Leadership Notes -- Thoughts on Leading People and Making a Difference in Organizations
Word count this issue: 300
Estimated reading time: 2.30 minutes
On a flight home last week I watched the movie Tomorrowland (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1964418/ ) with George Clooney, Britt Robertson and Hugh Laurie. My sister-in-law was on the same flight, coming with my brother on vacation to Vancouver. She had watched the same film and over the course of the next day or so, we had some very interesting conversations about it. Without spoiling it, the movie drives forward exploring the question, what is the impact of imagining a future of hope and love or imagining a future of fear and danger. My sister-in-law and I both said right away that we liked it, but were not sure if there was ‘something missing?’
It was only after we realized that the film had inspired the deep conversations for us that we said, “wow, that was great.” What had been missing was the ‘pablum.’ The movie did not answer the question about the future, rather it challenged us to live into a world of ‘both and;’ hope, love fear and danger. It did not nicely tie up the loose ends of the future. I’m frankly not sure the movie will be a hit, simply because it makes us think.
Leadership is about thinking beyond the pablum of tied up loose ends and gratification. Leadership is about moving into a future of hope, love, fear and danger. Leadership is about challenging yourself and your team to imagine and implement a world that is just that much better for everyone, even in the midst of challenge and pain.
May this week be filled then with more questions than answers, more grown up food than pablum.