Can you learn lessons in leadership from the movies?
By now it might be obvious that I am a movie-aholic. Often I am looking for the lessons in them and examining what is said and how. This little gem comes from the comments made by Prince Caspian, in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. In much of the movie, the prince struggled with the voices in his head from his father. His fear was that he had taken over being King of the Kingdom and that his father would not be proud of him.
What voices in your head make you question your leadership style or success?
Later in the movie, and I’m not giving away any juicy details here, he mentioned the magnificent Azlan, that he wanted to be a better King. Azlan said “You already are”. How many times has a mere self awareness or desire to be better made us, in fact, just in the new awareness and new desire, better. Our intentions count and our awareness of what we do and how we affect those we lead, count even more.
And one final note. Prince Caspian had a powerful line toward the end of the movie. “I’ve spent too long looking at what was taken away, rather than what was GIVEN.” That line gave me a moment to pause and ponder. If you have ever lost a team member to another department, do you focus on the work it has left you with, the hold in your team, the talent that was taken away OR do you focus on the opportunity you have been given to find, develop, and train an even higher performing team member to fill that role? How often in general do we focus on what has been taken away, versus what has been given.
What are you grateful to have been given in your role as a leader?
Enjoy the movies, and oh, of course, stay contagious!
Monica
