Leadership... Watching

[Briski]

If you'd consider showing a video, Twelve O'Clock High is a terrific discussion-starter on leadership/followership....especially for cadet officers & cadet encampment staffs.

  love it

This discussion in the thread on Leadership Reading got me interested. Two questions:

1. What are some of all y'all's favorite movies that demonstrate leadership principles?

2. What are some examples of leadership lessons demonstrated by movies that you wouldn't normally think of as leadership-related?

[JC004]

If you'd consider showing a video, Twelve O'Clock High is a terrific discussion-starter on leadership/followership....especially for cadet officers & cadet encampment staffs.

  love it

This discussion in the thread on Leadership Reading got me interested. Two questions:

1. What are some of all y'all's favorite movies that demonstrate leadership principles?

2. What are some examples of leadership lessons demonstrated by movies that you wouldn't normally think of as leadership-related?

...and you quote me?  I am soooo going to sleep.   

Twelve O'Clock High, Patton, and MacArthur all have excellent overall displays of leadership and character.  They don't make many movies like that anymore...now they're all love stories and other junk.  ::shakes fist::

leadership lessons demonstrated ... that [ I ] wouldn't normally think of as leadership-related?  ::shrug::  Don't confuse me when I am sleepy!   

[jimmydeanno]

I like the movie Command Decision. "Linky"

Silver-screen giant Clark Gable plays General K.C. (Casey) Dennis, a man determined to destroy the production of a new German jet plane via precision aerial bombings during daylight hours. Walter Pidgeon plays his superior officer, General Roland Kane, a man all too aware that military bosses in D.C. are looking over their shoulders to determine whether daylight bombing is effective. To boot, Dennis is consistently dogged by newspaperman Elmer Brockhurst, who reports back to the home front regarding the heavy economic and manpower losses that result from Dennis’s orders. Soon Dennis finds his tactics directly opposed by Arthur Malcolm (Edward Arnold), a powerful congressman, and General Kane ceases to support Dennis.

There are no combat scenes in COMMAND DECISION. Instead, the script brilliantly supplies an insightful examination of the politics of war and the insides of a man brutalized by them. Gable turns in a fine performance, which is easy to miss amid the brilliance that surrounds it--Van Johnson, Walter Pidgeon, and Edward Arnold all shine in COMMAND DECISION

I also think that The Great Escape "Linky" is fantastic.

Drama based on Paul Brickhill's factual account of the efforts of Allied prisoners to break out of Stalag Luft North during World War II.

Both movies exemplify leadership in every sense of the word.  Similar to 12 O'Clock High which is more frequently used, you analyze these two just as much for leadership in action and discuss it's effects.

Great movies.

[Psicorp]

As part of a management training program in "paying for CAP" job, we watched "Master and Commander".    A great movie, especially from a leadership lesson standpoint.  The Captain changes his leadership style based upon who he's talking to, you don't see that very often.

[ZigZag911]

Just about anything in  which "The Duke" wears a uniform, from the John Ford trilogy to The Green Berets!

Also 'Bridge Over the River Kwai' and 'The Bridges at Toko-Ri'.

On the lighter side, there's "Mr Roberts".

[mikeylikey]

Not so much a movie....but a miniseries, BAND OF BROTHERS.  Not as clean and language friendly as MR ROBERTS, but it has almost all of the leadership principals demonstrated in one of the episodes somewhere.

[ZigZag911]

Not so much a movie....but a miniseries, BAND OF BROTHERS.  Not as clean and language friendly as MR ROBERTS, but it has almost all of the leadership principals demonstrated in one of the episodes somewhere.

An excellent choice, I never get tired of watching B of B....just had it on Memorial Day on The History Channel.

[JC004]

Not so much a movie....but a miniseries, BAND OF BROTHERS.  Not as clean and language friendly as MR ROBERTS, but it has almost all of the leadership principals demonstrated in one of the episodes somewhere.

An excellent choice, I never get tired of watching B of B....just had it on Memorial Day on The History Channel.

Had lunch with some of them.  Was pretty interesting.  That was back when HBO was promoting the heck out of it...they gave me mountains of pencils and dog tags and such, which I distributed to random cadets.  Have the DVDs somewhere, but seem to be MIA.   

[Briski]

All of the movies mentioned above are excellent. I also love "We Were Soldiers" and "Lords of Discipline."

Here are some examples of leadership lessons to be learned in the unexpected:

1. The Princess Diaries. Cleverly disguised as a chick flick, this movie follows a teenager as she is faced with the hugest decision of her life: will she continue living comfortably for herself, or will she choose to sacrifice her personal desires, step out of her comfort zone, and do what is best for the greater good?

Noteable quotation: "Courage is not the absence of fear, but the judgment that something else is more important than fear."

2. The Barnyard. A young bull suddenly finds the other animals on the farm looking to him for leadership. He must decide if he will accept the responsibility or not, and if so, will he try to lead like his father did before him, or will he define his own style of leadership?

Noteable quotation: "A strong man stands up for himself; a stronger man stands up for others."

And once again, the Briski most thoroughly (and proudly) proves her own nerdiness.

[SAR-EMT1]

TAPS
CRIMSON TIDE
IN THE ARMY NOW
APOCALYPSE NOW
FULL METAL JACKET


... oh wait ... movies that demonstrate abject stupidity Leadership oh well in that case:

PATTON
GETTYSBURG
WE WERE SOLDIERS
BAND OF BROTHERS
etc...

[Briski]

Oh dude, how could I forget? "Gods and Generals" and "Gettysburg" are GREAT!

[Psicorp]

Oh dude, how could I forget? "Gods and Generals" and "Gettysburg" are GREAT!

Absolutely...the first time I sat through a 9 hour movie marathon (both movies back to back) at a theater and was riveted.   

[Briski]

Good to know that my love for "Gods and Generals" isn't just me being biased again... where I come from, General Jackson is nothing less than a god.

[Psicorp]

Good to know that my love for "Gods and Generals" isn't just me being biased again... where I come from, General Jackson is nothing less than a god.

It's something Yankees will never understand.   

[jimmydeanno]

Yeah, I made that mistake...apparantly all 'good southerners' have a picture of Robert E. Lee in their household.  A friend of mine is a 'good southerner' from VA.  I asked him if he wanted me to get him pictures of some winners to put up...he wasn't impressed...

[BillB]

One way to tell if a person is from the north or south, is have him write the words.
[darn] yankee  This is a northerner visiting the south
dame-yankee is a northerner transplanted to the south
[darn]yankee is a southerner who knows [darn]yankee is one word.

[Eclipse]

We Were Soldiers

Band of Brothers

[BlackKnight]

In my squadron we go though the 12 O'Clock High 3-part USAFA leadership lesson about once a year during successive leadership labs.

We also show "leadership movies" to our cadets almost every time we have a 5th meeting night in a given month.  I'd like to show "Gettysburg" and/or "Gods and Generals", but they're far too long for a 2.5 hr meeting. Perhaps on a rainy Saturday... 

By far the most popular movie I've shown on leadership night is "The Tuskegee Airmen".  In addition to superb leadership examples it has an obvious tie-in with aviation, and also with CAP since we now have the Benjamin O. Davis award on the senior side. Even our seniors wandered in and watched the entire flick.

The first time I showed it I was afraid there might be some tense moments over the (historically accurate) scenes of blatant racism against the Tuskegee pilots.  But our cadets did great. They understood that it's important to look at history undistorted so we can learn from it.  A little pre-movie briefing to set the era is all that's needed to help them get past the rough spots.  I'd do the same if we ever show "Gettysburg" or "Gods & Generals".

[SAR-EMT1]

I hope the third movie comes out before Im in a nursing home...
And I sincerly hope that Thomas Howell, Tom Beringer, and Jeff Daniels are in it.

"The Rough Riders" with Sam Elliot and Tom Beringer is good too.