Leaders In London

I was just thinking about this, this morning: There’s a scene in the movie Casablanca that is an example of Jim Collins’ Level 5 leadership (modest, unassuming, ego-lite leadership that tends to go unsung and unnoticed, but has deep effects in creating longterm success).

The movie is set in French-controlled North Africa (Vichy, hence German-controlled really) during World War II. When a group of German soldiers start singing about the Fatherland in Rick’s nightclub, around the piano, the French people in the club, their homeland occupied, look downcast.

The resistance leader husband (Paul Heinreid?) of Ingrid Bergman walks up to the band and tells them to play the Marseillaise. The band leader glances across at Humphrey Bogart (Rick), sitting at a corner table. Bogart nods imperceptibly (well, it’s perceptible to the band leader; stop being so picky).

It’s his nightclub. This is a big risk for him to take. It’s a hidden act of leadership. The band starts playing the Marseillaise, gradually drowning out the German soldiers as, led by the resistance leader, the audience stand up one by one and noisily sing along. The German soldiers give up. For now.
This has always been one of my favourite scenes in a movie and I have always thought that the grandstanding leadership of the resistance leader - admirable though it was - inspired me less than the little nod given by the hidden leader in the corner, who let it all happen, taking on a risk to himself and his livelihood, and took none of the credit for it.

That’s just one kind of leadership. As Rene Carayol taught us at last year’s Leaders in London, there is no leadership template to aim for, no set of competencies to learn to become the perfect leader. As the marketplace teaches us, he said, uniqueness and difference work. Sameness (as in the identikit leadership development courses people are put through) won’t make you an inspirational, stand-out leader. Being yourself, however, will. See the post about Bill George’s latest book, below, on ‘authentic ledership’. And come to Leaders in London this year to learn how to…be more yourself, I guess.

Posted on behalf of
Leaders in London
by
Phil Dourado of
The Leadership Hub

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 at 3:48 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.