Discovering The Hidden Leadership Lessons In Movies

Toward the beginning of Joseph Lalonde’s new book, Reel Leadership, he shares, “We’re going to delve into the leaderships lessons we can find in movies. We’re going to discover that movies are a fantastic way to learn, grow, and engross yourself in leadership. So, sit back; get ready. We’re going to dive into some reel leadership.”

You are going to enjoy the journey Lalonde takes you on, by first setting the stage as he chronicles the history of film, the history of leadership, and the science of learning, and then while he shares some of the best leadership lessons from his vast catalogue of movie watching through the years.

“I want to encourage you to think of movies as visual fables. They are telling stories that move the mind, body, and soul. They can touch you emotionally, spiritually, and even physically. There is power in movies,” says Lalonde.

Toward the book’s end, Lalonde provides the framework for a five-step process of gaining leadership insights from the movies. “It will change the way you and your team views movies for the rest of your lives,” says Lalonde.

I agree with Nathan Magnuson who reviewed the book and said, “I don’t think I’ll ever watch a movie the same way again. In addition to viewing for entertainment value, I’ll be asking myself what I can learn, how I would handle the situations in the story, and how I can be a better leader in my own reality.”

And, in fact, after reading, Reel Leadership, you may now also want to watch again some of your favorite movies with a keen eye toward discovering the leadership lessons you’ll glean from your new perspective viewing.

Joseph Lalonde

Today, Lalonde shares these insights with us:

Question: What are your one or two favorite leadership quotes from movies?

Lalonde: It's always challenging to pick a favorite quote or movie. I'm going to provide three quotes that mean a lot to me and have helped me understand myself and leadership better. The first is by Director Dewey in, Jason Bourne. Dewey said, "You’re never going to find peace until you admit who you really are." So many of us are discontent because we don't know who we really are.

Another great quote is "All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you." by Gandalf in, Lord Of The Rings. It's a challenging quote because we don't know how much time we have left. However, if we begin making decisions, we can make the most of our time.

The last quote I want to share is "I'll be back." by the Terminator in the, Terminator, movie. This is such an iconic line and has proven to be true for the character. What would happen if, as leaders, we continue to show up and return?

Question: What is the most inspiring leadership lesson you've learned from a movie?

Lalonde: I want to go with something different here. I want to go back to the movie, We Bought A Zoo. In it, Benjamin Mee made a crazy decision. He and his children bought a zoo. Throughout the movie, Mee talked about needing 20 seconds of insane courage to do something amazing. I think we could take his lesson to heart and begin working through our issues in 20 seconds of courage at a time.

Question: What is your favorite movie of all time and why is it your favorite?

Lalonde: Once again, it's so hard to choose a favorite movie. I have such a love for Star Wars, Die Hard, and other movies. I often cite those as favorite movies. I think favorites ebb and flow as we age. It also depends on the type of mood I'm in. One movie that has really stuck with me is, Baby Driver. The cinematography was stunning. The music was top-notch. The story was engaging and entertaining. Let's go with, Baby Driver, for this one.

Question: In addition to your love of movies you have a passion for running. What leadership lessons have you learned from running?

Lalonde: Yes, running is definitely a passion of mine. I've been running for years after hearing Kevin Miller discuss his passion for running on his now defunct podcast Free Agent Academy. There are so many lessons that I have learned from running. Here are three of them:

Keep putting one foot in front of the other. This is how you make progress.

Stop comparing yourself to others. I found myself struggling to run because I compared myself to others. When I let go of that, I found myself enjoying running so much more. The same goes for leadership. Stop comparing yourself to your past leaders or leaders you respect. You're running your own race.

Have a finish line in mind. For every race you run, there's a finish line. Knowing and seeing your finish line not only gives you an ending point, but also it can encourage you to push harder, faster, and with more intensity than you had been running with.

BONUS: Lead for a cause. I run with Team World Vision to raise money for clean water for those who lack access to it. This consistently gives me a reason to lace up my shoes and run. Without this cause or reason to run, I would run a lot less.

In fact, I'm running the Metro Health Grand Rapids Half Marathon in October to continue the efforts of bringing clean water to those in need. I move my feet for those who need it. The same goes for your leadership. When you have a cause or a reason, you find the energy and desire to keep moving forward.

Question: What is the next leadership book you plan to read?

Lalonde: I just finished a great book called, Thursday Is The New Friday, by Joe Sanok. It helps us understand the changing ways of doing work. It was also interesting to hear how our workweeks came to be.

I'm currently reading, What The Heck Is EOS, by Gino Wickman and Tom Bouwer. Our leadership team at work is going through this book to help everyone align.

The book I plan on reading or, probably more correctly, listen to is, Hero On A Mission, by Donald Miller. I loved his memoirs, Blue Like Jazz and A Million Miles In A Thousand Years. I thought, Building A Story Brand, was a valuable business tool. And now he has, Hero On A Mission. It's on my to-read/listen list!

___

Finally, discover some of the best leadership lessons from a vast variety of movies by reading Reel Leadership, delivered by Lalonde in a conversational style as though you are his best friend with a shared passion for movies and learning about leadership.

Learn more from Lalonde via his website where he helps to empower leaders with the tools to thrive in a hectic world.

Comments

How To Uncover Your Blindspots To Become A Better Leader

What you don't see about yourself can hold you back as a leader. That's typical for many leaders. What we don't see is what we can't see: we have blindspots . Your blindspots prevent you from achieving your greatest success. “It turns out that we're often not great judges of ourselves, even when we think we are. Sometimes we're simply unaware of a behavior or trait that's causing problems,” explains Martin Dubin , author of the new book, Blindspotting: How To See What’s Holding You Back As A Leader . “Bottom line: until we uncover these blindspots, we can't move forward. The good news is that you can learn to do your own blindspotting .” “Most of us understand the idea of blindspots in a general sense—areas we can’t see, to take the term most literally, or places we have gaps that we may not even realize, to be a little more abstract,” says Dubin. “But in the context of this book, I’m defining blindspots quite specifically: They are...

40 Timeless Lessons From Southwest Airlines

A few years ago, Southwest Airlines celebrated its 40th year and was kind enough to share in its in-flight magazine 40 lessons it learned since 1971. The lessons provide good tips for business leaders. If you missed the full list, here are some of the highlights of timeless lessons: Invent your own culture and put a top person in charge of it . A crisis can contain the germ of a big idea . Simplicity has value . For Southwest, simplicity means using 737s for most of its fleet, which makes maintenance more cost-effective and allows more efficient training for flight crews and ground crews. Remember your chief mission . Take your business, not yourself, seriously. Put the worker first . For Southwest, that meant being the first U.S. airline to offer a profit-sharing plan, in 1974. Employees now own 13 percent of the airline. The web ain't cool, it's a tool . Southwest was the first U.S. airline to establish a home page. By 2010, ...

The Algorithm: The Five-Step Framework That Drives Business Success

From a former President of Tesla, Jon McNeill , comes The Algorithm —the first book written by any of Elon Musk’s direct reports—a transformative guide for leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators who want to emulate the paradigm-shattering approach used to launch Tesla and SpaceX to success. And that transformed Lululemon and General Motors. McNeill had already founded and sold six startups when Sheryl Sandberg introduced him to Elon Musk, who was looking for help at Tesla. McNeill was steeped in the lean principles that had made Toyota a global powerhouse—principles focused on achieving efficiency and optimization by incrementally improving existing systems and processes. What he learned at Tesla was an approach that required radical rethinking to explode the status quo, attack complexity, and set seemingly unrealistic goals. Elon Musk at Tesla called this five-step framework “The Algorithm.” 1. Question every requirement – “Question everything—from produ...

How To Be More Playful To Build Resilience, Navigate Challenges And Find More Joy

“Research reveals that playful adults excel at problem-solving and stress management and consistently report higher life satisfaction,” explains Piera Gelardi , author of the new book, The Playful Way . The Playful Way is a mindset that transforms how you experience everything from airport security lines to career transitions to navigating grief. More specifically, Gelardi says playfulness is: Finding humor and lightness even in tense moments. Staying open to possibilities rather than fixating on one “right” way. Experimenting rather than seeking perfection. Bringing an ethos of curious exploration to difficulties. Finding wisdom in the body when the mind’s tied up in knots. Tuning your attention to notice details and find wonder. Reimagining dull tasks through reframes and games. Improvising when things go sideways. Gelardi guides readers in uncovering the mental barriers and inner critics that restrict playfulness, offering practical techniqu...

How To Unleash The Most Powerful Force In Business

In Marcus Buckingham ’s latest book, Design Love In: How To Unleash The Most Powerful Force In Business , he details the one hidden skill at the heart of all the best leaders today—and what you can do in your own working life to cultivate it. The skill is leading lovingly —what Buckingham calls Design Love In (DLI). Being a leader, whom people say they love working for and for whom they’d walk through walls. A leader who gets the absolute best out of their employees and who builds the kind of team employees desperately want to be on. “Love fuels our resilience, sparks our creativity, and bonds us together as collaborators,” shares Buckingham. “Love means a passionate commitment to something or someone. Love means deep loyalty. Love is advocacy. And, of course, love can also be hard-edged, hence ‘tough love.’” Buckingham recommends leaders create experiences that: Make employees feel bigger. Allow employees to feel safe enough to open up. Help employees flourish. Further, Buckingh...

10 Quotes From The 5 Levels Of Leadership -- John C. Maxwell

Soon I'll post my full review of John C. Maxwell's latest book, The 5 Levels of Leadership . In the meantime, here are some of my favorites quotes from the book that I believe should become a must-read book by any workplace/organizational leader: Good leadership isn't about advancing yourself. It's about advancing your team. Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others. Leadership is action, not position. When people feel liked, cared for, included, valued, and trusted, they begin to work together with their leader and each other. If you have integrity with people, you develop trust. The more trust you develop, the stronger the relationship becomes. In times of difficulty, relationships are a shelter. In times of opportunity, they are a launching pad. Good leaders must embrace both care and candor. People buy into the leader, then the vision. Bringing out the best in a person is often a catal...

Let's Meet At The Intersection Of Marketing, Leadership And Blogging! A Q&A With Debbie Laskey

Credit: iStock Photo For the past 16 years, I have relied on Debbie Laskey's Blog for expert leadership guidance and always interesting insights into marketing best practices and recaps of marketing trends. Fortunately, through the years, Debbie has also shared her expertise through a variety of postings on my blog, and I'm honored again today to feature Debbie with the following Q&A's: QUESTION: You've featured many leadership experts on your blog through the years. What is a common theme from all the Q&A's? DEBBIE LASKEY : Back in 2011, I met Mark Herbert, a leadership expert and author based in Oregon, as a result of our interactions on Twitter/X. I interviewed him several times, and he provided a quote that I will always remember and share often: "Leadership doesn't require you to be the smartest person in the room. It requires you to block and tackle for others." That quote has appeared on my blog countless times over the years because...

How To Reclaim Your Time And Be Time Smart

“Four out of five adults report feeling that they have too much to do and not enough time to do it,” reports Ashley Whillans , author of the book, Time Smart: How to Reclaim Your Time and Live a Happier Life . “These time-poor people experience less joy each day. They laugh less. They are less healthy and less productive.” And, in one study, time stress produced a stronger negative effect on happiness than unemployment. Drawing on the latest science, Whillans teaches us how to escape the time traps that make us feel this way and keep us from living our best lives. She explains that the six most common time traps are: Constant connection to technology. Obsession with work and making money. Limited value placed on time. Busyness as a status symbol. Aversion to idleness. The Yes…and then regret it effect. Her playbook shows you how to : take back the time you lose to mindless tasks and unfulfilling chores. improve your "time affluence.” f...

Effective Listening: Do's And Don'ts

Here are some great tips from Michelle Tillis Lederman's book, The 11 Laws of Likability . They are all about: what to do and what not to do to be a leader who's an effective listener : Do : Maintain eye contact Limit your talking Focus on the speaker Ask questions Manage your emotions Listen with your eyes and ears Listen for ideas and opportunities Remain open to the conversation Confirm understanding, paraphrase Give nonverbal messages that you are listening (nod, smile) Ignore distractions Don't : Interrupt Show signs of impatience Judge or argue mentally Multitask during a conversation Project your ideas Think about what to say next Have expectations or preconceived ideas Become defensive or assume you are being attacked Use condescending, aggressive, or closed body language Listen with biases or closed to new ideas Jump to conclusions or finish someone's sentences

How to Be a Leader – 9 Principles from Dale Carnegie

Today, I welcome thought-leader Nathan Magnuson as guest blogger... Nathan writes : This is it, your first day in a formal leadership role. You’ve worked hard as an individual contributor at one or possibly several organizations. Now management has finally seen fit to promote you into a position as one of their own: a supervisor. You don’t care if your new team is only one person or ten, you’re just excited that now – finally – you will be in charge! Unfortunately the euphoria is short-lived. Almost immediately, you are not only overwhelmed with the responsibilities of a team, but you quickly find that your team members are not as experienced or adroit as you. Some aren’t even as committed. You find yourself having to repeat yourself, send their work back for corrections, and staying late to fill the gap. If something doesn’t change soon, you might just run yourself into the ground. How did something that looked so easy ...

Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

Search This Blog