VALJEAN IN LES MISÉRABLES
Les Misérables, as portrayed in the 2012 motion picture (Mackintosh & Hooper, 2012), is a story largely centered around a man named Jean Valjean amidst the backdrop of poverty and rebellion during the latter days of the French revolution (circa the 1820’s to early 1830’s). Valjean was imprisoned for 19 years simply for stealing a loaf of bread to save his nephew from starving. When he is finally released by Javert, the commanding officer, he sets out for a new life but soon finds that he is turned away at every door. As a marked man he cannot get work. He is taken into sanctuary by a priest in his church but then resorts to stealing his silverware in order to survive. When caught by guards the priest claims that he gave Valjean the silver, a great act of forgiveness and compassion. He tells Valjean that in doing so his soul has been given to God and he is bound to be in the service of good from now on. Valjean is moved by this act of grace. He breaks his parole and is now able to live with the resources the silver provides.

He pays the priest’s kindness forward by reimagining himself into a factory manager and leader of the people as a mayor. But Valjean’s past comes back to haunt him continually in the form of Javert, like a shadow always cast behind his footsteps. Javert believes that the rule of the law is true Godliness and he is relentless to find the prisoner who broke parole. Through the years he pursues Valjean while the latter continues to serve a higher purpose and bring forth that vision into the world.

In service of that intention Valjean does many good deeds. He corrects his mistake of not catching that a factory worker of his, Fantine, was fired unjustly by taking her off the streets. He then vows to care for her daughter, Cosette. Valjean becomes the girl’s father figure and raises her into adulthood. All told he becomes an important although humble figure to many. He saves multiple lives and inspires many along the way.

By the end Valjean is called a saint by his new son-in-law. He humbly has served all around him and even showed great compassion to Javert at every chance rather than taking vengeance. He is ultimately willing to turn himself in to Javert, once his good deeds are done, but Javert is so jarred by this that he takes his own life as penance and in martyrdom in order to return home to God. In a way Javert, as the inverse and mirror of Valjean, ends up like many of the others in the story who lose their lives. “From the rain flowers will grow” as one character sings. They all end up in the garden of heaven to start again, out of the dirt and into the light. Valjean helps usher them all towards more noble tides and only when his good works are done does he join them in being reborn.

THE LEADERSHIP TRAITS OF JEAN VALJEAN
It was not just Valjean’s devotion to a higher power that led to those outcomes of greater good. Valjean became a true leader. He was literally a manager of many workers he cared for, and a political figure working for the good of the common folk. He was also a benefactor to Cosette, similar to the role the priest played for him. It was the traits Valjean developed and the skills of working with people that were the true virtues of his character. These included compassion, care of others, self care, effective use of power, individual empowerment, and even managing up and down. In order to understand more fully how these traits culminate into a pinnacle of great management of others and leadership it will be helpful to look at each attribute individually and then tie them back all together within the context of the story.

COMPASSION
There are many occurrences of Valjean showing compassion in the story. Here are some key examples: He saves a man’s life by lifting a heavy cart off of him, he redeems himself to Fantine, raises Cosette with unconditional love, joins in the fight at the barricade, and saves Marius’ life (Marius becomes Cosette’s husband). Most selflessly of all he absolves Javert by proclaiming that he blames him for nothing and shows that he cares for him as much as any other.

CARE OF OTHERS
One of the biggest examples of caring for others is when Valjean corrects his mistake of not being aware enough of Fantine being fired unjustly. When he encounters her on the streets he takes her into safety and cares for her needs. Valjean works for the social rights of the people. Indeed, his actions demonstrates multiple social work ethics in management: The dignity and worth of a person, social justice, and integrity (Weinbach, 2007). He exhibits these same ethics in other instances as well. As an extension to the beneficence Valjean offered to Fantine he also takes on the care of her daughter as a guardian. She becomes the closest person to him that he will manage. While raising her he is no longer a factory owner or mayor but he takes his transferable skills into parenting and passes his strength onto her.

SELF CARE
Jean Valjean is clearly very selfless but he does also manage to take care of himself throughout his odyssey. For one, he devoted himself to faith and prayer. His religious loyalty became a huge source of strength and resilience. He also lived in isolation when he had to in order to be safe. Although it was not easy he needed to be very careful. Had he been reckless about his true identity he would have gone back into captivity. He also resisted arrest by Javert and stayed a free man. Even when he agreed to be taken into custody he bargained for more time so that he could see through his plans of helping others. In doing so he was actually caring for himself as well because it was so important and fulfilling for him to finish what he started. He allowed himself to reach self actualization, also called “transcendence,” as explained in Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs (McLeod, 2007). Since his basic and social needs were met through his faith, the silver, and in his love for Cosette he was able to reach the top of the pyramid, realizing himself as being in union with all.

EFFECTIVE USE OF POWER
There is no better example of this than when Valjean spared Fantine from the guards. She was defending herself from the man who harassed her when she refused his solicitation. Although she was only defending herself Javert was about to arrest her anyway. Folks who were seen as lower class, such as Fantine now working as a prostitute, were not given benefit of the doubt even when not in the wrong (the man assaulted her by putting snow down her dress). After Valjean uses his power effectively by intervening he then cares for Fantine as if she is still one of his own workers and even well beyond that obligation. Valjean is ostensibly a “street level bureaucrat (Lipsky, 1980).” He operates fairly independently from the system he works for and changes things on the ground in service of the greater good. Policies to him are fluid. Unlike Javert, he does not let them get in the way of putting humanity over all else.

INDIVIDUAL EMPOWERMENT
Valjean knew the strength inside of him that was waiting to come out at the right times, whether when making decisions for others or when fighting back. He learned this strength from being a slave. Ironically Javert made Valjean strong. He unwittingly turned him into a force stronger than himself. Valjean empowered himself and empowered others. For instance, he empowered Javert when he let him free at the barricade. Later Javert went against his own rule of the law and let Valjean take Marius to safety. Javert found the dormant power he already had within him that was sparked by Valjean. The strength he gave Valjean without realizing it ended up coming back full circle to him after being transmuted into a force of good. He still did not fully understand this metamorphosis but in the end he sacrificed his own principles for the sake of others, just as Valjean would have done.

MANAGING UP AND MANAGING DOWN
An important thing to identify within an organization or a group of people is the “informal leader.” Valjean fits this role perfectly. He is literally a leader as the mayor but he is like a middle manager since he does not hold a very high office relative to French government overall. He is however connected to many people above and below his authority. He intervenes and influences fluidly and subtly on different levels while maintaining many connections. He is a hub that many spokes of the wheel attach to. Whether in a formal role or in an informal way Valjean is very consistent over time. His altruism makes him a very trustworthy ally. Because of these virtuous traits good karma is returned to him at times, such as when he is given refuge by the man he saved from the cart. He managed up in that case because he asked a favor of the man when he was no longer mayor. He also listened to feedback Cosette gives him about being too sheltered. Although it was hard for him to hear he took her “managing up” to heart and ultimately found a way to make it all work.

CONCLUSION: LEADER OF THOSE IN MISERY
The examples of Valjean embodying these qualities in the story result in strong leadership and management because they form a holistic approach that is human-centered. Valjean’s devotion to doing this work as a soul in service of God essentially means that he is committed to strong ethics for the benefit others. He sees the visage of God in the faces of all people. Acting from a sense of oneness translates to actively enacting equality. Again, his morals align very much with the morals that are present within social work’s ethical framework because his life’s work is one of social justice. This strong foundation ensures that Valjean stays rooted in the greater good and prevents him from succumbing to abusing power.

The key is that Valjean subscribes to a model of power that is with rather than over others. He works with people, even Javert, although one would think he would see him as an enemy. Having been oppressed himself so much however, Valjean sees the fruitlessness of controlling power and seeks instead to empower himself and others around him. Even when he questioned himself the compassion he developed over the years always drove him towards decisions that were for the betterment self and others. What separates Valjean from other leaders is that he has a vision that he stays true to. He is the moral compass for all around, navigating them to a common, higher purpose. The people are all part of the system of oppression, whether implicitly part of keeping it as it is or playing a role that is explicitly trying to change it.

When it comes to the aspect of having agency to push back against oppression there is a crucial factor, one that works in some ways and does not in other elements of this story. In order to break the cycle a new type of awareness must be developed, one of freedom. It is this “liberatory consciousness” (Love, 2000) that Valjean helps to usher in, both as an oppressed person himself and as an ally to the oppressed. Valjean managed to be an ally in raising the consciousness, and conscience, of others but unfortunately the students fighting in the revolution did not gain enough support from the people. One can see however that because of all these good faith actors the seeds had been planted for those to follow them. Manifesting liberation awareness on a large enough level to create social change takes time and it takes sacrifices. With Christianity at the heart of the narrative it does not seem like a stretch to argue that a major theme is the protagonists taking up their metaphorical crosses in order to piously help and inspire others, even at the expense of their own lives. The barrier they are attempting to tear down is control of others and selfishness, the devils of temptation.

The end of the story drives this point home. All the heroic characters who have died together sing, “somewhere beyond the barricade is there a world you long to see?” It takes a vision to break down walls. Valjean broke his chains in order to obtain it. In juxtaposition, the barricade was broken and the rebels fell in order to inspire others to rise in their place. Whether Valjean was directly or indirectly involved in events his leadership modeled integrity for all. His presence was there through everything even when others had the spotlight. His mission was to fulfill the vision the priest bestowed onto him. He not only accomplished it but he empowered others to continue it as a collective vision after he was gone.

Due in large part to the managing of forces by Valjean, somewhere beyond the barricade of their own circumstances many eventually saw at least a glimpse of a harmonic world. Perhaps just like the musical tapestry-weaving phantasmagoria of the story itself, such a vision could be called a symphony of life. No one truly saw the world they so desperately longed to see come to fruition but that rings true to what a deep commitment to social service means. It is an aspirational way of being. Although the ultimate may never be reached, a commitment to idealism provides a light in the dark. Torch bearers are then needed to harness that flame and painstakingly lead others home toward wholeness. Jean Valjean became one such light-bringer as an adoptive guardian to all.

His leadership lifted up those who suffered many miseries because of one thing that he played out to the utmost: Valjean himself knew great depths of misery and yet he did not ever let that defeat his spirit. He arduously journeyed through his suffering all the way to the other side of and then turned around to lead others to do the same. He certainly could have chosen not to. With his own personal agency however, Valjean actively honored his promise.

Being a great leader is not a passive birthright. Great leaders do not become great because they claim it. The ones who truly serve others like Jean Valjean are the real greats because they selflessly choose to take up the call to lead and do so for all people.