I’ve just come back from a holiday in Spain and Morocco. Lots of new adventures, some down time and, as always, time to reflect on the leadership lessons all around us.
I’ve always loved the movie Casablanca.
For many reasons. Humphrey Bogart looked just like my dad. I thought Ingrid Bergman was the most beautiful actress in all of Hollywood. And I just love the movie. Its characters, its plot and that underlying message of a higher purpose.
So you can imagine how ecstatic I was when we arrived for our last few days in Morocco at Richard Branson’s Kasbah Tamadot in the Atlas Mountains, only to find that the evening’s movie screening, in his outdoor cinema, was Casablanca. Incredible.
And what a characteristic Branson touch. The film centres on Rick’s Café Américain, and as it turns out, Branson’s parents used to call him “Ric” or “Ricky” when he was a boy. That was not lost on me or the other guests.
In fact, I was so in awe of the hotel that I immediately bought Branson’s book The Virgin Way and read it by the pool.
If you haven’t already, do yourself a favour and watch Casablanca at least once in your life. It’s worth it, I promise.
You’ll also find this article makes a lot more sense if you do.
It’s a beautiful story and, if you know me, you won’t be surprised that I found some leadership lessons woven through it.
Here we go.
Every leader must take a stand
Rick constantly tells others that he’s not interested in politics or the war and takes no sides. But this isn’t true. Ultimately, like all leaders, you can’t remain neutral. You must take a stand. A stand for what you believe in. A stand for what’s right and proper in this world.
Rick looks as if he has no heart, yet that’s far from the truth. We find out he actually fought for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War against Franco’s fascist regime. So much for being neutral.
And without giving away the ending, Rick ends up being anything but neutral. In one of the most powerful lines of the film, he says to Ilsa:
“I’m no good at being noble, but it doesn’t take much to see that the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.”
That’s the moment he stops thinking about himself and takes action for something bigger than his own hurt.
That’s leadership.
Every leader has parts
Like all leaders, Rick has parts. His tough-guy image, his persona, hides the many parts he’s afraid or unable to show the world. There’s always more going on beneath the surface.
We first sense his sentimentality when he stops Sam, the piano player, from playing their song.
“You played it for her, you can play it for me. If she can stand it, I can. Play it!”
That single line tells us everything. He’s still in love. Still wounded. Still human.
When Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) comes back into his life, we see a devastated man. So vulnerable. So in love. So hurting.
“Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.”
And he tries to drown it in booze. As leaders, don’t hide your feelings. Because as we teach in our shadow work, what you suppress will eventually erupt with demonic energy.
Care and results are not opposites
A young refugee woman from Bulgaria asks Rick to help her and her husband escape from Casablanca. She’s willing to sacrifice herself to the local authority to secure their freedom. Rick flatly refuses to get involved. But then, in the next scene, he quietly helps her husband win enough money on the roulette wheel to buy their exit visas.
She thanks him, but again, he wants no part of the praise. He simply says to her, “Your husband’s a lucky guy,” denying he had anything to do with it. Yet in doing so, he honours her courage and her love.
That’s leadership. Quiet generosity. Doing what’s right without fanfare.
The greatest leaders I’ve worked with in over forty years both get results and care deeply about people. They may not always show it, but you can feel it.
When Rick’s café is closed by the authorities, he tells his manager to make sure all the staff still get paid. Very Branson.
In fact, Branson himself once said it best:
“Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.”
I’ve been in business for almost forty years and, although it may be a very vain metric, one of the stats I’m most proud of is that I’ve never not made a payroll, never not paid a supplier.
Yes, look after your customers. But first, look after your people. Because they’re the ones who ultimately look after your customers. That’s how you build a truly human enterprise.
Love what you do, and who you do it with
Yet it’s the flashback of when Rick and Isla were at their happiest that’s the greatest life lesson for me. That we need to constantly be creating memories.
“We’ll always have Paris”.
Spend time with who you love. Doing what you love. Showing that love. It’s later than you think.
Or as that immortal song goes:
“You must remember this,
a kiss is just a kiss,
a sigh is just a sigh,
the fundamental things apply,
as time goes by.”
Here’s looking at you kid!
Until Next time…
Find the passion.
Develop the skills.
Make the numbers.
Make a difference.
Paul Mitchell
“APAC’s most respected transformational leadership performance coach”
Paul Mitchell (@Paul_S_Mitchell) is a speaker, author, transformational leadership coach and founder of the human enterprise. Through leadership coaching, leadership development programmes, keynotes and facilitation, Paul works with organisations to build cultures where everybody leads.
