Popcorn Leadership
The Best Leadership Movies of All Time
By David Drury
(Added on 02 Feb 2006: Braveheart,
Leadership is a learned
art. We read about leadership principles
and ideas in books and magazines. We
pick the brains of other leaders we respect.
We develop plans to grow in certain areas of leadership. We listen to tapes and CDs or download
motivation to our iPods. Most of all we learn it from experience—bad
and good. We learn the hard way or we
learn when we happen to pull it off. But
let’s face it—all this stuff can get boring after a while.
Sometimes I just get tired
of the leadership development tools that I have on my shelves. It all starts to sound the same. My eyes roll when they sound simplistic. My eyes cross when they sound stupid. Some leadership tapes make me want to take a nap—not motivate my team. This even happens to me while reading stuff I
have written about leadership myself. It gets old quick.
So we have two options when
leadership learning gets boring to us: 1) forget about developing as leaders or
2) mix it up a bit.
If you chose the second
option you chose wisely. There are
certainly a myriad of ways to mix up your leadership learning input… but one of
the best I’ve found is to invest some time in what I call “popcorn
leadership”—developing my leadership while watching a good movie. Popcorn leadership is easy—just find a great movie on leadership at the theatre, buy some
popcorn for twelve dollars or whatever it costs these days, and sit down and
learn. Or rent one of the greatest
leadership movies of all time, microwave some popcorn and learn (while being entertained
of course.)
There are some great movies
that come out each year that leaders can learn from—but what about those
greatest movies of all time for leaders?
What’s the list? Well, as with
all such “greatest of all time” lists as soon as you read it you get frustrated
that your
favorite isn’t on the list. So, this
list is just a start, and I invite you to help build this list over time with
me. This will be a constantly expanding
“best of” list, if you’ll help me.
Please
click here to go to the comments area and support one of these
choices or to submit your favorite
leadership movie or a new category of movies.
(If submitting, please include the title and a one or two line reason
why that movie is great for leaders to watch.)
The Best Leadership Movies of All
Time
Sports Movies
(It seems like every movie about
sports, especially a team with a coach, has some great leadership moments.)
Miracle — On building a team with the right players, and
coaching each individual for their individual role
Remember the Titans – On changing the culture of a team and a town (submitted
by Dennis Jackson)
Rocky –
On overcoming all odds as an underdog (submitted by Dan Ward)
War Movies
(Battles create some of histories
most fascinating leaders—even when circumstances force them to.)
Bridge Over the River Kwai – On how devotion to one goal can
cause a leader to lose focus on the overall mission (submitted by Keith Drury)
A Bridge Too Far – On the effects of top leadership decisions in the
trenches—and the implications of failure in war
Saving Private Ryan – On heroism and sacrifice for brothers-in-arms
We Were Soldiers – For examining the character Lt Colonel Hal Moore and his
leadership (submitted by Mike Takas)
Great Escape – Amazing ingenuity, persistence and teamwork escaping from a Nazi prisoner
of war camp (submitted by Justin J. Nierer)
Braveheart – Vision casting, overcoming all odds, inspiring other leaders, compromise,
etc, etc. (submitted by A. J. Thomas)
Meeting Movies
(Some movies focus on leading a
group of people, usually in a meeting, towards a decision—for good or ill.)
12 Angry Men – On changing the minds of others through conversation; the art of
persuasion in a meeting
Conspiracy – On the tragic consequences of a meeting where power and genocide were
up for grabs (submitted by Keith Drury)
How Not To Lead Movies
(Other movies about leadership at
it’s worst—here’s how not to lead.)
The Second Chance – Michael W. Smith in a surprisingly good role as a bad
leader (submitted by Keith Drury)
Office Space – On how not to lead an office culture, one of the most hilarious stupid
bosses in movie history!
Star Wars Episodes I – III – For the Emperor/Anakin leadership manipulation dynamic
(Submitted by Matt Guthrie)
Mentoring Movies
(Movies that show us a mentoring—mentee relationship and how it affects the leadership of
one or both of them.)
Finding Forrester – On how mentoring and investing in the next generation
frees us both.
Training Day – When you start to believe your own lies as a leader; ethics, cops
& gangs in the streets of
Dead Poet's Society – Mentoring and dreaming for others (submitted by Dennis
Jackson)
Bull
Other Movies
(et
cetera – movies that can’t be categorized in the above)
A Few Good Men – The change from self-centered to selfless leadership (submitted by
Pete Yoshonis)
The Lion King – Simba questions himself and then comes into
his own
Forrest Gump – Doing the right things; the serendipitous (and lucky) side of having
integrity (submitted by Dan Ward)
Return of the King – Aragorn as self-sacrifice; Gandalf as wise counselor;
Frodo as conflicted decision-maker (this one has it all)
Ghandi – Yeah, it’s Ghandi,
‘nuff said.
The Passion of the Christ – Ditto, but Jesus…
so all the more ‘nuff said.
Cool Hand Luke – How leaders "pay the price" for others and can be trapped by
their own image (Submitted by Keith Drury who posted other reasons in the
comments beyond this)
The Matrix – Morpheous to Neo: "I can only show you
the door, you have to walk through it”… analogy for evangelism or mentoring
(Submitted by Derek Bethay)
Mr. Holland’s Opus – While we're "doing" leadership, the most
profound influence we have may be deeper than anything we can possibly measure.
(Submitted by Dennis King)
Schindler’s List – How sometimes a leader should shift his values and
actions, and the lasting results of a leader adopting more virtuous values.
The Godfather – For Michael Corleone, it was all about
development of a leader (submitted by Justin J. Nierer)
Click
here to respond to this article at the response blog
(or to submit your movie for
consideration).
Or email David@DruryWriting.com
_________
© 2006 by David Drury
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