Tag Archives: why

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Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Death Wish

A Reel Leadership Article

I’ve often wondered what I would do if I was ever put into a situation like Bryan Mills from Taken or, now, Dr. Paul Kersey (Bruce Willis) in the new Death Wish movie. Would I want to extract revenge for the pain brought upon me or the deaths I had to witness?

Bruce Willis in promotional image from Death Wish

As a man, these questions often flood my mind. And I love watching movies explore this thought process. Death Wish tells the story of Paul Kersey, a doctor whose job it was was to save lives. Only to have his wife brutally murdered and his daughter shot and left in a coma.

What would you do? That’s the question Death Wish gets you thinking about.

And, if you’re intentional, it’ll also get you to think about leadership.

Caution: Death Wish spoilers below.

 Read more...

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What To Do When You Doubt Yourself As A Leader

Leadership Lessons From Black Lightning

I had the pleasure of meeting comic book writer Tony Isabella in October 2017. Tony is the creator of the DC Comics first African American superhero Black Lightning.

black lightning Jefferson Pierce doubt his superheronessDuring my time with Tony Isabella at the Grand Rapids Comic-Con, I asked him what was his favorite comic book issue to work on. Without hesitation, he said Black Lightning Volume 2 Issue 5.

Tony went on to explain why he enjoyed the comic book so much. Black Lightning’s civilian identity is Jefferson Pierce, the principal at Garfield High School. Pierce dons the Black Lightning costume to protect his students from the gangsters who want to recruit them to their gangs and do them harm.

In the Black Lightning comic recommended by Tony Isabella, something goes wrong. Walter Kasko, a teacher at Garfield High School, tosses himself in front of a young student named Lamar as gangsters burst into the room Walter, Lamar, and Jefferson was. Walter was riddled with bullets and died. Jefferson was injured and spent time in the hospital.  Read more...

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Quotes And Leadership Lessons From The Commuter

A Reel Leadership Article

Every day Michael MacCauley (Liam Neeson) took the commuter train to and from work. On the day he was let go from his job, he didn’t change his ritual of riding the train. This is where the leadership lessons from The Commuter begin.

That fateful day things changed. Michael was a targeted man. Someone had a plan for him. A sinister plan.

leadership lessons from The Commuter

The Commuter was filled with a couple of great plot twists you didn’t see coming. Liam Neeson played his role perfectly as did the other cast members.

But let’s get into the leadership lessons from The Commuter before I get too far off base.

 

Caution: The Commuter spoilers below.

Quotes And Leadership Lessons From The Commuter

1. Karen MacCauley:

We’ll find a way. We always do.  Read more...

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Care About The Why

You’ll find many businesses care about the bottom line. The almighty dollar.

That’s what too many places care about. They forget about the most important thing to care about:

The WHY

You must care about your why

What’s So Special About The Why?

When businesses are in dire straits, it’s easy for them to get distracted from the why. They think they need to get the next dollar or the next customer in the door.

Don’t get me wrong, those are important things. You need customers and you need money. But you also need your Why.

Something special happens when you begin to focus on your Why.

The money starts to come back in. Your employees begin to care. And customers come back.

Why Your Why Works

Simon Sinek wrote a great book about Why and how it works. That book is Start With Why.  Read more...

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Clarify The What And The Why

There’s many roles a leader must play. These roles can be dizzying.

Leaders must support their team. Leaders must bring unity to the organization. Leaders must cast a clear vision.

Your vision is all about the what.

It’s telling where you’re going. How you’re going to get there. And how you know you’ve arrived.

But how clear have you been in sharing the vision?

Get Clear On The What

You’ll see organizations through up a company vision. Usually, this vision is very generic.

You might see vision statements such as:

Help customers get their work done

To build high quality products people love

We will share the Gospel with all we meet

Those vision statements don’t do anything for me. They are blah. They are far too broad. They fail to speak to you.  Read more...