WonderTour

In WonderTour Episodes 1-99 we explored so many fictional worlds and incredible leaders.  Its time for Brian, Derrick, and Drew to rank their Top 10 most magnanimous leaders that demonstrate what it looks like to lead well for the good of others.TOP TENPersonal Selections (10-8):Brian:  The Ancient One - Doctor StrangeDrew:  Saito - InceptionDerrick:  Michael Scott?!?! - The Office7. Andy Dufresne - The Shawshank Redemption6. Obi-Wan Kenobi - Star Wars5. Morpheus - The Matrix4. Belle - Beauty and the Beast3. Dom Toretto - Fast & Furious2. Cooper and Murph - Interstellar1. Gandalf - Lord of the Rings

In WonderTour Episodes 1-99 we explored so many fictional worlds and incredible leaders.  Its time for Brian, Derrick, and Drew to rank their Top 10 most magnanimous leaders that demonstrate what it looks like to lead well for the good of others.TOP TENPersonal Selections (10-8):Brian:  The Ancient One - Doctor StrangeDrew:  Saito - InceptionDerrick:  Michael Scott?!?! - The Office 7. Andy Dufresne - The Shawshank Redemption6. Obi-Wan Kenobi - Star Wars

Do you ever feel discouraged from running up against the same problems in the world over and over again with seeing much success in finding a solution?  We see our favorite movie characters overcoming immense challenges to leave a lasting impact on the world, and yet, its easy to believe that only happens in the movies.  If you are feeling inspired to break through systematic constraints to unlock a new state of flourishing in the world, then it might be time for a Limit-Break!In other words, how might we break through from our current state of dissatisfaction to a new state of freedom and flourishing, and in doing so multiply love, wisdom, integrity, compassion, etc. in the world around us?

We all run up against what feel like impossible to break through constraints; systems that we live in or work in that stir up dissatisfaction or are downright oppressive.  We generally hear people say things like, "this will never change".  As Wonderers, we believe that these constraints can indeed be broken and that we can take actions towards that end.  In all of our favorite stories, from Avengers to Beauty and the Beast to Fast and Furious, we see examples of leaders creating expectation subverting moments, and in doing so, introducing a transformative change to the mindsets and systems around them.Join Brian and Drew this week to ponder and learn.What is a Script Flip and why should I learn how to do it?How do I know if a situation even calls for a Script Flip?How do I execute a successful Script Flip?

In our first episode of our WonderTour 100 celebration Derrick, and Drew synthesize learnings from stories like Beauty and the Beast (see ep 67) and Fast & Furious (see ep 64) to develop a recipe for how to set off on a journey that can leave a legacy.  The world is a large place and it might seem like the systems are so rigid that even a magnanimous leader can hardly have an impact.  And yet, history and our favorite stories tell us that despite the inertia, transformation can be achieved and lives can be touched.  If we desire to change the world, then, as with all good journeys, we must start from the first chapter.  When we set out, we tend to either find ourselves longing for a mission that could change our situation and the world around us or else simply thrust into a leadership role where we are challenged to bring about change but feel ill-equipped to do so.  Either way, we can use the following recipe that is unpacked on the show to break out of our "small world" and make a lasting impact!How to Change a Big World Recipe:Prepare for the journey and break out into the "Big World"Run experiments to gain information about the "Big World"Make a game plan to engage the "Big World" on your own termsFlip the script

At points in each of our lives we have our own dark nights where we feel trapped in the proverbial pit without the ability to escape.  In The Dark Knight Rises, each of the characters must climb from the physical, mental, and spiritual pits they find themselves in starting with Bruce.  Alfred, as the magnanimous mentor, leads by example.  Alfred makes a personal sacrifice (his relationship with Bruce) in order to help Bruce's façade of hope give way to something real.  Along the way Alfred and Bruce teach us that to climb out of the pit we must let the truth have its day, let go of the past, and make the climb without the rope (let go of the safety net).

As much as we would all love to be Aragorn, Legolas, or Gandalf in LOTR, if we are being honest with ourselves, we are probably more like Bilbo.  We love to find a comfortable spot and make a life for ourselves in it for as long as the world will allow.  Enter the Unexpected Journey.  Like Bilbo, we all need a journey to draw us into the discomfort that's required for growth.Even then, starting out on a journey does not immediately give us a strong hope and belief.  We can get a dose of hope through a Gandalf-like mentor but that will only carry us to our first real conflict in the world outside our hobbit hole.  How might we embrace the discomfort of the journey, taking advantage of each encounter with trolls or goblins to develop a deep sense of hope and belief?

We all wish we could lead like Gandalf, but how could we ever become that magnanimous and how do we contribute to a better world when there aren't orcs and dragons to fight?  Gandalf's style of servant leadership is perfectly encapsulated in this quote, "Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. It is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love. Why Bilbo Baggins? Perhaps because I am afraid, and he gives me courage".Join Brian and Drew as we unpack the mindsets and tactics that Gandalf deploys to become better leaders for the good of others.

Regardless of who you are, we at WonderTour believe that you are a leader.  Whether you run your own business, lead a team of problem solvers, serve as mother or father to a family, or are just growing up with big aspirations of making an impact in the world.  One of the reasons we need everyone to be leaders is because change is inevitable and good leadership is required to navigate the waters of uncertainty and come out better on the other side.  In The Nightmare Before Christmas, Jack Skellington attempts to instigate a monumental shift in his culture from celebrating Halloween to celebrating Christmas, but its Sally, not Jack, who humbly navigates the murky water of change.  Sally embodies a true servant leader as she simultaneously supports Jack and the celebration of Christmas, while trying to steer the team towards a growth mindset that acknowledges that don't actually know much about Christmas.  How might we learn from Sally how to navigate change in our lives and businesses?

Whether its a stagnant job or a repetitive personal life, we can find ourselves lacking joy and hope, trapped in a closed loop without meaningful disruptions.  Like Jack Skellington in A Nightmare Before Christmas, we could be the Pumpkin King of Halloween but without hope for the future, it all feels empty.  We want to take the reigns and run out of our own closed loop Halloweentown, looking for something bright and shiny that brings us joy again, but that proposition can be scary.  Will others follow?  Will I end up leading them astray?Taking the initiative to bring Christmas to Halloweentown can feel overwhelming with a high risk of failure, but if we follow the lessons from Jack and Sally we too can facilitate transformation in our lives and workplaces that brings joy to those around us.

In part 1 of Casablanca we worked out how to identify a Casablanca, aka a closed loop insulated environment where hope goes to die.  In part 2 we look to the examples of magnanimous leaders to see how they engineer an escape from Casablanca and in doing so break the closed loop for the good of those around them. When we find ourselves in a Casablanca-esque downward spiral of hope in our lives, it can seem impossible to reverse, yet through the examples of Victor, Ilsa, and even Rick, we can come to understand that sacrifice is the key to breaking free and resurrecting hope.  Sacrifice, if done magnanimously, like Victor offering up his own life for Ilsa's, creates a selfless chain reaction of hope, igniting the hope in each individual and compounding in scale to bring even the most evil system to its knees.

You don't have to look much further than your immediate group of friends or acquaintances each day to find people who are lacking in hope, without a cause to believe in.  In Casablanca, we find a microcosm of humanity, a battle for hope.  Just because we aren't in WWII, like the characters in Casablanca, doesn't mean that there isn't a palpable lack of hope in the air.  It could be your department at work, your extended family, or even you yourself that are perpetuating a proverbial Casablanca environment where hope is throttled through something like an exit visa process that most are unable or unwilling to break out of.  But how do we break out of that space where hope is teetering on the edge of a knife?  In part 1 we will look no further than Rick Blaine as an example of how we can identify when we are trapped in Casablanca and how to break out of the Casablanca mindset.

As we transition into a new series called "Hope and Belief" we return to a beloved franchise and character to guide our learning.  When we first find Rey she is capable and intelligent, but she is trapped in the past.   She's holding onto a feint hope that her parents will one day return to Jakku with little to believe in.  And don't we all find ourselves stuck in the past at points in our lives.  If we are to be magnanimous we must, like Rey, rise up, turning our heads and our hearts to the present and the future.  Opening our small worlds up into a wide universe where we can make a lasting impact for the good of others.  But that's a lot easier said than done.  To break out of our past and to bring hope to the world means we need a special kind of map, which we are calling an "invisible map" (in Rey's case, the force).  Each of us has access to this invisible map to guide us when our eyes reach the end of what they can see, we just have to know how to read it.

Do you ever get tired of trying, tired of not achieving expectations, and tempted to give up and away from your problems?  People and expectations can be tough to deal with and even Jedi Master Luke Skywalker gives into those feelings, running away to a hidden island to escape his past and the pain it brings.  And yet, he hides a map so that others might find him.  In our finale to the Map Making series, we pull apart Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens and seek to understand why we as humans might recede away from our problems, but tend to leave a map to the island we are hiding on. Spoilers: deep down we want to be found.  

Whether we find ourselves just starting out in a new role, as new parents, or on another journey, the scope of the world that we understand is never enough for our liking.  Like Belle reading her books, we are always dreaming of understanding the world better and making an impact on it.  But what if we aren't just like Belle, we are also like Beast and Gaston?Beast comes from influence and control, but he's trapped in a small world, searching for a way to break out through his own abilities.  Through Belle's magnanimous character, she teaches Beast that the way to break out of a small world isn't just ravenously consuming information, but by doing something unexpected, by shocking the system.  What techniques can we use so that we, like Belle, might set off a chain reaction of transformation in the world around us?

One of the reasons we love Beauty and the Beast is because we can relate to Belle.  We all want to be a part of something bigger than "this provincial life".  Like most of us, Belle yearns for an adventure that makes her life meaningful.  While Belle wouldn't call herself a leader when we find her early in the story, she practices magnanimous character within the small world she lives in.  By curating her character when the stakes are small, she is able to pass the test and break the curse when the stakes scale up, unlocking life to the full for those she leads and cares for. How might we be fully satisfied when our influence is smaller than we would like, patiently waiting for our chance to leave a legacy?

Salute mi Familia - the most recognizable line in the Fast and Furious franchise.  We all want to be part of the familia that Dom Toretto is building when we watch these movies, but how do we create those types of teams and moments in real life?Despite his calloused exterior and checkered past, Dom Toretto is one of the most magnanimous leaders we've seen on WonderTour, a true Gandalf-type.  Dom's leadership superpower that boosts his teams to greater heights is his emotional integration.  Dom isn't afraid to show his own emotions and he's always studying the hearts of his team members to make sure they are ready for the challenges they're about to face.  Dom leads with mercy over sacrifice, enfranchising even his antagonists, like Hobbs, through his empathy and compassion. 

Just like in Fast Five when Dom, Brian, and the team are trapped in Rio and on the run from both Hobbs and Reyes, it can sometimes feel like our lives are out of our control.  Someone else makes the map and we just have to stay within their lines.  But as magnanimous leaders, we believe that the current map of reality isn't all there is to the story.  When our known maps seem incompatible with our objectives, it's time to flip the map upside-down.  Flipping the Map allows us to 1) gain information about the other parties in the story and 2) re-write the map for all the players in the game.  The Fast Five team shows in a number of examples, like when they burn Reyes' money rather than stealing it, that flipping the map provides the disadvantaged team a chance to overcome unbeatable odds.

When we enter a new ecosystem, like Pandora, with new rules, players, functions, etc. It can be a rude awakening that our maps of reality are utterly insufficient to navigate this new terrain.  Un-writing maps of reality can be a painful and energy-intensive process, just ask Jake or Trudy.  Both come to Pandora with a hunan-centric view of the universe and struggle to accept what they see and what the Na'vi are trying to tell them about the world around them, because their maps are already too fixed, their cups are already full. Over the course of our leadership journeys we must get from a mindset of "look what I can teach you" to "I see you".  How might we learn from Jake, Trudy, and the Na'vi how to re-align our mental maps to reality so that we can love other well?

When Jake Sully reaches Pandora in Avatar, he comes pre-loafed with a series of mental maps that he uses to navigate reality: his maps of reality.  Jake's maps include all kinds of useful tools that he's learned on earth from how to navigate the world without the use of his legs to how to respond to combat situations.  We all have our own maps of reality that we use to navigate and become reliant on, but we're all flawed, so what happens when those models prove ineffective in a new situation?  When Jake is failing to adapt his earthly maps of reality to Pandora, Neytiri tells Jake, "It's hard to fill a cup that's already full".  Doesn't it fill like each of our cups gets too full to take on new information sometimes?  Too full to have empathy for someone who sees the world from a different perspective?  As leaders, we want to ensure our mental maps correspond to reality as much as possible, so how might we learn from Jake how to un-write and re-write those maps for the good of others?

Like Indiana Jones at the end of The Last Crusade, we all want to be the type of hero that can pass the trials when they inevitably come and save the day.  But Indy can't pass those tests without his father Henry's wisdom and we as magnanimous leaders we know that it's not about us, it's about others.  So how might we equip our team to pass the trials when it's hard to know when the trials will come or what trials we might face?  To navigate that sort of uncertainty and challenge requires both generalist and specialist skill sets working in unison.  To get to the Holy Grail we need to be able to integrate generalist skills like Indy's ability to adapt to change or fight his way out of a crowded room with specialist skills like Henry's knowledge of ancient civilizations and texts.  Only then can the team pass the trials and accomplish the mission, becoming a bit more magnanimous along the way.

It's time to begin a new series on WonderTour.  This time we are talking about Map-making and what better place to start than Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Navigating a complicated world takes all kinds of skills but one of the most under-rated is Map-making.  While few maps are 100% accurate, many are useful.  There are a plethora of different types of maps that we can make and use depending on the type of situation we find ourselves in, but one thing is clear, without a map it's hard to progress the story.  In The Last Crusade, Indy only has literally half of a map and has to navigate to the fabled Holy Grail and doesn't this feel like the type of uncertainty we experience every single day.  Join us as we follow Indy and his father on an adventure and learn how we too can navigate without half a map. (Brian Nutwell steps in to fill Derrick's seat today)

It's hard enough to have Compassion on our peers, but how do we have Compassion on those above us and below us in the organization chart? All too often we hear blaming and conjecturing but rarely, for example, does an executive take action and have Compassion on the grassroots or does a citizen have compassion on their public servants.  To put it in Stranger Things terms, it takes a lot of energy to create a gate between the layers of an organization and most often, people aren't willing to put that much energy in.  By looking at how in Stranger Things S1E5 the children work together with their teacher, Mr. Clarke, we can start to see how we, as magnanimous leaders, can become the flea to the acrobat, able to collaborate between the layers and create gates so that others can traverse the dimensions of the organization as well.

We would all probably say that we want to be compassionate people.  But what do you do when you don't agree with the person you are trying to have compassion on? In Stranger Things S1E5, the Flea and the Acrobat, the children learn a lesson in compassion as they search for the Hawkins Lab.  El manipulates the compass to try to keep them safe but Lucas uncovers her secret and and calls her out causing a fight.  Having compassion on each other breaks through the personal conflicts and allows the team to eventually save Will and accomplish their mission. W/ Brian Nutwell

Energy management is one of the most challenging parts of being a functioning member of the world, much less a magnanimous leader.  When the weight of the world feels too heavy to bear it can seem like the only reasonable option is to, like Obi-Wan, close ourselves off from those who need us most.  Our energy stores get diminished and the return-on-investment of compassion makes it hard to justify.  That's where the upside-down magic of compassion flips the script on energy drain.  By giving up our time and energy to those who can offer us nothing in return we make way for growth in others and in ourselves.  

While our world might not seem as dark as a galaxy under the veil of the evil empire, like Obi-Wan Kenobi closing himself off from the force it can sometimes feel like the smart decisions is just to stay quiet and conserve energy instead of putting ourselves out there for the good of others.  While we may be sure of our mission to become better leaders for the good of others, protecting the long term good of those we care about can seem at odds with loving them in the short term.  How might we navigate the intersection between compassion and wisdom when the lines get blurry and hard to parse?

In the MCU oftentimes what we remember most about our favorite heroes is their overcoming moment or how they vanquished the bad guy in the final fight.  Yet, in our daily lives we rarely come across events of that magnitude. So how can we still be leaders like Thor in our daily struggles?Thor Ragnarok turns the superhero genre on its head, providing a character-driven buddy cop story where the heroes learn more from getting beat up than they do from winning.  Odin's advice that Thor is the "god of thunder" not the "god of hammers" can only be realized once Hela crushes Thor's hammer and leaves him in a vulnerable state.  Thor must become less so that he may finally learn that being a leader is about having compassion for his people, not defending his image.w/ Brian Nutwell

Choosing to act compassionately can feel like it drains our energy levels.  On top of that the world is full of people in need and our time and resources our finite so how could we be compassionate to everyone all the time?  Like many of us, Thor has some complicated relationships to work through, namely his brother Loki.  Thor's love for his brother is clear but sometimes his actions feel like they're enabling Loki.  How might we, like Thor, find the balance of compassion and wisdom that empower those we care about to become the best they can be.