Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Day 192: The Lego Movie - An Example of Leadership for Kids and Adults

My son and I like Legos - we like building stuff with Legos and we also very much enjoy playing the  Lego video games together.  A few weeks ago, we cuddled up on the couch and watched The Lego Movie and we had a great time as we both found that the movie was quite interactive.  While he was getting into acting out the scenes with the multitude of Lego characters that we had previously played with in our Lego games, I got into some cool perspectives that were shared in the story such as the consequences of accepting authority without question, the power of being free of preconceived ideas, how one does not have to be unique or special to make a difference, and how each of us can learn from each others individual strengths and weaknesses.  However, what made the Lego Movie a stand-out story for me was that it showed a great example of leadership.  Which, as a parent watching a kid's movie, was kind of like a 'halleluiah' moment because most movies for children begin with tragedy, continue on with relationships and conflict within the relationships and then end with some sort of happily ever after. 
This movie was fun and interesting.  The main character, Emmet, a normal Lego guy, teams up with a group of extraordinary builders and Lego game characters. My son and I got some laughs as we watched the brooding Batman character as he attempted to be all moody and dark and we had a 'WHOA! COOL!' moment when the Star Wars characters were integrated into a scene.  For sure, the movie creators didn't hold back on the character introduction and development - it was definitely an 'anything goes' kind of movie.
The Lego Movie Character Guide 570x294 The Lego Movie Complete Character Guide

So being a normal kind of Lego guy, Emmet, like many people in the world, wakes up every morning, does his morning routine, goes to work, does what he's told, tries make friends, goes home for dinner and works on projects in his free time. Emmet's self-proclaimed strong point is that he is awesome at following plans.  In one moment, Emmet's life changes from pattern and routine to awareness and purpose where he is told that he is 'The Special', the one, and an elite Master Builder - a part of a prophecy in which he will lead the way in freeing the Legos from the bad guy, Lord Business.
With this purpose, he comes together with a group of creative Master Builder Legos that refuse to follow plans and instead insist on expressing themselves in whatever way they like in any given moment.  When they find out that Emmet has no particular creative ideas and that he's only followed plans, the Master Builders no longer value Emmet or believe that he is 'The Special' and continue on with their random building and not getting anywhere.  This is where Emmet, who sees everyone's potential, including his own, puts together a plan that utilizes each Lego's ability and individual creative talent and then he uses common sense and practicality to show them how it could work and within this group effort, realize their objective of saving their existence.  Though there were mistakes along the way and things didn't go exactly as planned, they pushed forward until eventually coming to an agreement with Lord Business and thus ending the conflict.
The Last Supper in Lego (picture courtesy of www.thebricktestament.com)To me, this was a really cool example of leadership that aligns with how we're becoming leaders within the Desteni I Process where leadership is no longer a position of authoritative power over others and instead a creative process of seeing and utilizing our individual potential, learning from each other, challenging each other, looking at innovative ways of doing things, and seeing plans through within our collective agreement of principles and purpose.








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