Tag Archives: persistence

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Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Pixar’s Up

My latest book, Reel Leadership, is now available on Amazon. If you love movies and leadership, you will love this book.

The 2009 film Up is a Disney Pixar feature-length animated movie that will warm the hearts of even the most curmudgeon. Up tells the story of 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen (Edward ‘Ed’ Asner) and his grief over losing the love of his life, Ellie (whose name is based on the film’s director Pete Docter’s daughter, Elie Docter). They had big dreams to travel the world, live at Paradise Falls, and have the greatest adventures of all time.

Sadly, things got in the way of their adventures. One thing after the other caused them to break into their travel fund and put that dream on hold. Ellie eventually passes away, and Carl becomes a grumpy old man.

An old man, young boy, dog are holding onto a rope connected to a floating house. The house is floating because of balloons and there's a colorful bird sitting on the house  Read more...

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Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Tetris

A Reel Leadership Article

My latest book, Reel Leadership, is now available on Amazon. If you love movies and leadership, you will love this book.

Set during the 1980s, Tetris tells the real-life story of the race to license and patent the addictive video game. Tetris was created by Alexey Pajitnov (Nikita Efremov). The movie is based on true events and will keep you on the edge of your seat.

When video game designer and founder of Bullet-Proof software Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton) was at CES (Consumer Electronic Expo) trying to sell his game, no one was paying attention. Even his salesperson left his booth to marvel over a new video game being displayed by Robert Stein (Toby Jones).

That game? TETRIS.

Man in a brown suit. Dark hair. Sitting in a chair with Tetris pieces falling around him.

Taron Egerton in Tetris

Henk walks over to the booth to discover his salesperson playing the game. He’s frustrated until he begins to play. Then it became the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.  Read more...

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Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Air: The Air Jordan Shoe Story

My latest book, Reel Leadership, is now available on Amazon. If you love movies and leadership, you will love this book.

Have you ever wondered about the story behind the iconic Air Jordan shoes produced by Nike? Air tells this story and how Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) courted Michael Jordan (Damian Delano Young) and his family to become the shoe sensation everyone talks about.

Nike wasn’t always the shoe powerhouse you think of today. No, years ago, Nike was more known for their running shoes than basketball shoes. 

That all changed when Sonny saw an opportunity to court a young man that would become synonymous with Nike and basketball. The sales path wasn’t easy, but it was fruitful.

That’s the story of Air.

Air is more than a shoe story. Or a Michael Jordan story. Air is a story of persistence, resilience, and tenacity that can impact your leadership today. Join us for a Reel Leadership journey into Air.  Read more...

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It’s Time For A Leadership PEP Talk

In many schools you’ll find a pep squad. The goal of the pep squad is to raise the school spirit and make people proud of their school.

You may also have had pep talks growing up. Someone shares a few words of wisdom with you, hoping to raise your spirits.

I don’t know when your last pep talk was but I think it’s time for a leadership P.E.P. talk today.

Whoa. Did you see there was something a bit different with the P.E.P. talk I’m talking about? It looks like an acronym.

You’d be right in thinking this way. This P.E.P. talk is going to be a little different but I think it’s going to help you.

Today’s P.E.P. talk is going to be an encouragement to lead well. Maybe even lead better than ever before.  Read more...

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What To Do When Leading Sucks

Leaders know there will be days when they no longer want to lead. Leadership is difficult and ungrateful at times. But what can we do about that?

A fellow leader brought this up during a recent coffee outing. He’s finding himself frustrated with his leadership position. There are feelings that things are going no where and he can’t change them.

Upper management doesn’t want to take on new ideas to increase their influence. Those he’s leading aren’t performing up to standard.

This is when he said “Leadership sucks. I’m not liking this.”

I think any leader that’s been around long enough has felt this way. They know there are leadership struggles every leader will face.

So what makes these leaders continue on the leadership journey? Are they superhuman or have some sort of magical power?  Read more...