Finding Leadership in Star Wars (Original Trilogy)

Finding Leadership in Star Wars (Original Trilogy)

by | Oct 7, 2020 | Finding Leadership Series, Leadership

Never tell me the odds!
-Han Solo

The Star Wars Saga is my favorite set of movies. I would lose a whole day during summer break watching all three of the original movies back to back and often played Star Wars in the backyard and the forests surrounding our house. You don’t have to be a huge Star Wars fan to understand and appreciate the leadership lessons that it provides. 

A story of true personal development 


Luke starts out as a naive and enthusiastic kid in the first movie. By the second movie, he has matured some but now carries a sense of overconfidence which costs him dearly in the end. As we meet Luke in the last movie, he is totally different from the first film. He’s now grounded, confident, but not cocky, and begins to show his wisdom. It’s a great reminder that we should always be looking to grow ourselves.

How have you changed in the last year? What are you working on to master or upgrade your skills and talent? What are you a Jedi in and what are you Apprentice at? 

A story of friends and teamwork


The victories had by the rebels would have not have been possible had they not looked out for and taken care of each other. The power of teamwork certainly shows in these movies. Without it, all of the rebels would have been killed in each movie. The Death Star wins. The movie ends after Hoth. The Death Star wins again.  It’s a very motivational story of odds that can be overcome with a small dedicated team focusing on a common goal. 

Your success and business lives and dies by the strength of your team. Take time to take care of them. Look out for them when they journey off on their own and fall into trouble. Don’t write people off. Give them the support and direction they need to be successful. Be willing to sacrifice important things for the betterment of the team. 

Be willing to ask for help


We sometimes let our lack of awareness of our skillset, overconfidence, and/or ego get in the way of asking for help.  The old jokes about men’s willingness to continue making mistakes before asking for directions or reading the instructions are funny because they are often true. The main characters thankfully do not have this same character hangup and it often saved them as a result. 

Leia- Sent the droids to Obi-Wan to ask for help in the rebellion. She’s a princess and a general but knows when she needs assistance. 

Luke- Asked Obi-Wan to train him. He reached out to Leia to help him after losing his battle with Darth Vader. He went to Yoda twice looking for help in growing his skills as a Jedi. 

Han- Even the headstrong and cocky space smuggler asked for help. He asked for help when blinded from being frozen and reached out to the cute Ewoks to help take down the mighty Empire. 

Let go of the things that keep you from reaching out for help from others. I’ve seen it set back and destroy careers because a person never asked for help and then continued to dig themselves further into trouble. No one thinks less of you if you need a hand. We all do from time to time. 

Do or do not. There is no try. 


Sometimes people want to know every little detail before they make a decision and then beat themselves up with second-guessing after they do. Learn as much as you can to minimize risk in a reasonable amount of time. Then make the choice to do something. Something is always going to be going on at work and in life and there is no perfect time to put your plan into place. 

Destroying both Death Stars, the group getting saved at Cloud City, and escaping from Hoth all came from last-minute decisions that were put into action. The group would not have survived any of those encounters otherwise. 

Be brave and bold in your decision-making. Rally your team and work towards the agreed-upon destination. 

Take care of your friends and teammates. Invest in yourself, let go of ego and become decisive. Once you harness that power, never let someone tell you the odds. 

Make a better tomorrow. 
-ZH

Finding leadership in food

Finding leadership in food

by | Apr 4, 2018 | Favorites, Finding Leadership Series, Leadership

No one is born a great cook. One learns by doing.
-Julia Child

Finding that great local spot is an adventure that I enjoy during all of my travels. A national chain is good for consistency, but a quality local place really puts its heart into its food and experience to create a memorable time for its guests. I will take a local dive over a national chain any day. It’s not easy for that local chef. They have to create the magic by having the right amount of ingredients, cooking time, and preparation. Let’s see what we can learn about leadership from food.

You have to have the right ingredients.


I’m often amazed when I see recipes that call for very small amounts of an ingredient or an off-the-wall ingredient. How many times did the creator tweak the recipe until they found the right balance to make the perfect meal item? Likely dozens to over a hundred times. They didn’t give up until they found exactly what they were looking for.

Think of your team as the ingredients for a perfect meal. (Not that you are going to eat them!) Each of them brings their own flavor or style to the group, but none can complete the recipe on their own. You are likely going to need a techie kind of person, someone with creativity, someone with empathy, someone with strong business knowledge, a future thinker, and a strategist just to name a few. No one could fill all of those roles, and if they could there would still be too much work for the one person to complete.  Think about your team today. Are you missing any ingredients to make that magic happen? Identify what those things are and then make a concentrated effort to add people with those traits to your team. It could be talent-based or diversity/perspective-based.

You have to prepare the ingredients.


You can’t just throw in a bunch of unprepared food together and expect anything edible to come out as the outcome. An unprepared and untrained team can expect to achieve the same results; a hot mess that will go in the garbage. Ensure that your people are well prepared for what’s ahead of them. They need the right amount of communication, training, and investment in order to be effective. When cooks show up for their shift, the chef will often tell them what the special is for the day, what they are running low on, and what other tasks they need to complete during their time in the kitchen. You would hate to receive your meal without a key ingredient because the cook forgot or ran out of an item. Make sure your team has everything that they need to be effective, otherwise expect to get mediocre results.

You have to cook the ingredients.


When I was in college, I cooked everything fast. Why wait when you could crank up the heat and get it done faster? I eventually learned my lesson after eating dry and bland food all of the time. You can’t treat all food the same if you expect an excellent meal. In the same way, you cannot develop your team at the same speed. Some are going to need a low and slow approach. Some will thrive under a little pressure and heat every now and then. Be mindful of your tactics when developing and pushing your team for growth. The same pressure that you apply to one person for growth can very well push someone else out the door. Change and adapt your style and tactics so that each person can be successful.

You are the chef of the kitchen no matter the size of your team. Continue to learn and grow until you perfect the right recipe for that perfect team.

Make a better tomorrow.

-ZH