Movies to Manage By

By John Clemens and Melora Wolff

"A tasty confection that is both fun to read and though-provoking. Clemens and Wolff have crafted and engaging book that illustrates the entire gamut of good and bad leadership behavior. I recommend it especially to young managers who are growing into or aspiring to leadership roles." -- George R. Stephan, Former Chairman Kollmorger Corporation "Readers of this book should be allowed to go to the movies on company time. The flicks take on a whole new meaning." -- Roy Rowan, Author of The Intuitive Manager Movies do more than just entertain. A good film can also teach. Charles Foster Kane, the tragic protagonist of Citizen Kane, is the perfect example of how hoarding power can lead to chaos in business and personal matters. Dead Poet Society's John Keating is the archetype of the employee who has affected change downward but has not solicited the support of superiors who may later stonewall other projects. And Norma Rae (in the movie of the same name), a seemingly powerless factory worker, shakes up the plant's male-dominated management and becomes the company's most influential leader. In this entertaining and instructive book, you will discover that film is indeed an untapped source of leadership wisdom for businesses, large and small. You will see your own organization--as well as your own management and leadership challenges--mirrored here in the examination and analysis of nine compelling and highly accessible film narratives. John K. Clemens, professor of management at Hartwick College, is the founder and executive director of the Hartwick Humanities in Management Institute, an organization that conducts leadership seminars for emerging leaders in Fortune 500 companies. He is also the coauthor of The Classic Touch: Lessons in Leadership from Homer to Hemingway. Melora Wolff is an essayist, poet, and playwright who teaches workshops and seminars in film, literature, and creative writing. She is the writing consultant for the Hartwick Humanities in Management Institute.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0809227967
• ISBN13: 9780809227969
• Release Date: October 1999
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Insights from the Silver Screen

What a terrific concept! Select a number of movies and then analyze what they reveal about "lessons in leadership." Specifically, here are the themes:"Following Your Hunch" (The Hunt for Red October)The Importance of Improvisation (Apollo 13)The Failed Promise of Heroic Leadership (Dead Poets Society)Turning Around a Faltering Team (Hoosiers)Socratic Leadership (12 Angry Men)Turning Around a Troubled Organization (Twelve O'Clock High)When Leadership Fails (Citizen Kane)Morality and Leadership (Wall Street)This is a book which I wish I had written. The authors are to be commended, first for thinking about writing such a book and then for doing it. The result is a brilliant piece of work. The writing style has snap, crackle, and pop. The insights are of great value as we are helped to correlate the circumstances in each movie with the daily circumstances in which most of us are obliged to function each day.After you read this book, you will perhaps think of other movies which also could have been discussed by the authors. For me (what great fun!), I would nominate Paths of Glory, Zulu, Executive Suite, Command Decision, Tunes of Glory, Braveheart, Jeremiah Johnson, Pork Chop Hill, Pale Rider, and Patton.If you are a movie buff, if you are looking for a great read, and if you agree with me that much of value can be learned about leadership from the movies, obtain a copy of this book ASAP.

Very useful and interesting

What a fun read this is! Business books tend to be so boring, so it was great to read something original and different. And the link of movies to management is not a stretch at all. Just good sensible advice presented in a really engaging writing style. I liked this very much.

Creative guide to leadership principles

A useful guide for business management courses, offering students creative insight into basic leadership principles. In "Movies to Manage By" John Clemens and Melora Wolf creatively utilize film as an instructive tool to convey leadership in a unique approach. A great book to be used in any graduate or college business program

Useful guide for those that don't get much outside training

In preparing for an annual management seminar that I was leading, someone suggested this book. It was a great help in being able to illustrate easily some useful take away management points for my group. Showing film clips as part of the day's events was a great way to break up the monotony and I found the participants sat up and listened to each segment, obviously interested. I would recommend this book for those who don't work for large companies who are always sending you outside for training. The book gives you all the items for you to do it yourself!

Cool book

Movies to Manage By uses film in the right way. Clemens and Wolff are wonderful writers, and their approach to film and leadership is insightful, meaningful, and entertaining. I have a small business and so am dealing with a lot of the dilemmas that the authors raise, and their observations are right on key. The subject matter seemed kind of light when I first saw the book, but reading it I see that it really is a book of substance with helpful information for people like me. Thank you.