Butter the Popcorn!

We read about leadership principles, we listen to CD’s on leadership ideas, and download motivation to our iPods.  Most of all we learn leadership from experience.  We pick the brains of other leaders we respect.  But let’s face it – all this stuff can get boring after a while. 

I have gotten bored with all of the leadership development tools that I have on my bookshelves.  It all starts to sound the same.  My eyes start to roll when they sound too simple.  My eyes get crossed when they sound childish.  Some tapes make me want to take a nap, not motivate me.  This can happen to me while reading stuff I have written about leadership myself.  It all gets old quick. 

So we have two options when leadership learning gets boring to us.  Forget about developing leaders or mix it up a bit. 

There are certainly many ways to mix up learning.  My favorite is to invest my time in developing my leadership while watching a good movie.  You can find a great movie currently playing in a theater, buy some popcorn and sit down and learn, or rent a great leadership movie, microwave some popcorn and learn, while being entertained and learning at the same time. 

In honor of OSCAR weekend, I have created my own (small) list of leadership movie awards.  Certainly there are many wonderful leadership movies that have been written over the years, some based on facts and others based on fiction, some black and white, some in color, some are even cartoons.

Articulating a Vision

Articulating your vision is vital in leadership.  A vision enables your team to resonate with you.  Having a vision in your heart is just simply not enough. Many people have visions that they keep inside them; but it takes courage to actually share the vision and set your heart to achieving it, because there’s always the chance of failure. 

The nominations for Articulating a Vision are: A Bug’s Life, Pay It Forward, and Jerry Maguire.

And the LEADER is (drum roll please) A Bug’s Life.  Flick is chastised for not conforming to the labors of pleasing the grasshopper gang.  As punishment he is sent out of the colony.  Ultimately it is Flick’s innovative ability to inspire the ant colony to create new technology that allows them to overcome the oppression of the grasshoppers. 

Leaders inspire a shared vision. They gaze across the horizon of time, imagining the attractive opportunities that are in store when they and their group arrive at distant destinations.

Effective teams are ones that know what they are aiming for. Think back to a recent group or team did you know, clearly, what the goals of your team or project was?  Did you inspire a shared vision?

Encourage the Heart

Leaders encourage the heart of their team members to carry on. Genuine acts of caring uplift the spirits and draw people forward.

The nominations for Encouraging the Heart are: Forrest Gump, Legally Blonde, and E.T.

And the LEADER is (drum roll please) Legally Blonde.  Desperate to win Warner back, Elle studies for and passes the law-school entrance exam, applies to Harvard, and is accepted. Upon arriving at Harvard, her classmates disapprove of her because of her naïveté.  Two years later, Elle, who has graduated with high honors, is the class-elected speaker at the ceremony, and has been invited into one of Boston's best law firms.  Leaders make people winners, and winning people like to up the ante, raise the standards, and explore uncharted territory.   Leaders recognize and reward what individuals do to contribute to vision and values. Leaders enjoy being spontaneous and creative in saying thank you, whether by sending notes, handling out personalized prizes, listening without interrupting, or trying out a lot of types of recognition.

In any group, there might be a daunting task or a tough time ahead. Here are some questions to ponder when you are working in any group, but especially when team members may need a boost to continue to feel motivated and valued.  How do group members know that they are valued, independent of the work they’ve done for the group?  Who is the first to say thank you?  Do you encourage the heart?

Enabling Others to Act

Exemplary leaders enable others to act, they build trust.  Enabling Others to Act is the behavior of a confident leader. Leaders who understand the strengths of their followers and their potential for more responsibility feel confident in enabling others to take control and initiative.

The nominations for Enabling Others to Act are: The Karate Kid, Sister Act, and Braveheart.   

And the LEADER is (drum roll please) Sister Act.  Delores' new identity is Sister Mary Clarence. However Delores, doesn't just sit around all day in the lifeless, boring convent, no she goes clubbing and makes friends with the nuns. She also turns the dull, lifeless choir into a hip one which makes the church more popular with young people.

Leaders know that if people don’t have important opportunities to put their talents to good use, they’ll wind up frustrated. To strengthen others, leaders place their constituents, not themselves, at the center of solving critical problems and contributing to key goals.

Think back to one of the last groups you were in or felt connected to. Ask yourself these questions about your role in the group.  Did you say “we” instead of “I”?  Did you create places and opportunities for informal Interactions?  Do you enable others to act?

Challenge the Process

Leaders are Pioneers – people who are willing to step out into the unknown.

The nominations for Challenging the Process are: Dead Poets Society, Philadelphia, and Erin Brockovich.

And the LEADER is (drum roll please) Dead Poets Society. Set at the conservative and aristocratic Welton Academy in Vermont in 1959,[2] it tells the story of an English teacher who inspires his students through his teaching of poetry. The teaching methods of their new English teacher, John Keating (Robin Williams), are unorthodox by Welton standards, whistling the 1812 Overture and taking them out of the classroom to focus on the idea of carpe diem.

Leaders are experimenters; they experiment with new approaches to all problems. A major leadership task involves identifying and removing self-imposed constraints and organizational conventions that block innovation and creativity.

Leaders don’t just rest on their laurels. Think about a group or team you were in where you might have needed to mix things up a little to tackle a tough obstacle.  When something wasn’t working, did anyone suggest starting again with a new strategy?  Was there a willingness to give a new idea a try?  Were you able to set aside your pre-conceived notions of a task?  Do you challenge the process?

Great Sports

It seems that you can not mention great leadership movies without the mention of sports movies.  Movies about sports, especially a team with a coach have some great leadership lessons.  It is hard to narrow great sports movies to only three nominations. 

The nominations for Great Sports leadership movies are:  Miracle, Remember the Titans, and Rudy.

And the LEADER is (drum roll please) Rudy.  At the heart of the story, is Rudy's drive and determination to achieve his ultimate goal of playing football for Notre Dame. His high degree of self-confidence, termed self-efficacy in psychology literature, coupled with his strategy of setting a series of small goals enable him to achieve a life long dream.  Theories of motivation and goal setting are very relevant to the movie's theme.  An inspiration for achieving the impossible, the movie Rudy is a great illustration of how self-confidence, hard work, and persistence will help you achieve any goal.

Leaders don't let their goals and resolutions fall by the wayside. Chances are that to achieve your dreams and live a life you love, those goals and resolutions are crucial.  You need to deeply desire the goal or resolution.  Visualize yourself achieving the goal.  Make a plan for the path you need to follow to accomplish the goal.  Commit to achieving the goal by writing down the goal.  Establish times for checking your progress in your calendar system, whatever it is: a day planner, a PDA, a PDA phone or a hand written list.  Review your overall progress regularly.

You might be disappointed to see that your favorite is not on the list.  This is only my opinionated list.  Please add your favorites in the comments below!