Over the Rainbow Leadership
12/02/09 Filed in: 7 Ideas Coach
Leadership Lessons from the Wizard of Oz
Seventy years ago MGM produced one of the best and most beloved movies of all time, based on L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Published in 1900, it was the first of 14 Oz books written by Baum, followed by dozens more from other authors. However it is the 1939 film, starring Judy Garland, that is so well crafted it continues to enchant.
It also offers some unexpected and valuable leadership lessons.
There’s no place like home.
You have to hand it to Dorothy. She engages the wonders, the adventures, the friendships, the dangers of Oz, but she is never distracted from her purpose of finding her way home.
There’s no motivator like clarity of purpose. Chances are it’s in your own back yard.
Align WIIFM.
The reasons for the band of protagonists traveling are different, but the destination is the same. Everyone needs to get to the Emerald City to see the Wizard. The journey is safer and more productive traveling together. The Scarecrow, Tin-Man, and Lion throw in their lots with Dorothy.
Great causes must accommodate individual purposes. Effective leaders help align individual purposes with a higher purpose held in common.
Combine wisdom, humanity, courage, and resilience for incredible success.
The Scarecrow needs a brain. The Tin Man a heart. The Lion, courage. Dorothy, her home. One reason the Wizard of Oz endures is because it deeply resonates with our experience of the human condition. We recognize that a fully complete human, or team, or leader, must draw from head, heart, courage, and spirit.
The leaders we need for today’s world, not to mention tomorrow’s, are those who have significant mastery of these four aspects of character; wisdom, humanity, courage, and resilience. The best leadership tool I have seen in some time is an instrument called the Tilt360. The Tilt goes beyond most 360 instruments that focus on skills and competencies, assessing these four “meta-factors” of leadership character.
Deal with it, and have faith.
Just when you think it can’t get worse, here come the flying monkeys. So deal with it. For those who are fans of Good to Great, one of the books key messages is great organizations face brutal reality head on, while at the same time never lose faith in their purpose and capability.
The world is full of lions and tigers and bears. Oh my. Wise leaders keep their people moving down the yellow brick road, and always expect and give help along the way.
Understand the difference between a role and who you really are.
Some of the best advice I ever received was to be careful not to believe my own press clippings. We need to present a professional facade to the world, and we need to guard and cultivate authenticity. It is in authentically connecting to other people - as in the movie when the wizard is finally engaged as a real person - that the real magic begins.
Framing can be magical.
The gift leaders bring their followers is a way of looking at the world that opens the way forward. Doors that seemed closed are open, and paths appear in the wilderness, and people suddenly possess what seemed out of reach.
Framing based on smoke and mirrors ultimately is exposed as a sham. Framing based on substance - true wisdom, humanity, and courage - provides deep value.
No one else can do it for you.
At the end of the movie Glinda the Good Witch informs Dorothy she has always had the power to go home. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Dorothy rightly inquires. “Because you have to find out for yourself.” Some things you simply have to experience for yourself. You can’t read a book and know how to ride a bike, drive a car, fly a plane, or be a leader. All these things require experience. Leadership is a developmental process. No one else develop for you.
Leadership is so much more than telling people to go down the yellow brick road.
more about the Tilt360 and trancendent leadership: www.tilt360leaders.com
by Tom Stevens (c)2008
Tom Stevens helps individuals and organizations create exceptional futures and make a difference. To contact him, visit www.ThinkLeadershipIdeas.com
This article may be freely reprinted in your company, association, or commercial publication (or website) under the following terms: that the author attribution, copyright notice, and contact information be included; and that you inform us that you are using the article (samples appreciated).
Seventy years ago MGM produced one of the best and most beloved movies of all time, based on L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Published in 1900, it was the first of 14 Oz books written by Baum, followed by dozens more from other authors. However it is the 1939 film, starring Judy Garland, that is so well crafted it continues to enchant.
It also offers some unexpected and valuable leadership lessons.
There’s no place like home.
You have to hand it to Dorothy. She engages the wonders, the adventures, the friendships, the dangers of Oz, but she is never distracted from her purpose of finding her way home.
There’s no motivator like clarity of purpose. Chances are it’s in your own back yard.
Align WIIFM.
The reasons for the band of protagonists traveling are different, but the destination is the same. Everyone needs to get to the Emerald City to see the Wizard. The journey is safer and more productive traveling together. The Scarecrow, Tin-Man, and Lion throw in their lots with Dorothy.
Great causes must accommodate individual purposes. Effective leaders help align individual purposes with a higher purpose held in common.
Combine wisdom, humanity, courage, and resilience for incredible success.
The Scarecrow needs a brain. The Tin Man a heart. The Lion, courage. Dorothy, her home. One reason the Wizard of Oz endures is because it deeply resonates with our experience of the human condition. We recognize that a fully complete human, or team, or leader, must draw from head, heart, courage, and spirit.
The leaders we need for today’s world, not to mention tomorrow’s, are those who have significant mastery of these four aspects of character; wisdom, humanity, courage, and resilience. The best leadership tool I have seen in some time is an instrument called the Tilt360. The Tilt goes beyond most 360 instruments that focus on skills and competencies, assessing these four “meta-factors” of leadership character.
Deal with it, and have faith.
Just when you think it can’t get worse, here come the flying monkeys. So deal with it. For those who are fans of Good to Great, one of the books key messages is great organizations face brutal reality head on, while at the same time never lose faith in their purpose and capability.
The world is full of lions and tigers and bears. Oh my. Wise leaders keep their people moving down the yellow brick road, and always expect and give help along the way.
Understand the difference between a role and who you really are.
Some of the best advice I ever received was to be careful not to believe my own press clippings. We need to present a professional facade to the world, and we need to guard and cultivate authenticity. It is in authentically connecting to other people - as in the movie when the wizard is finally engaged as a real person - that the real magic begins.
Framing can be magical.
The gift leaders bring their followers is a way of looking at the world that opens the way forward. Doors that seemed closed are open, and paths appear in the wilderness, and people suddenly possess what seemed out of reach.
Framing based on smoke and mirrors ultimately is exposed as a sham. Framing based on substance - true wisdom, humanity, and courage - provides deep value.
No one else can do it for you.
At the end of the movie Glinda the Good Witch informs Dorothy she has always had the power to go home. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Dorothy rightly inquires. “Because you have to find out for yourself.” Some things you simply have to experience for yourself. You can’t read a book and know how to ride a bike, drive a car, fly a plane, or be a leader. All these things require experience. Leadership is a developmental process. No one else develop for you.
Leadership is so much more than telling people to go down the yellow brick road.
more about the Tilt360 and trancendent leadership: www.tilt360leaders.com
by Tom Stevens (c)2008
Tom Stevens helps individuals and organizations create exceptional futures and make a difference. To contact him, visit www.ThinkLeadershipIdeas.com
This article may be freely reprinted in your company, association, or commercial publication (or website) under the following terms: that the author attribution, copyright notice, and contact information be included; and that you inform us that you are using the article (samples appreciated).
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