You don’t have to be in a position of authority to show leadership. And one movie that makes this point better than most is The Intern. After a successful career, 70-year-old widower Ben Richards (Robert De Niro) comes out of retirement to become a senior intern at an internet fashion site… Read More »Leading without authority: The Intern
We all have people in our organisations who don’t receive the recognition they may deserve. The ones who work away in the background, not getting the limelight – yet just as important in determining whether a project or organisation succeeds or fails. The movie Hidden Figures is a great example. It spotlights… Read More »Uncovering the leadership lessons in Hidden Figures
Diversity and tolerance are hot topics in world politics currently, and a TV company in Denmark recently made its entry into the debate. “All That We Share”, which you can see below, is an ad that quickly went viral, notching up over three million views on YouTube in less than two weeks.… Read More »Diversity: highlighting similarity, not difference
Who’d have thought that ‘Management by Walking Around’ (MBWA) was actually ‘invented’ by US President Abraham Lincoln? MBWA reputedly originated at Hewlett Packard in the 1970s, and was brought to wider attention by management consultants like Tom Peters. But according to historian Stephen Oates, it really started when Lincoln began informally inspecting… Read More »Walking the job – lessons from Lincoln
As we saw in Remember the Titans, movies about race and sport can provide fertile ground for lessons on change. 42 continues this theme, telling the powerful story of Jackie Robinson, the first black player in Major League Baseball. In 42, Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey (played by Harrison Ford) breaks… Read More »42: five key lessons about change
Do you feel able to bring your ‘whole self’ to work? What about your team, or your colleagues? In many work environments, we expect individuals to ‘fit in’ rather than be themselves. But being able to bring your whole self to work, to feel comfortable and display all your talents,… Read More »Embracing difference: The Imitation Game
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
There were some misty eyes around the world recently – including mine – at the release of the final Harry Potter movie. I’ve loved both the books and the films, and Deathly Hallows Part 2 was a fitting finale to a movie series that got better and better. But can… Read More »What can we learn about leadership from Harry Potter?