Leadership Lessons from Avatar (the Movie)
Rarely does a leader in Corporate America find herself or himself in a more challenging situation than Jake Sully does on the planet Pandora. He's caught in an extremely intricate and complex situation with no easy answers, users manual, or blueprint to guide him. Yet he manages to unravel the predicaments facing him and successfully lead the Na'vi people he's come to love and belong to.
If Jake can do it, so can you. There are important leadership lessons in this movie. For those of you choosing to be possibility thinkers, ask yourself how the following ideas might work for you.
-
Have a Strong Heart
"Strong heart" indicates emotional courage. Neytiri states it explicitly when explaining why she spared Jake's life: "You have a strong heart, no fear."
Jake doesn't merely act fearlessly; he truly is unafraid, and thus free to be curious, open, and even innocent.
He is strong enough to be vulnerable, to put aside his ego and self-consciousness. He practices humility and is self-effacing. This enables him to employ a learn-as-you-go style, letting answers reveal themselves instead of relying only on predetermined agendas. He is strong enough to adopt beginner's mind—a quality that makes him open and available to learning. The clan's spiritual leader, the Tsahik, explains to Jake that the Na'vi have tried to teach the Sky People before, but "their cups were too full"; Jake replies that his cup is empty, meaning that he is receptive and willing to learn new things without preformed biases.
Jake is strong enough to come from a place of love (instead of fear). This is in stark contrast to the tactics used by the Colonel to motivate his people. While the Colonel epitomizes the command-and-control orientation to leadership, Jake's approach provides a refreshing and more powerful alternative.
This first lesson is an important prerequisite for the other lessons.
-
Learn How to See
This lesson is about paying attention and seeing more of what's going on. As the quote goes, "What's essential is invisible to the eye"... the untrained eye, that is. Often we are unable to see, recognize and understand subtle nuances and rhythms that are at work. Seeing these vague but powerful forces enables us to work more effectively with the interconnected and interdependent dimensions of life.
The Tsahik directs Neytiri to teach Jake how to see and walk like the Na'vi. This is no small task for Jake to learn. As Tsu'tey remarks during Jake's early training, "He can't see anything... he sees like a rock."
"Strong heart" is an important prerequisite for enabling us to see clearly. Without a strong heart our sight is limited to seeing only what fits our preexisting frame of reference.
-
Learn How to Walk
While similar to seeing in that both involve heightened awareness of the subtler aspects of reality, walking has to do with how we move through the world. It involves acting and expressing ourselves with gracefulness, poise, kindness and mindfulness.
Jake studies and learns the ways of the Na'vi, who value capacities such as bonding, balanced movement, agility and compassion. In progressing through his lessons with Neytiri, Jake transforms his original clumsiness into poise, nimbleness and steadiness.
It is after Neytiri sees Jake demonstrate his kindness, compassion and swiftness when killing a Yerik that she declares, "You are ready." During this scene we witness Jake embodying a new sense of presence—a new way of being—that becomes especially critical later in the movie. He walks with a strong clarity, deep authenticity, and incredible vitality. He exudes a sense of care and confidence that seems to emerge from deep within him.
-
Attune to Your Inner Voice
This might be thought of as a type of intuition, a source of wisdom and insight that surpasses our cognitive abilities. The vast majority of our intelligence is preconscious; only a fraction gets through the filters of our conceptual structures and becomes conscious. The rest stays hidden until we awaken to other types of intelligences—other ways of knowing—and learn how to hear their messages.
In various critical situations, Jake has to make decisions based on this inner knowing. For instance, in selecting his Ikran, using any other form of judgment would cost his life. Only by listening to his inner voice does he choose correctly and pair-up with the correct animal.
-
Understand the Existing Culture
This last lesson points to the importance of actively seeking to understand the history, lore, norms, and values that shape the current collective thinking. We become successful leaders only after understanding and appreciating the forces that underpin the group's current views and sense-making structures.
Engaging in this way honors and demonstrates respect for those we lead. Jake practices this frequently throughout the movie. In the beginning, his primary mission is to learn the ways of the Na'vi people. Rather than judging them as different and holding the ways of the humans as superior, Jake goes in with an open mind and an open heart. He goes in with a great thirst and learns everything he can to quench his curiosity.
This serves him well later, when the only strategy left for helping the Na'vi is for Jake to become Toruk Makto. Only because of his earlier efforts to understand their culture does Jake know that taming and riding Last Shadow is the best way to win the people's confidence and to revitalize their collective spirit.
In reading these lessons you have probably noticed their interrelatedness and interconnectedness. Each serves to make a leader stronger in learning and practicing the other lessons.
The movie's over; we're not in Pandora anymore, but the lessons learned there can help us all be better people and better leaders.