration, trust, and effective communication within the team. Charlotte provided unconditional
support for Wilbur by nurturing and connecting with others. Her relationships were strengthened
by fostering trust and cooperation among the animals and seeking assistance and input from all the
animals.
2. Agility and adaptability: Leaders need to be adaptable and capable of facilitating change. Charlotte’s
ability to think outside of the box showed resilience in adapting to and overcoming obstacles with
which she was not familiar even while she served others.
3. Innovation and creativity: Successful leaders foster innovation by developing and implementing
outstanding ideas. Innovation is seen as a foundation for success and can help organizations stay
competitive in a rapidly evolving world. Charlotte explored and exhibited innovative ideas to save
Wilbur. She explored new ideas, words, and strategies through her web-weaving skills to capture
the attention of humans to save Wilbur.
4. Motivation: Leaders must possess the ability to engage team members and create a positive
and motivating work environment. Boosting morale is an effective technique for developing
positive attitudes among team members as it leads to increased engagement, self-confidence, and

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