Inspiration for me can be as simple as opening a book or watching a movie. My choices for inspiration this year lie outside the leadership genre, but nonetheless they provide lessons leaders can find illuminating.
The Great Halifax Explosion is a story of the triumph of the human spirit in the face of tragedy. Told convincingly and powerfully by my friend John U. Bacon, the book centers on the explosion in Halifax harbor caused by the collision of a munitions ship and a war-relief vessel. The disaster inflicted on the city reveals the horror of man-made weaponry off-set by the will of motivated individuals to provide assistance to those in harm’s way.
Love That Boy is Ron Fournier’s story of coming to terms with his son Tyler’s Asperger's syndrome. As a former White House correspondent, Fournier introduced Tyler, an avid history buff, to three presidents, including sit-down meetings with Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush. Tyler emerges from the pages of this memoir not as a kid “with something wrong with him,” but as a teen who knows himself and has much to teach us—as does his father.
Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics by Stephen Greenblatt looks to the Bard’s plays for insights into characters who have made all the wrong choices–Richard II, Macbeth, King Lear—to name but three. By focusing on a lack of leadership (as well as the “enablers” who support it), Greenblatt depicts the horrors of what can go wrong with people at the top have only themselves to preserve.
Big Fella: Babe Ruth and the World He Created is a panorama of America discovering itself through the lens of celebrity and public relations. Centered on the life of the Babe, Jane Leavy evokes the harshness of his childhood and his lifelong quest to escape it by living life large – on the diamond and off it. Newspapers were the social media of their times, and wow does Leavy mines them for nuggets that cast the Babe’s life in sharp relief.
Kindest Regards is a collection of poetry by Ted Kooser, a retired insurance executive, as well as poetry teacher and one-time Poet Laureate. Kooser reveals through his poems, typically very short, the rich depth of the human condition. Even when he writes of loss, there is comfort in his words.
And now for movies and television.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon) is a drawing room-style comedy made for television. Evoking as it does the world of 1950s New York life and style, it seems like a cross between a play written by Moss Hart and a film directed by Mike Nichols. The story revolves around Midge Maisel’s quest to succeed as a stand-up comedienne. Its humor evokes an earlier age, but it zings true today. It’s one of the few fictional stories that actually had me up out of my chair cheering!
More than a Manager (Netflix) is a documentary about the life of Bobby Robson, a legendary English football (soccer) manager who made his name in English football as a player and then transitioned to coaching. The “More than” phrases covers not only Bobby's resilience in overcoming adversity but also his ability got the most from his players and coaches by believing in them and trusting them to excel. And they did. The title also refers to his last great effort, off the pitch, of raising money for a cancer center in Newcastle, where he last coached.
Hostiles is the story of hatred and revenge played out against the end of the Indian Wars. A U.S. Army officer is ordered (actually compelled) to escort an ailing Cheyenne chief to his homeland. The chief and his tribe were responsible for the loss of some of the officer’s men in previous battles, and so the relationship between the two is well, “hostile.” How the two proud men come together is a lesson of forgiveness is as broad as its Western landscapes and as deep as the human heart.
The Looming Tower (Hulu) is mismanagement writ large against the greatest tragedy to hit the United States since Pearl Harbor—9/11. Based on the book by Lawrence Wright, the filmed adaptation is a tale of counter-terrorism gone haywire with FBI, CIA and NSA working independently (and sometimes at cross-purposes) in tracking Al Queda across the Middle East and Africa. The backstories of the characters involved make the greater drama more real and ultimately more heartfelt.
Can You Ever Forgive Me? tells the story of not very likable character, author Lee Israel. Melissa McCarthy plays Israel with a depth of understanding that is not afraid to show the character’s unlovable side, periodically leavening with humor to reveal a sad, solitary woman who preferred cats to people. But wow could Lee Israel write, especially when forging letters from famous celebrities.
My list is by no means comprehensive. Likely I could include a dozen more titles but adding more would not only add length, not depth. Read or watch as you like. And most of all, enjoy!
