Think for a moment about the decisions you make. Do you go by your gut instinct, the unconscious part of your thinking? Or do you let your rational, conscious mind take over? The answer, for most of us, is a little of both. And often we’re not even aware of it. One… Read More »The Star Trek guide to making better decisions
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
Popular culture suggests extroverts are likely to make the best leaders. But according to Susan Cain’s ‘Quiet’, that’s not necessarily so. While extroverts thrive in certain leadership situations, there are many qualities that make introverts great leaders. In fact, introverted leaders can often be found at the top of some… Read More »Four qualities that make introverts great leaders
Our values govern the way we behave. And as a leader, you can gain respect quickly by consistently acting in line with your personal and organisational values. George Clooney’s Good Night and Good Luck is in many ways a film about values. It dramatises the CBS broadcaster Edward R Murrow’s… Read More »Values-based leadership: Good Night and Good Luck
Ivan Reitman’s 1993 comedy Dave may not be most people’s first choice of a great leadership movie. But for me it demonstrates perfectly a key facet of leadership: that it is a choice rather than a position. In the movie, the White House recruits uncanny presidential lookalike Dave Kovic (Kevin Kline)… Read More »How to win over your team: everyman leadership in Dave
Advisers who can’t be trusted. Threats from more powerful competitors. A divided organisation who have no faith in your ability to lead, and are deeply suspicious of your motives Oh, and potential assassins at every turn. That’s the scenario confronting the new monarch in Elizabeth, Shekhar Kapur’s fascinating film on… Read More »Baptism of fire: how Elizabeth stabilised her nation
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