Tag Archives: WWII

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Quotes And Leadership Lessons From One Life

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.

Take a step back in time with the new movie One Life. One Life tells the story of Nicholas “Nicky” Winton (old – Anthony Hopkins, young – Johnny Flynn). Nicky was a young London broker who saw the horrors of the coming war. Nicky became a savior to hundreds of Jewish children. He helped shuttle them by train from Prague, Czechoslovakia to the United Kingdom where foster families were waiting for them and avoid the coming Jewish Holocaust.

It is a harrowing story brought to the public’s knowledge when the BBC show That’s Life had Nicky attend an airing. During the airing, he discovered the woman sitting next to him was one of the women he helped save. They brought him back for another show. This time… every audience member was a child he’d helped rescue.  Read more...

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Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Godzilla Minus One

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.

Godzilla has been terrorizing audiences since 1954 when he debuted in Godzilla. Now, in 2023, it feels like he’s returned to his roots in Godzilla Minus One.

Godzilla Minus One is a complicated movie with lots of themes. Guilt, shame, love, loss, triumph, forgiveness, and more are packed into the two-hour, five-minute runtime.

The film is set in the 1940s during and after World War Two. Kamikazee pilot, Koichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki), returns his plane to a Japanese military repair outpost. The problem? Shikishima’s plane wasn’t damaged. He was fleeing from the battle and didn’t want to die. He wanted to survive.

Giant monster with spikes on back attacking a city and scowling

Shortly upon landing, the irradiated monster Godzilla appears, killing most of the other soldiers on the island. This leaves Shikishima with more shame.  Read more...

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Leadership Lessons And Quotes From Christoper Nolan’s Dunkirk

A Reel Leadership Article

Christopher Nolan is back with a tale from World War 2. Dunkirk tells the story of French, Belgian, and British allied soldiers surrounded by the German army. Their evacuation was intense and the focus of Dunkirk.

Dunkirk is receiving praise from critics and moviegoers alike. People are loving what Christopher Nolan has offered up in Dunkirk.

Quotes and leadership lessons from Dunkirk

Me? Not so much. I found Dunkirk to be entertaining but shallow. Normally the shallowness wouldn’t bother me but for such an epic evacuation, I felt the story deserved more.

However, even though I didn’t love Dunkirk, that doesn’t mean I didn’t walk away without leadership lessons from Dunkirk. There were plenty of leadership lessons in Dunkirk and we’re about to dive into them.

Caution: Dunkirk spoilers below.

Leadership Lessons And Quotes From Dunkirk

1. Leaders need to give hope:

Dunkirk opens with a text introduction. The viewer learns what has happened.  Read more...