“I’m king of the world!”
“Show me the money!”
“You can’t handle the truth!”
“Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.”
“Go ahead, make my day.”

Memorable quotes from memorable films. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, movies of all types end up in our collective consciousness. In reviewing a list of movie quotes recently, I was impressed by how just one short phrase was all I needed to be reminded of an entire film. Such is the power of the movie experience.

I find it fascinating too how in a very short period of time, we go from knowing nothing about the subject of a film, to laughing, screaming, crying, and thinking about it. Typically in less than two hours. And regardless of the emotion, we continue to seek out the experience, again and again. (My kids can tell you about the favorite Dad position when watching a thriller or horror film - a blend of half watching / half avoiding. You want to see what’s around the corner or in the closet, but then again, you really don’t.)

I love watching movies (800+ Netflix rentals/downloads since 2003), and I especially enjoy watching movies with my family. There’s something about going through the experience together that makes it that much more enjoyable.

However, I do tend to draw the line between family and work. I feel movies have a great place in the home, but shouldn’t be used at work. And here’s why.

As popular as it is to use them in leadership development and training programs, I have a real problem when people do so. As mentioned earlier, I love watching movies; I think they’re a lot of fun. I just don’t feel they’re an effective tool for developing or educating people. If it were that easy, all we’d have to do is sit people in front of the television 8 hours a day (many people do so anyway), and show them training videos.

Essentially, I think many people confuse inspiration with effectiveness.

I can be temporarily inspired or motivated by watching a leader in a film (e.g. George C. Scott as General Patton in “Patton”, Kurt Russell as Herb Brooks [1980 USA winter Olympics hockey coach] in “Miracle”, Robin Williams as John Keating in “Dead Poets Society”, or Richard Dreyfuss as Glenn Holland in “Mr. Holland’s Opus”), but am I really changed by the experience of watching the selected movie clip?

And more often than not, the context is not relevant: Will I be leading an entire army, Olympic hockey team, or classroom full of English or music students? Also, I can possibly see the value of using historical characters, but fictional characters? The latter do essentially what the screenwriter wrote them to do, and I have a difficult time relating to the leadership “truth” of that.

Instead of using movie clips in your next leadership or management development program, why not look within your own organization for some exceptional examples? Surely there’s someone in your company who can share a story or two about what great leadership or management looks and, more importantly, feels like. And so what if they didn’t conquer a nation or win a gold medal? By your own leaders’ showing the blood in their veins about their struggles and challenges, your people will identify more with “one of their own” than with some famous actor (paid pretender) up on the screen.

And isn’t that what you really want? Your people looking at someone they work with, someone they know, feeling that maybe one day, they too could be speaking to a class of emerging leaders, sharing their stories about what leadership truly means.

So when it comes to examples of great leadership, let Hollywood stay in Hollywood. Find some of your own internal stars, and make them the “celebrities” they deserve to be.

As many readers know, I don’t have a whole lot of respect for “how-to” books on leadership and management.  I think they often convey a false sense of hope, in that by reading this book and following the author’s process, tips, advice, best practices, etc. you too will become the leader or manager you’ve always wanted to be (or that your organization needs you to be).

Like I’ve said before, self-help books continue to sell because they don’t work.

Knowledge only goes so far.  And when it comes to leadership and management development, the people that really make a difference, I believe, are those who struggle to make a change in themselves.

I’m not saying that you have to force yourself to struggle to become a better leader or manager, but let’s face it, if it was so easy to do, we’d have already done it.  Given that we might not be exactly where we want to be in our leadership or management abilities and that we’ve exhausted all quick and/or easy fixes, we are left with the hard work of getting from where we currently are to where we eventually would like to be.  Bottom-line, there is usually some real, honest struggling in becoming the leader or manager we yearn to be.

For whatever reason, our culture loves the story of a self-made person.  Particularly, in the business press, you find countless of cover stories of people who have been incredibly successful.  The focus is typically on the person, their struggles, what they overcame, and how they became a success against great odds.  For some, it was overnight.  For others, it was years or decades in the making.  In either case, the focus is usually on the individual.

And personally, that celebration of the individual who overcame great hardship can be a great disservice to many, if not most, people.  For it often creates the impression that if this person can be a great success on their own, then you should too.  (To add insult to injury, articles will often include things like “Bob’s/Mary’s 10 Tips for Great Leadership”, as if all you have to do is pattern yourself after Bob/Mary, and you’ll be that great leader or manager you’ve always wanted to become.)

Instead, I would like to see cover articles on people who have helped other people become great successes.  In my experience, most people don’t have enough inside themselves to make it totally on their own, notwithstanding all the stories we like to read and hear about to the contrary.  I don’t think this is indictment of people, as it is a reality of the human condition, yours truly included.

Instead, I believe most benefit significantly from there being at least one person (and often times you don’t need more than that), who shared their desire to be greater than who they presently were, who truly believed they could become that person, and who advised and coached them along the way.

In light of what we’ve all been through these past few years, struggling is almost a badge of honor, because if you’re struggling, that means you’re still in the game, still have the courage to find a successful way forward.  Being a leader or manager is tough enough these days without having to do it all on your own.  Whom do you have in your corner who will help you become the leader or manager you want to be?

“Leadership” can be a fuzzy concept. Ask 100 people, and you’ll likely get a 100 different definitions. Often we feel like US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart who wrote in the obscenity case of Jacobellis v. Ohio (1964):

“I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description [pornography]; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it.”

Although leadership isn’t exactly pornography (most of the time), many of us may struggle to define it but still feel like we know it when we see it.

With that said, here’s my attempt:

“Leadership is the sustained ability to achieve extraordinary results by engaging the collective efforts of others.”

What’s your definition of “leadership”?

Click the link to share your thoughts and to see that other readers say about leadership.

In the month since my post about Basic Steps for Effective Succession Planning, global economic issues have continued to ripple onto our shores, as we wrestle with our own economic concerns. Now more than ever, companies need great talent to lead them effectively, and smart leaders are doing all they can (as they did during better times) to ensure that they have a continuous supply of great talent.

In this month’s 60-Second Emailâ„¢, we conclude an earlier post with some remaining steps you need to take for effective succession planning.

When you’re done reading, let us know your thoughts. What makes succession planning work in your organization? What’s done to ensure people have the right skills to succeed, not just now, but in the future too?

Click here, to get started.

An article from the NY Times on why it’s important, now more than ever, to stay flexible and relevant in your career.

Even with the crummy economy and high unemployment, smart leaders are still concerned about the potential loss of great talent from their companies. Whether you’re running a company, division, department, or a team, you need to plan for your future talent needs. And the sooner, the better.

In this month’s 60-Second Email (TM) , we outline the first steps you need to take for effective succession planning.

And when you’re done reading, let us know your thoughts. What else needs to be considered when doing succession planning? Any examples of succession planning done well? Done poorly? We’d like to know, and so would other readers (would we lie to you?!)

Click here, to get started.

A recent survey from OI Partners suggests that many companies are not adequately prepared when it comes to succession planning. And we’re not talking just at the C-level. This includes leaders and managers at other levels as well.

One issue that many companies face is the fact that no one’s in charge or responsible for ensuring the company has enough successors for key positions. For more on this issue, please see this month’s 60-Second Email (TM) .

And when you’re done reading, let us know your thoughts on the matter. Who’s passionate about developing people in your organization? And how do they demonstrate that? What are they doing to ensure your company has enough future leaders and managers?

Click here, and share your examples with other readers.

There used to be a time when if jobs were lost during a recession, there was the expectation that many of these same jobs would eventually return after the economy came back. These days, though, there’s a whole different feel about jobs returning.

In a recent article, “5 Myths About How to Create Jobs” (link), McKinsey notes that even if the economy were to add 200,000 jobs per month, it would take the next 7 years to return to a “normal” unemployment rate of 5%. And according to a recent WSJ article, “Economists Expect Shifting Work Force” (link), 1 in 4 jobs won’t be coming back, but instead will be replaced by other types of work in growing industries, which for many is a much longer road to re-employment and to previous salary levels.

Personally, when I hear about jobs not coming back, I’m not thinking just about the jobs. I’m thinking about the skill sets of the people who were performing those jobs.

The crisis that I see many people facing these days is not a lack of jobs, but a lack of relevant skills. When jobs are lost or go overseas, people aren’t losing their jobs. They’re losing the domestic demand for their skill sets. It’s their capabilities that are being lost, some for good.

People are being left with skills that don’t have a marketplace. And that’s a much more frightening reality than being without a job.

As we have seen recently, even well established enduring companies and industries can falter. Therefore to provide yourself with real unemployment insurance, you need to ensure that the skills and capabilities you possess remain relevant and attractive to many companies in and beyond your industry.

To remain gainfully employed with a viable future, you need to remain relevant. And for that to be the case, your skill set needs to be relevant to both your company and to the marketplace in general.

So that being said, when did you last take inventory of the skills and capabilities you bring to the table?


Have a thought or point of view on jobs and skill sets being lost? Share them with other readers by clicking here.

“Those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.” - Winston Churchill.
“Experience is the best teacher, but the tuition is high.” - Norwegian proverb

If experience is, indeed, the best teacher, we’ve certainly had a post-graduate education this past year. And, yes, the tuition has been very high.

So what did you learn from it?

I didn’t have an immediate answer when I asked myself the question. I realized that more time and focus had been spent navigating the chaotic times, than making sense of them.

Nonetheless, it would be a pity if one didn’t have an answer. What a wasted opportunity: the greatest upheaval since the Great Depression, and yet nothing learned from it.

So I stopped, and made sense of the past 12 months. I looked at my behavior, and asked myself what were some of the principles that guided me. Here are some of mine (and I’ll be asking for yours shortly):

1. Stay close and incredibly focused on your clients/customers, particularly when it’s the darkest and most uncertain. These were not times to go it alone, and there’s mutual benefit in trying to read the tea leaves with others.

2. The giving hand is always a full hand. Particularly when scarcity surrounds you, maintain an abundance mindset, and offer to help, even when there’s no immediate return. A zero-sum-game mentality can be incredibly self-destructive.

3. Enjoy what you do. Better to do what you love when the economic foundation is being shaken to its core, than hate what you do and struggle to find some satisfaction when the proverbial sky seems to be falling too.

So, again, what did you learn? Please post your comments below, or if you prefer to remain anonymous, click on this link, and list your insights in this 1-question survey:
What I Learned from the Great Recession

I’ll collate all responses, and share some of the lessons learned with readers of our 60-Second Emailâ„¢ (without identifying the authors, unless you’d like the attribution). Please share this blog post and survey link with friends, family, and colleagues. There’s wisdom in numbers.

2010 will be here shortly, and “school” will once again be in session. My very best of wishes to you for the New Year. I hope the knowledge you gained in these past 12 months will serve you well in the next 12.

“If an educated work force is the nation’s human capital, business is seeing a lot of subprime these days.”
- from An Educated Workforce, Wall Street Journal, November 23, 2009

Recently the Wall Street Journal invited top CEOs and policy makers to Washington to discuss critical issues facing the United States. According to John Chambers, Chairman and CEO of Cisco Systems, and a Co-Chair of the assembled task force on Education:

“As we [the CEOs] went through the discussion today, it was a unanimous vote that [education] needs to be the top national priority - way above the economy, health care, energy or the environment.”

Given where the economy is these days, and in light of the recent vociferous debates on health care, energy, and the environment, that’s quite a statement.

But unfortunately, it’s not surprising. In the last couple of years, I for one have heard increasing frustration from employers regarding the quality of talent in the labor pool. In a nutshell, many candidates just aren’t prepared for the demands of work these days.

Now, full stop - the recent recession certainly has provided a sudden and unusual increase in the quantity of qualified talent in the labor pool. But this is a one-time blip up. This won’t last forever. (Let’s hope not. If it does, we’ll have more extensive, systemic problems to deal with).

If we take a long-term nation-wide view of succession planning, what are we doing to ensure that the younger, less experienced talent in the labor pool will ultimately be capable and able to replace the more experienced talent that eventually will retire and leave the workforce?

Can we honestly say that a country can remain, in the long run, an economic superpower if it does not lead in the education of its citizens?

Successful global companies will always invest where the best talent is. To do otherwise, is a losing proposition. This is particularly so today when companies are depending on the capability, drive, and versatility of its leaders, managers, and employees.

Consider your own organization as a microcosm of a nation. How long could it remain viable with second-rate talent? How long would customers tolerate it? And where is it currently getting its next generation of great leaders and managers? From inside? From outside? How successful is it in each? And why?

Human beings have this chronic tendency to deal with the urgent at the expense of what may be less urgent but equally, if not more, important. My major concern is that by the time education becomes an urgent national issue (aren’t we there already?), it will be too late to stem the impact. Change will take generations, and our global economy moves at a much faster pace.

Businesses will continue to vote with their feet, and set up operations in regions with work-ready talent. Those people who are skilled and educated will be the most mobile and sought after. They will go where the jobs are. Those who are under-educated and under-skilled will not be mobile and will be left behind. It will be a knowledge-based meritocracy that will yield serious and dire socio-economic consequences.

I welcome your thoughts on what a forward-thinking nation and its business leaders should do to accelerate the education and capability of its citizens. Join the conversation, and post your comments below.