Leadership and Management Lessons from Our Favourite Movie Characters!

Movies are a lot more than just a medium of entertainment. Don't you agree? Just as we connect and relate to some of the movie characters and live with them for those brief hours, at times even they are built from the real life characters.

There have been many great flicks which have entered and stayed in our hearts and most of these movies have had a character or two in them which we remember and adore forever.

Such movies or characters become admirable because either we relate to them or more so, we wish to be like them. And the characters who teach us a lesson are loved the longest. 

Here are some of the great characters picked from both Hollywood and Bollywood, whom we admire for either their uniqueness, brashness, determination or most importantly, their great leadership skills:

Miranda Priestly- (Devil Wears Prada)

She is the Bossy-Boss! She is the devil without whom this flick would always be incomplete. As a manager she knows what she wants and doesn’t care how! She shows good process setting as she circulates a common To-DO list, called the ‘Bulletin’, among all her assistants and they all know as a team that exactly what needs to done and when. 

Kabir Khan- (Chak De India)

A leader with one sole-goal! As the coach of the national women’s hockey team, his eyes were set on the goal and his purposefulness never allowed him to stray. And hence, his plan to reach his ultimate goal was also crystal clear in his mind. He never let any hurdle stop him or doubt on himself. He wanted to weed out the players with a weaker heart and mind and not the weak body. He exhibited a great show of team building and team management.

Captain Jack Sparrow- (The Pirates of the Caribbean)

The Leader in disguise! He is the most funny and down to earth leader. He hardly comes across as one as he is flexible enough to change as per times and the enemy, is humorous and is not too rigid to accept his mistake. Such leaders may be doubted in the beginning but, are loved the most.

Mohan- (Swades)

This movie and the character of Mohan illustrate an entire overview of change management.  When the protagonist, Mohan, comes back to India, he undergoes a complete transformation. His faith and ideologies take a 360 degree turn but, even so, he never denies some of the harsh realities of his country. He is fearless, honest and is sensitive enough to empathize with others. Like a true leader he understands the issues, takes initiative and works relentlessly for his cause.

Jordan Belfort- (The Wolf of Wall Street)

This salesman knew how to seal the deal! In this fiery flick, we meet a real life character who moved on to become a memorable screen character as well. Jordan motto was to crack the deal no matter what and only then hang up the phone. He gives us the example of great salesmanship where he builds such a great rapport with his customers that they agreed to buy almost anything from him.

Chris Gardner- (The Pursuit of Happiness)

Persistence, self belief and the faith to go on no matter how hard are the adversities is what Chris teaches us all. These are some valuables that sustain a leader. He not only believed but practiced it too. He visualized and affirmed what he wanted to believe in. He was once told by his mother that “if you want to, one day you could make a million dollars”. In the times even the best of the plans fail, you must believe that you will make it. No matter what!

Shruti- (Band Baaja Baraat)

Last but, not the least, the young gun from this flick teaches us several lessons of dedication and morality. She had a dream and was focused to achieve it, the two being the pre-requisites of any good leader and manager. Very different from the youth of today, she believed less in ‘Jugaad’ (quick fix solutions) and more on her ethics.

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