Top Leadership Movies
By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
Top leadership movies…you may be thinking “can anything about leadership actually be learned by watching movies?” You bet. I was recently asked for my opinion about which movies I felt were the top leadership movies of all time. After thinking about my answer for a few minutes, I realized that while not all leaders are fans of cinema, all leaders can certainly learn valuable leadership lessons by watching movies with a critical and discerning eye…In the text that follows I’ve put a list together of more than 40 outstanding leadership movies. While most of them have not won an Academy Award, they all contain valuable lessons for leaders.
You’ve likely surmised by now that this post will not be a real brain-teaser, however it will nonetheless offer you the opportunity for leadership development. While the most natural leaders possess a large number of innate qualities and characteristics, the best leaders refine their leadership skills over time through a variety of learned behaviors, experiences, and activities. There are certainly more academic, substantive, and challenging ways to acquire leadership insights, but you’ll find few methods of learning more enjoyable than popcorn and a movie. I must confess to being a bit of a movie buff, so when it came to putting together a list of top leadership movies it didn’t take too long to come up with the following list of favorites (in no particular order of preference):
- Braveheart
- Remember The Titans
- Invictus
- The Great Escape
- 300
- The Last Castle
- Schindler’s List
- Lord of the Flies
- Apollo 13
- We Were Soldiers
- Blind Side
- Pistol Pete
- Miracle
- Saving Private Ryan
- Amazing Grace
- Hoosiers
- Chariots of Fire
- To Hell and Back
- The Alamo
- The Last of the Mohicans
- K19 Widow Maker
- The Mission
- The Green Berets
- Dead Poets Society
- Glengarry Glen Ross
- Mr. Holland’s Opus
- Glory Road
- The Shawshank Redemption
- Twelve O’clock High
- Band of Brothers
- Ben-Hur
- Blackhawk Down
- Rocky
- The Longest Day
- Rudy
- The Lion King
- Passion of Christ
- Men of Honor
- The Last Samurai
- Deliverance
- The Patriot
- Bridge Over The River Kwai
- The Guardian
- The Ten Commandments
If you feel something has been left off the list (which I’m sure is the case), please let me know and I’ll add to the list…Enjoy!
In my Air Force career, two movies were used in several leadership courses. They were “Twelve O’Clock High” and “Twelve Angry Men” (just noticed the common word there). Both these flicks are studies in leadership using totally different approaches. Movies, in general, have the tendency to emphasis theatric moments such as when someone jumps on top of the car, yells out to the crowd and gets them to cheer. And although those moments are important, I have found that strong leaders actually gain their position using much more subtle techniques. For example, a friend of mine was telling me about how none of the other “leaders” at his level, got it. They were all managers, not leaders. We were both former Air Force test pilots while all the “leaders” he was talking about had civilian management backgrounds. He laughed as he told me his story about how he would park at a different spot each morning and walk through random hangars and buildings on the way to his office. On his walk, he observed what was going on and eventually after being “accepted” by the various workers, they would call him over to talk to him. He was the only manager in the organization who knew what was actually going on. Within two years, he was the guy in charge of the entire organization. Never had to jump on top of a car!
Hi Lance:
Thanks for your comment…I agree with your thoughts and think your observations are spot-on. You might be interested in reading two previous posts which touch on these topics in greater detail: Leaders vs. Managers (http://www.n2growth.com/blog/leaders-vs-managers) and CEOs Get Out of Your Office (http://www.n2growth.com/blog/ceosget-out-of-your-office)
Thank again Lance