Skip to main content

Lessons in leadership from The Minions


I  know The Minions is supposed to be a children’s movie, all about fun and laughter, and I am not to read too much into it or between the lines. But, when I was watching the movie I realised it offered, surprisingly, some deep lessons in leadership and entrepreneurship. So, if you have not watched the movie yet and plan to, then stop reading right now for there are SPOILERS AHEAD.
  1. Take Risks: Kevin, Stuart and Bob need not have made that perilous journey out of the cold, snow-covered cave the Minions had made their home. They could have wallowed in collective misery. But they did not give up and so found the ‘boss’ they wanted so desperately. A number of startups/companies flounder because the founder/leader is scared to try something new. Only if you take a big risk, do you stand the chance of a big reward.
  2. Hedge your bets: The entire Minion colony did not follow Kevin when he hatched the plan to go find them a big, bad boss. They only sent guitar-strumming Stuart and little Bob with Kevin. When expanding into new categories or creating a new product, it might not make sense for the entire team to change track until there is a validation that the new category or product works.30 Ways Interns Are Just Like Minions
  3. Take care of your team: It was Scarlet Overkill’s super villainy that made the Minions want to work for her. But they wanted the soft beds, bedtime stories and, of course, bananas to be happy with her. You might be the biggest and ‘baddest boss’ and your minions might have joined you because of your badness. But if you are bad to your minions they are not going to stay with you for too long.
  4. Don’t be scared of super minions: Scarlet Overkill could not handle it when Bob was crowned King, even though the Minions handed her the crown and she was able to achieve her longest held wish. This was her downfall. A leader should not be worried about being overshadowed by super talented juniors. Rewarding and encouraging them will be the key to your success.30 Ways Interns Are Just Like Minions
  5. Take responsibility: When Scarlet Overkill went nuclear against the Minions, Kevin did not cower behind the rest of the Minions. He took on Scarlet and protected his ‘buddies’, since he was their leader and he was responsible (primarily) for her hating the Minions. A leader will not blame his juniors nor expect them to take responsibility for his errors. Kevin earned the Minions’ respect and so will you as a leader when you stand up for your team.30 Ways Interns Are Just Like Minions
  6. Jump for the bigger opportunity: Despite everything Scarlet Overkill did to the Minions Kevin did run behind her, as she was the biggest super villain he had ever known (a genetic flaw of the Minions). But the moment Kevin lay his eyes on Felonious Gru he knew—here was a bigger, better villain. Many leaders, especially startup founders, cannot let go of their product or the market, they were targeting even if a bigger opportunity slaps them in the face. Don’t be so married to your idea that you do not exploit a larger market.30 Ways Interns Are Just Like Minions
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

HP's Spectre 13.3, the world's thinnest laptop

US tech giant HP has launched Spectre, touted as the world's thinnest laptop. The laptop is as thin as a AAA battery. Spectre measures 10.4 millimeters (0.41 inch) at its thickest point, this makes it slimmer than than the 12-inch MacBook (0.52 inches) and MacBook Air (0.68 inches). Another USP of the laptop is its copper design combined with carbon fiber that gives the laptop a premium look. It features 13.3-inch full HD screen with Corning Gorilla Glass. The laptop comes with 8GB LDDR3 RAM and 512GB SSD storage and runs on 6th generation Intel Core i5 and i7 processors. It features a hybrid battery that lasts up to 9.45 hours on a single charge, according to the company. The laptop includes 3 Type-C USB I/O ports. Priced the laptop at $1,249 (Rs 83,121 approx), HP Spectre will be available in Asia-Pacific and Japan starting May. The company also launched EliteBook Folio notebook; Elite x3 and Elite X2 computing devices. Elite Folio EliteBook Folio n
9 comments
Read more

How to Encrypt Data on External Drives

It's not hard to lose a USB flash drive; it's even easier to steal one. If you're the victim of such a theft, panic is understandable. There could be work documents, private pictures, your kid's birthday party video, or amazing notes for a NaNoWriMo novel—anything—on that drive. It's unlikely to be the only copy—this is the age of online backup and sync, after all. But if you're crazy enough to trust your most important, irreplaceable data to a device that's even easier to misplace or forget than your keys, at least make sure that data is secure. What you'll need is software for encrypting the data, and that software has to be portable, in that it runs on any PC without installation, since it will likely run from the flash drive itself. Note, these solutions also work with any external hard drive, for the most part, plus your much-harder-to-steal internal hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid-state drives (SSDs). Encryption Software The first choice
Post a Comment
Read more

Perks Of Not Being A Party Person

A hot, new club has opened in your city and there is a long queue of people waiting outside, dying to get inside. And you are one of those people who won’t even consider going to the club to understand what the buzz is all about, because you don’t like to party. This post is for those people who prefer to eat out with friends, have a movie marathon on weekends, or curl up on the sofa with a nice book in hand, instead of going partying. 1. You can easily win an argument over not partying, when someone is being judgemental 2. You have amazing conversations with your friends which you actually remember later on  Remember when…? :) 3. You don’t have to worry about driving home safely a fter a night out with your friends Or have one friend to stay sane and sober so that person can drive you back home. Instead, all of you sing songs when you are going out in your car. 4. No alcohol and no partying equals no hangover So you don’t have to spend the same amount of time y
Post a Comment
Read more