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
Leading a new team can be an exciting but sometimes difficult time. Each team is a unique challenge – what’s worked for you before may not work as well again. So what should you consider when approaching your role? The Situational Leadership model helps leaders consider the skills and motivations of… Read More »How situational leadership can help your new team
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
The first time I saw a presentation on the five practices of Kouzes and Posner’s The Leadership Challenge, the presenter chose a well-known leader from business or politics to illustrate each practice. It was a presentation that ‘stuck’, and I became increasingly fascinated with the five practices as a result. … Read More »Five movie leaders to take on the Leadership Challenge
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
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
War is an unforgiving environment for leaders, as we saw in Black Hawk Down. Add a mission that looks both futile and morally dubious, and it becomes even harder. That’s the situation faced by Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) in Steven Spielberg’s epic Saving Private Ryan. Following the brutal D-Day landings,… Read More »Great movie leaders: Captain John Miller
Harrison Ford may have headlined 1993’s Oscar-nominated thriller The Fugitive, but it was Tommy Lee Jones who stole the show with his portrayal of grizzled US Marshal Samuel Gerard. Such was his impact that Jones got his own spin-off five years later in US Marshals. Gerard exhibits many impressive leadership… Read More »Great movie leaders: Samuel Gerard, The Fugitive