Sunday 17 May 2015

Truly, madly, deeply

I am somewhat bemused that Mad Max: Fury Road has been criticised for being feminist propaganda...(!) nonetheless (or perhaps because!) this is a film that you must go and see. It has sublime cinematography, a transcendent score, special effects that will take your breath away and a narrative that has integrity. This is a story that holds together well, despite the anarchic dystopian future is depicts.

It would have been so easy to just do a simple remake of the original but instead we are treated to a feast of new characters and subtle acting that will draw you into the Namibian desert. Of course, this movie will not be to everyone's taste, but if you like to be transported to bizarre futures which test what it means to be human, this is a film for you!

  
There are many films that depict leadership despots who manage to control large numbers people through fear and restricting access to scarce resources. This film is no exception and the character concerned is treated as a deity by many: a deity who can do no wrong and who is seen as invulnerable. I won't tell you what happens of course...

But what happens to such leaders in real life? The sad fact is that there are many leaders who do use fear to control and who do deploy resources in ways that are more about rewarding disciples rather than making business investments. Such leadership might work for a while, even several years, but in the end creativity and commitment are crushed out of the organisation. And, as a consequence, so is overall performance. The challenge is spotting this early on before it becomes too late to save the organisation.

As a leader, how much fear do you inspire... (even without necessarily wishing to)?

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This is the ninetieth of my 2014/2015 series of blogs about leadership ideas to be found in the movies of our time. You can read here as why I began doing this (with an update at the end of 2014). Please subscribe to this blog if you want to read more. Thanks. Click the label 'film' to see all the others.

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