Ben Stiller’s sublime The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is awash with inspiring themes – not least the need to take a risk and have courage to break out of the ruts we all find ourselves in from time to time. Walter is the quintessential dreamer, a man who fulfils his… Read More »Walter Mitty and the power of purpose
Managing performance is often a leader’s least favourite part of their role. Having difficult conversations requires what the military call ‘moral courage’. Some choose to put up with negative behaviour instead. But people want to know how they’re performing, and honest, constructive feedback is critical to creating an engaged and healthy… Read More »Six movie tips for managing performance
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
Watching The Imitation Game recently, I loved Joan Clarke’s quote about people who do things that no one can imagine. It’s inspired me to a second collection of 21 more inspirational quotes from movies. You can find more at 21 Great Leadership Quotes from Movies. Got a favourite of your own?… Read More »21 more inspirational quotes from movies
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
In Dead Poets Society, unconventional teacher John Keating, played by the late, great Robin Williams, employs a variety of techniques to stimulate his students into ‘thinking differently’. He has them stand on their desks to view the world from a different perspective. He encourages them to walk randomly around the… Read More »Stimulate your creativity with Dead Poets Society
In our last post, we looked at the the first four key influence tactics described in the Mind Gym: Wake Up Your Mind: Reason, Inspire, Ask and Feel Good. Here we’ll look at the last five tactics and where you can find examples of them in movies. Deal Deal is a simple… Read More »Under the influence: nine tactics for persuasion (2)
Whatever your role – leader, manager, parent – it’s a fair bet that influencing is one of the skills you’ll be using most today. Whether it’s getting your manager to back your idea or encouraging your teenager to knuckle down to their studies, influencing is a core skill. And it’s become… Read More »Under the influence: nine tactics for persuasion (1)