“Naaaaaaaaants ingonyama bagithi Baba!!” – The Lion King

You’re probably thinking with the Lion King I’m going to go with the predictable quote of the wise Rafiki, “Oh yes, the past can hurt. But, you can either run from it or, learn from it.”

Nah that’s too easy; instead we are going to take a look at the mad leadership skills of the villain of the story, Scar. So lets momentarily take out the fact that he killed his brother, scared off a sweet little baby lion Simba, voiced by JTT, (if you are of my age group you will get that), and led a bunch of hyenas to the pride lands to take over and essentially run it into the ground. With that aside,  how was he as a leader?  

Well, bad. Scar led from fear-based tactics. Did the hyenas listen? Yup. Did the lionesses listen? Yea, they did too. But when push came to shove was he a leader that inspired loyalty? Or really anything for that matter except for greed and an “every man for himself” attitude? Nope, and at first chance of something better, they turned on him. All of them.

How does this apply to leadership? Simple. Fear-based leadership creates fear-based followers – not more leaders. We have all had that boss, “if you want to keep your job you will….” well, what happened? You left at the first opportunity.  A leader is one that steps up and creates a mutual willingness for the company to succeed rather than pressuring people to make sure that THEY succeed.

So let’s look at Mufasa and how he begins to teach his son, right from a young age, about how everyone on the pride lands has a purpose – in the great circle of life.  Insert beginning Zulu chant from the beginning of the song here “Naaaaaaaaants ingonyama bagithi Baba!!” (yes, those are the actual lyrics).  By showing that everyone has a purpose, there is respect shown for all members.  Sure, in an office we don’t eat some people, and we don’t die and become the grass that they eat, but they still have a purpose. That type of leadership shows appreciation at all levels of the “food chain.”  If you don’t believe me that everyone is essential from the custodial people to the VP, try going without the custodial for awhile. See my point?