The Bully Pulpit: All the Plants Are Going to Die!

My friends know I’m a movie buff. I’m not into the Sci-Fi and Fantasy Movies that are the rage today. There are few things better than seeing a movie with my lovely bride. One of the best thing about movies is most great movies contain some awesome quotes.

The classics, according to me, such as Stripes, Caddyshack, Blues Brothers, Oh Brother Where Art Thou, Smokey and the Bandit, To Kill a Mockingbird, Shawshank Redemption, Hunt for Red October, and Forrest Gump are just a few examples of movies that have some outstanding and timely quotes.

Play a round of golf with your buddies and you’ll likely hear quite a few Caddyshack quotes such as “He got all of that one” and “It’s in the hole!”. Hang out at a country music juke joint and you’ll hear “We got both kinds of music, Country and Western!” from Blues Brothers. The list goes on and on.

How can this help us as leaders? Many times an analogy or movie quote allows you to make a point, without it coming across as preaching. If you have a solid repertories of movie quotes or other examples, it can help you break the ice or make a point.
One of my favorite bosses is a great leader and really funny guy, Dave Kirkpatrick. I only worked for Dave for a couple of years, but he was fantastic. I will never forget my very first meeting with Dave. It was a meeting with probably 10 to 12 people in the meeting. At one point Dave blurts out “but all the plants are going to die!” from the cinematic masterpiece, Stripes. It was a great line from Bill Murray as his girlfriend was leaving him at the end of a really bad day. I laughed out loud and was the only person in the room to do so. This meant that only Dave and I knew the line was from Stripes. We later shared a laugh about it and it got us off to a good start, as we shared the love of that movie, as well as the knowledge the others in the room didn’t share our taste in the classics. To this day, Dave and I can both recite that entire movie.

It also helps make points in meetings, whether it be one on ones or in a group. It’s not limited to movie quotes either. Having quotes from leaders can also be effective. Not too long ago, my team had a sales meeting in what is now referred to as “Swamp Fest” because of the venue at a conference center north of Houston. It’s a beautiful site, with lots of lakes, ponds, and cabins.  However, it had been raining for several days, so the lakes and dirt roads between the conference center and our cabins turned to mush.

This was a very important meeting. We had recently undergone a significant reorganization and team members who had worked in their own silos for years, were put in teams of people from other specializations to tear down the silos and create more teamwork and collaboration. It was critically important during these three soggy days in January to create an aligned and committed team. So, the opening session was crucial to set the stage for the meeting,  but also for the organization.

When everyone arrived, and took their seats, I welcomed them to the meeting and laid out the agenda and expectations. After that, I read to them a quote from Teddy Roosevelt, from his Man in the Arena Speech given at the Sorbonne in Paris in 1910. Here’s the quote:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

When I finished, I let it sink in for a few minutes. Next, I told them “all of you are the ones in the arena. You’re the ones whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood. You’re the ones who will never be one of the cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. Not only is this team depending on each one of you, but the entire organization is counting on you to bring in the revenue needed to make this organization thrive. It’s an honor to be in the arena with you.”

Looking around after that I could tell we had their buy in, their commitment. It set the stage for the entire meeting. Had I simply stood up and said “here’s the agenda, let’s go!” the meeting would not have gone nearly as well as it did by acknowledging this team was in the arena.

There are a lot of other examples of quotes from books, movies, and leaders that are extremely effective in making your point as a leader. Use ones that work for you and it will make you a better leader.

Bully!