Love and Honour

Had an unusual duo of DVDs to watch this weekend: the hilarious 50 First Dates and the gruelling period piece Four Feathers. It made me think about two challenging aspects of true leadership: love and honour.

50 First Dates was an unashamed chick flick. It brought tears to Marie's eyes, and mine. A little bit. Why? Because it portrays the true meaning of love - a commitment, not a feeling. A total removal of self from the picture, except to ensure self can be maintained, in order to look after the beloved. Profound stuff! And very quirkily presented by Sandler and Co.

Why am I mentioning selfless love on a blog about leadership? Because I believe real love - agape as the Bible calls it (if you read it in Greek!) - is at the heart of effective leadership.

Speaking of the Bible, I'm a believer in the old-fashioned concept of the husband as leader of the home. But to any husband who would like to think of that as a privileged, dictatorial position, I'd point him to 50 First Dates. Because that's what leading a marriage is all about. And, even though leadership in other spheres may not be quite as intimate (well, hopefully not! :) it's the same principle - get over yourself, so you can help others.

I can't quite remember what I had to say about Four Feathers now, except that it was a very good film! Lame ending, though. Much like this post! I'll post later when I remember what my point was about Four Feathers...