Leadership advice… from movies? Yep!

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a movie junky. It is my vice; well one of many. Anyway, I love movie lines, quotes, scenes; anything that makes me laugh or sends a tingle up my spine. I buy movies and watch them over and over again. I can recall quotes from movies and apply them to almost any situation or conversation I find myself in.

If you are like me, there are certain movie lines that stick with you more than others. Even the American Film Institute came out with the 100 most memorable movie quotes of all time. For my generation, especially those who live near the ocean, the one that keeps us walking in the ocean only up to our ankles is, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat” from, of course, Jaws. Another good one, that happens to be a sound piece of advice, is “Get busy living, or get busy dying’” from The Shawshank Redemption. Every once in a while, however, there is a quote or scene from a movie that is actually very profound leadership advice.

I found such a scene in the movie Saving Private Ryan while I was watching it the other day, for about the 10th time. In this scene, Captain Miller, played by Tom Hanks (who in my opinion is one of the best actors EVER) gives his troops a lesson in how good leaders react and respond to griping and how it should always flow up, never down.

*Private Reiben: "So Captain, what about you? I mean you don't gripe at all?"
Captain Miller: "I don't gripe to you Reiben. I'm a captain. There's a chain of command. Gripes go up, not down, always up. You gripe to me, I gripe to my superior officer, so on, so on and so on. I don't gripe to you. I don't gripe in front of you. You should know that, you’re a Ranger."
Private Reiben: "Well I'm sorry, sir, but let's say you weren't a Captain, or maybe I was a Major. What would you say then?"
Captain Miller: "In that case, I'd say this is an excellent mission, sir, with an extremely valuable objective, sir. Worthy of my best efforts, sir. Moreover, I feel heartfelt sorrow for the mother of Private James Ryan and am willing to lay down my life and the lives of my men, especially you, Reiben, to ease her suffering."
*Courtesy of The Internet Movie Database

Captain Miller is right on with this one. Leaders should never gripe about things down to their employees. Griping down can have a dramatic, negative effect on morale, job engagement, and perpetuating even more gossip than probably already exists. Good leaders should show support for “missions” in which they are asked to engage. Don’t get me wrong, it is all right to disagree with a task or job assignment, but those thoughts should only be expressed up to your leader, never, ever down to your constituents.

Enjoy more famous movie quotes at:
http://www.afi.com/tvevents/100years/quotes.aspx