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
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
Hoosiers (also known in the UK as Best Shot) was an unexpected box office hit in 1985, telling the unlikely story of a tiny high school basketball team who win the State Championship in hoop-mad Indiana in the early 1950s. Disgraced former coach Norman Dale is given a final chance to… Read More »10 key leadership lessons from Hoosiers
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
Ever wonder why some people seem hungry to develop and improve, while others … don’t? They may be hungry to get promoted of course, but less keen to develop the skills they need to get there. Maybe you’ve even fallen into this trap yourself? A few years ago, I was… Read More »Why mindset is key to development
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?
Organisations with a strong sense of tradition and history can sometimes close the door to new approaches that might yield better results. In Moneyball, Oakland Athletics General Manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) shakes up one such establishment: professional baseball. Dispensing with traditional player scouting techniques, Beane uses statistical measurement of… Read More »Three major league leadership lessons from Moneyball
Watching Remember the Titans recently, I was struck by how often Kotter’s 8 steps for managing change appeared. Set in Virginia in 1971, the film tells the true story of the newly integrated TC Williams High School football team. In a town awash with anger and prejudice, new coach Herman… Read More »Kotter’s 8 steps for change in Remember the Titans