Last time we looked at three great female leaders from movies – Rita O’Grady from Made in Dagenham, Dottie Hinson from A League of Their Own, and Elizabeth I from Elizabeth. Here are three more, again with contrasting leadership strengths. Erin Brockovich Legal assistant Erin Brockovich shows that anyone can… Read More »Great female leaders in movies: part two
One of the most frequent questions I’m asked is for examples of great female leaders in movies. And while there are plenty of male leaders in movies, female leaders are generally harder to come by. In the first of two posts, here are three great examples, each exhibiting different leadership… Read More »Great female leaders in movies: part one
There are many ‘good’ companies, but few that are ‘great’. In leadership terms, what makes the difference? Jim Collins’ business bestseller Good to Great outlines two key characteristics of what he calls ‘level five leaders’: those with the capacity to lead not just good companies, but great ones. Collins and his… Read More »From good to great: level five leaders
Despite being over 60 years old, Twelve O’Clock High is apparently still required viewing at U.S. service academies and training schools. While many movies have valuable leadership lessons, few are about the very nature of leadership itself. Twelve O’Clock High is different. It’s a movie that reveals both the power and… Read More »Is Twelve O’Clock High the definitive leadership movie?
Change is at the heart of leadership. And making a compelling case for change is essential. But what if people are happy with how things are, and don’t see the need for change? That’s the situation faced by British politician William Wilberforce and his abolitionist colleagues in the late 1700s,… Read More »Leading change: lessons from the abolition of slavery
Leading any group can be hard. But imagine that group is riven with gang rivalry and hate, with an ever-present threat of physical violence. And that you’ve woefully underestimated the challenge. That’s the situation facing Erin Gruwell (played by Hilary Swank) in her first teaching job at the newly-integrated Woodrow… Read More »How Erin Gruwell can help you lead a difficult team
With the release of Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, interest in the famous American President has never been higher. In Lead like Lincoln, I highlighted five key leadership lessons I personally took from the movie. Many other writers have identified additional lessons, both from the movie and the man himself. Mark Crowley’s… Read More »More leadership lessons from Lincoln
Watching Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, it’s striking how little America seems to have changed politically in 150 years. Two diametrically opposed ideologies still lie separated by a narrow middle ground. Similarly, it’s distinctive how relevant Abraham Lincoln’s leadership is for our contemporary world. Here are five lessons from Lincoln’s struggle to… Read More »Lead like Lincoln: leadership lessons from honest Abe