Chapter 1: Blockbuster Leadership: Teaching Leadership Using Film

Memorable words and images from the film Apollo 13 showing different facets of leadership that convey some crucial lessons in leadership during crisis are unlike any textbook on the subject. In Inc. magazine, Buchanan and Hofman (2000) reported the results of a survey of their readers about films and their impact on the readers’ professional lives. Films such as Norma Rae, Dead Poets Society, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Glengarry Glen Ross were among many others that readers identified as having taught them significant lessons in leadership. Films entertain but films can also teach. As Clemens and Wolff (1999) argue, good films teach significant truths about the human condition, revealing how people think and how they act, both of which are extremely important to the successful practice of leadership. Films can provide role models and referents for some of the abstract theories and concepts taught in leadership and management. Films also enable students to immerse themselves in a story and can be particularly effective at generating an awareness of how societal and organizational issues impact personal and work experiences (Roth, 2001). Using different film scenes serves to show how these concepts can be applied in real-life situations (Champoux, 1999). In sum, we agree with this recent statement: “Cinema’s ability to create a unique experience gives it unbeatable power as a teaching tool” (Champoux, 1999, p. 207).