Lessons from the Guns of Navarone

Watching a favourite classic movie with your child is in itself a very rewarding experience.

But being an ardent follower of management science, I couldnt help myself viewing the movie "The Guns of Navarone " ,based on one of Alistair Macleans everlasting classics , through a lens of a "corporate sales manager".

The movie holds a captivating lesson in the science and art of management ;in subordinating individual needs vis-a-vis the corporate goals and in motivation and self belief.

There are several instances...be it when Capt Mallory (Gregory Peck)broods on the decision to leave behind his injured deputy with the Nazis in support of a larger team cause,or when it comes to motivating his team packed with people coming from differing backgrounds and possibly differing agendas(cultural diversity),harnessing their unique skill sets to bring about team synergy( be it in the area of explosives,mountaineering,sharpshooters, etc and leading them to succeed in a mission fraught with peril purely on the strength of self-belief(" to be honest , neither did I " was the even and candid response of Peck as he watched the guns go up in smoke).

This is one movie I would encourage every corporate HR / corporate leader to showcase and encourage teams to push beyond their routine to achieve the near impossible!