I have always loved the classic Universal monster movies from the 1930s. I am exploring one movie each week to mine it for leadership and compliance lessons this month. For this first entry in this short series on Popcorn and Compliance, I look at the original 1931 version of Mary Shelley’s seminal work, Frankenstein, which starred Boris Karloff as the Monster. Karloff embued the Monster with great pathos, but in this podcast, I want to consider the leadership lessons of Dr. Victor Frankenstein or the lack of leadership by the good doctor, which led to the deaths of a small child, his brother, and the rape of his wife-to-be on her wedding day. Of course, it also led to the unleashing of his Monster, technically called Frankenstein’s Monster, upon the movie-going world for years to come.
Tag: Leadership
Richard Lummis and Tom Fox are back to continue our series of exploring leadership through the study of US Presidents. This episode begins a short series on Gilded Age Presidents, now largely forgotten. In this episode we take up James Garfield.Some of the highlights include:
- Educational and Professional Background.
- History as Radical Republican.
- Crédit Mobilier scandal of 1872.
- Nomination and Election of 1880.
- Presidency including the Tariff, Purging the Post Office, Supreme Court Nominations, Proposal for universal education and Assassination.
- Leadership Issues including the importance of strong ethics, a strong believer in education and Goldbug-a man for his times?
Richard Lummis and Tom Fox continue exploring leadership through the study of US Presidents. This episode begins a short series on Gilded Age Presidents, now largely forgotten. In this episode, we take up Chester A. Arthur. Some of the highlights include:
- Educational and Professional Background of Chester A. Arthur.
- His time as a New York politician, including work in the Conkling Political Machine and as Head of Customs House and conflict with President Hays.
- His Stalwart Candidacy as Vice President.
- His election and short tenure as VP.
- Leadership issues from his Presidency, including the confusion on how to take office, his enactment of Civil Service reform, his work on the surplus budget and the tariff, immigration issues, and Civil Rights in the South.Leadership Issues, including (a) What are your expectations? (b) How much does a leader’s health matter? (c) Arthur adopted a code for his political behavior but was subjected to three restraints: he remained to everyone a man of his word; he kept scrupulously free from corrupt graft; he maintained a personal dignity, affable and genial though he might be.
In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:
- Kraken CEO, who attacked his employees, steps down. (NYT)
- Citigroup offers a work-life balance at half pay. (FT)
- Canadian company faces corruption charges under CFPOA. (RCMP Press Release)
- Disgraced Suns owner to sell the team. (Bloomberg)
Richard Lummis and Tom Fox continue our series of exploring leadership through the study of US Presidents. This episode begins a short series on Gilded Age Presidents, now largely forgotten. In this episode, we take up Chester A. Arthur. Some of the highlights include:
- Educational and Professional Background of Chester A. Arthur.
- His time as a New York politician, including work in the Conkling Political Machine and as Head of Customs House and conflict with President Hays.
- His Stalwart Candidacy as Vice President.
- His election and short tenure as VP.
- Leadership issues from his Presidency, including the confusion on how to take office, his enactment of Civil Service reform, his work on the surplus budget and the tariff, immigration issues, and Civil Rights in the South.Leadership Issues, including (a) What are your expectations? (b) How much does a leader’s health matter? (c) Arthur adopted a code for his political behavior but was subjected to three restraints: he remained to everyone a man of his word; he kept scrupulously free from corrupt graft; he maintained a personal dignity, affable and genial though he might be.
Richard Lummis and Tom Fox are back with another review of an Oscar-winning Best Picture movie with an eye towards the leadership lessons that might be drawn from them. It is a great way to honor the Oscars, rewatch some great old movies and garner some interesting perspectives on leadership. We continue that tradition as we are back with more leadership lessons from Oscar-winning Best Picture movies and today’s offering is the 1981 film Chariots of Fire.
We continue our look at Oscar-winning Best Pictures and consider the leadership lessons we can glean from our viewing. In this episode, Richard Lummis and I take at the 1987 Best Picture winning film, The Last Emperor. Some of the highlights were: This was the first movie shot in the Forbidden City; How does one lead in an era or region of different values and different cultures? Are the trappings of your power as a business leader only that, mere trappings? If so what does this mean? How does your company do business outside the US? and Why does even the best leader sometimes need to bring in an outside expert to assist?
In this episode of Popcorn and Compliance, Richard Lummis and Tom Fox take at the 2007 Best Picture-winning film, No Country for Old Men. Some of the highlights were: (1) One of the key themes of the movie is the tension between destiny and self-determination; (2) What have been the changes in law enforcement in the former wild west? (3) What does enforcing laws on the former frontier mean? (4) Crime has changed and become more sophisticated. The regulator and enforcers must also change, and (5) What happens when a hero or business leader grows old?
Richard Lummis and I are back with more business leadership lessons from American Presidents. In this episode, we look at leadership lessons from William Howard Taft, the 27th President, who had the misfortune to follow one of America’s greatest and most popular Presidents, Theodore Roosevelt. Taft was a mountain of a man, weighing over 300 lbs. He is also the only President to become Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court after he left the office of the Presidency. Highlights of this podcast include:
- Background of Taft.
- Education and early professional life in Ohio.
- Move to Washington, the role of Nellie and work in the Philippines.
- Work in the Roosevelt Administration.
- Presidential Term.
- 1912 Presidential election.
- Final thoughts on leadership lessons.
Resources
- National Park Service article on his home and upbringing.
- Taft as good-hearted
- Taft, TR and the Bully Pulpit-Forbes
