In the 1960s, psychologist Marty Seligman inadvertently stumbled upon a finding that can have a profound impact on our happiness and success. Seligman found that if you subject animals to a painful or adverse experience, then they may fail to avoid that experience in future – even when it’s quite… Read More »How we learn helplessness – and how to overcome it
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
Movies are full of them. So are great speeches. Yet in business communication, this simple but powerful technique is used surprisingly rarely. What are they? Analogies. As Chip and Dan Heath point out in the brilliant Made to Stick, analogies work. They make concepts simple and understandable. What’s more, they… Read More »The secret technique for powerful communication
Since movieleadership.com launched in late 2011, the search term that brings more people here than any other is ‘leadership lessons from Coach Carter’. And no wonder: it’s not only a highly entertaining movie, but packed full of great leadership behaviour too. Take its climactic scene (spoiler alert!) where Carter, having… Read More »Great movie speeches: Coach Carter and recognition
One of the things many new leaders find most difficult is delegation: trusting your team to do a job you may feel you can do better yourself. But hard as it is, it’s essential to becoming a good leader. In his new book Do Nothing, J Keith Murnighan argues that many… Read More »Why trust is key to great leadership
As leaders, a key part of our role is to develop and grow our people. Everyone wants to grow, right? Do well in life? So what holds them back? Coach Carter is one film that explores this question. It tells the true story of high school basketball coach Ken Carter… Read More »Break the bonds that stop your people from growing
Unlocking the potential of their people is key to any leader’s success. So what can we learn from Hollywood’s top mentors? We’ve selected a team of the best mentors that movies have to offer, and deciphered some of the core messages that are crucial to their success. 1. The road… Read More »Introducing the movie mentor XI
While Coach Carter received little attention on its original UK release, it’s full of powerful leadership lessons. The story of Ken Carter, who returns to coach basketball at his former school, is based on true events. Rather than simply improving the team’s results, Carter truly believes he can improve his students’ lives.… Read More »Four powerful leadership lessons from Coach Carter