Certain movies leave a mark and a learning lesson for the community. The lesson can be on the path of leadership, self prophecy, personal development or rather team development. I would like to share a few movies that really have been a boon for the trainers and managers who should use these movies as a training tool for their company employees.

The films that can be used as effective training tools are :-

Abilene Paradox - Not really a movie (business film), but a classic in teaching "groupthink".

Amistad - The power of storytelling and influence against impossible odds (recommended by Annette Simmons).

Apollo 13 - Examples of leadership, teamwork, innovation, mission, passion, courage...

Breakfast Club - Abandoning prejudices. The movie deals with such fundamentals as the human tendency toward bias and hurting the weak.

The Bridge On the River Kwai - Leadership and corporate mission (Doing Things Right verses Doing the Right Things).

Fantasia - Background themes for creative thinking. Also Big, with Tom Hanks, shows creativity in action.

Fish - Again, not really a movie (business film), but a story about the famed Seattle Pike Place Market's Flying Fish and a passion for the work they do - attitude, morale, creativity.

Gettysburg - General Lee providing some feedback to one of his direct reports.

Glengarry Glen Ross - coworkers competing against each other in a hostile environment.
Gung Ho - The meshing of two cultures collide.

The Joy Luck Club - Diversity.

The Red Balloon (Le Ballon Rouge) - Exploring ourselves through the perspective of a child. Also, imagination.

Saving Private Ryan or The Big Red One - leading under trying conditions (opening scenes).

Thelma and Louise - Cultural examination regarding the status of women (diversity).

12 Angry Men - developmental stages of groups, diversity in groups, leadership, groups vs. teams.

The Wizard of Oz - Dorothy shows leadership as she takes a guy with no brains, one with no heart and one with no courage and melds them into an effective team that successfully accomplishes its mission. The team succeeds only after they stop blaming others for their problems, and start taking responsibility for their own destinies.

Movies to Manage by: Lessons in Leadership from Great Films
by John K. Clemens & Melora Wolff - A book on how to use movies in training. Discusses the following movies:

"Following Your Hunch" (The Hunt for Red October)
The Importance of Improvisation (Apollo 13)
The Failed Promise of Heroic Leadership (Dead Poets Society)
Turning Around a Faltering Team (Hoosiers)
Socratic Leadership (12 Angry Men)
Turning Around a Troubled Organization (Twelve O'Clock High)
When Leadership Fails (Citizen Kane)
Morality and Leadership (Wall Street)

The trainers are ought to benefit from these learnings, hope they use it as their imparting sessions too.

Warm Regards,

Abhi

Some more movies to add to the learned list..

1. Ek Ruka Hua Faisla (Listening & art of asking questions + exhibition of assertive behaviour)
2. On a given sunday (Team building)
3. Karate Kid -II (Situational Leadership)
4. Men of Honor (Determination & fire in the belly)
5. Mulan ( Value system)

Srini

Hi friends,

This is the list of Movies which we used for our training.

Indian:

- Iqbal.
- Legend of Bhagat Singh
- Some Cliping of LOC Kargil.
- Some Cliping of Major Saab.
- Mangal pandey the rising.

English:

- Rocky Series.
- Behind Enemy Lines.
- Lost world.
- Airforce One.
- Gladiator
- Blown Away

Any more to add from your shelf ?

Regards,

Sid

Dear Colleagues,

I thought I'd chip in with some of them that have made an impact when I watched them..

Dead Poets Society (1989) Starring Robin Williams – it show you how to stand one's ground no matter how hard it may be.

One special professor, Robin Williams, as Professor Keating, teaches a class full of young gentlemen that going against the status quo may be the way to fulfillment. Each student decides to start making their own decisions instead of doing what's expected and it changes their lives forever. Some in a not so good way but they learn the important
lesson is to live their own life. Todd, an extremely shy young man living in the shadow of his very successful older brother; Neil, an exceedingly bright student, decides to follow his passion and join the theater, against the wishes of his overbearing father. The movie is filled with a wonderful cast of superb actors to create a moving and thought provoking film.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994) - illustrates the unbendable human spirit. Starring - Tim Robbins / Morgan Freeman

Tim Robbins plays Andy Dufrane a simple man; a banker, a husband, and a man of spirits and hopes. Wrongly covicted of killing his own wife he is sentenced to a long term of imprisonment in Shawshank prison. When he first arrives on day one at the prison, the inmates are betting on who will crack first among the "fresh meat" to arrive at the prison The Shawshank Redemption illustrates the unbendable human spirit. Even a wrongful imprisonment, a corrupt warden and enemies within Shawshank can not get the best of Andy Dufrane or any man as long as hope never dies.

Cast Away (2000) - At the edge of the world, his journey begins. Starring Tom Hanks..

Hanks stars as Chuck Noland, a FedEx systems engineer whose personal and professional life are ruled by the clock. His fast-paced career takes him, often at a moment's notice, to far-flung locales - and away from his girlfriend Kelly, played by Helen Hunt. Chuck's manic existence abruptly ends when, after a plane crash, he becomes isolated on a remote island - cast away into the most desolate environment imaginable. Stripped of the conveniences of everyday life, he first must meet the basic needs of survival, including water, food and shelter. Chuck, the consummate problem solver, eventually figures out how to sustain himself physically. But then what? Chuck begins his true personal journey. After four years, fate gives Chuck a chance to fight his way back to civilization, only to find an unexpected emotional challenge greater than all the earlier physical ones. His ability to persevere and to hope are a product of his life-changing experience.

Regards,

donna