Finding Your Leadership Style… While Finding Christopher Robin
Different leadership styles are a popular work topic. Examples of what to do, and what not to do can be found just about anywhere, sometimes in the least likely of places.
While watching Winnie the Pooh’s Grand Adventure the other day with my 5-year-old son, the character’s quest to find their missing cohort, Christopher Robin, struck me in a way it never had before. Each one of the characters displayed a leadership style ranging from the highly desirable wise old Owl to the driven by fear, Piglet.
In the case that you need a storyline refresher, Pooh gets a pot of honey dropped on his doorstep, wonders who may have left it, and goes out in search of Christopher Robin since he always has the answers. Rabbit points out the note attached to the pot, which they bring to Owl, despite Rabbit’s attempt to read it. Owl sets them off on a path to find Christopher Robin, with a map.
And thus we reach the point, in which, we explore our characters…
Owl
First off, Owl is the only one who can read, which automatically makes him superior to the rest of the 100-acre crew. However, the wise old owl that he is, is still flawed. When reading the note, now dripping in honey, Owl reads what he can, which is not the whole of the text and draws a conclusion. This conclusion sets the rest of the 100 crew out on a quest to find Christopher Robin at “school” or as Owl pronounced it “skull.” Owl may not know what “skull” is, but who can argue with him when he declares that the sound of it automatically makes is a terrible place!
Owl is a theatrical sort who is in it for the adventure and the story. He never goes on the adventures though. He sets the crews off in the direction of their quest and steps back and waits to hear the outcome at the very end. He sets the tone of the quest by telling them it will be “dangerous” and filled with “unknown.” As the crew throws scenarios of what things they may face on their travels, he says yes to all, even though he does not know. However, he knows it will be a grand adventure! He gives the crew the tools they need for their adventure, tells them they are so lucky to be going on this quest, tells them he wishes he can do it too and wishes them well.
Owl is a visionary leader. Always encouraging the team to do it’s very best and whole-heartedly believing that they can achieve anything if they just give it the old college try. A leader who gets caught up in spinning the tale of how one may get from point A to point B on a project. So caught up in how exciting it all is, that he drops it all in the team’s lap without giving any real direction.
Rabbit
Rabbit holds steadfast to his rules. Everything has to be done by the book with no deviation. There is no room for heart or head, just the strict black, and white that comes with hard and fast rules. He does not do well with change and does even worse with admitting he does not know where to go. Rabbit’s way of leading the crew also leaves no room for creative solutions. Rabbit clashes with Tigger the most because of this. Their styles are polar opposites.
When Rabbit has the map, he wants to hold onto it and give directions even though he does not know how to read it. He is the, “What I say goes!” type of leader. He blindly goes in a direction with false confidence because he does not want to be wrong. As he leads the crew through the “meadow” which turns out to be a thorny bramble, he is quick to come up with an explanation of how this is exactly where he wanted to be, even though no one questioned him. However, his fear of losing the upper hand on the rest of the group compels him to create reasons for every misstep that support the end goal and confirm that he knew what he was doing all along. Rabbit exerts his control-freak attitude by being firm in his decisions. Rabbit is the textbook definition of the micro-manager. Everything must be just so because he said so.
Pooh
Pooh relies on Christopher Robin the most out of all the inhabitants of the 100-acre woods, as he is a bear of very little brains. Pooh is filled with positive energy and is not ruffled by much. He is happy go lucky and very go with the flow. He is not concerned with what direction maybe write or wrong. All he is concerned with is finding his friend.
When Pooh has the map, he is very undecided in which direction they should go. He leads the crew this way and that and a hundred different ways in a matter of seconds making no real decision and no understanding of the map itself. Pooh relinquishes control to Rabbit- not that he really had a choice.
Pooh may not know how to lead, but he does try to empower Piglet and hold his hand to work through his fears. He is very uplifting with a, you can do it attitude. Pooh always ends up happening upon things, which somehow makes things turn out. He truly is one who flounders his way through and somehow ends up on top.
Tigger
Tigger is the quintessential can-do company man. He can do everything the best, whether he can or not. If something he does “best” does not turn out how he originally believed it to be, he moves on to that being the new best thing!
As a leader, Tigger charges on head first into tasks with the utmost exuberance. There is never a trace of doubt. He can and will do it. His exuberance can be his downfall however, as he does not stop to actually look into anything. He does not research, does not look ahead, and dives, well bounces, in headfirst. Things may or may not turn out, but he is flexible enough to roll with the changes since with no plan there are always changes.
This style can be fun and exciting as this leader is always very positive. Teams can be rallied to do any task because this level of exuberance is infectious, however, it may not always be the most productive.
Piglet
Piglet never really leads, mostly because he is too afraid. HE may put in some input from time to time, but it is never definitive and always laced with the utmost trepidation. Fearful however is a common leadership style. Many leaders make decisions in the workplace that are rooted in a place of fear. Fear of competition. Fear of betrayal. Fear of losing control. Fear of being replaced or fired. This is a very weak place to lead from as you never get true buy-in from your team. Decisions are never strong ones and fearful leaders tend to drive people away.
Even though all the characters lean on Christopher Robin through the entirety of the movie, even though he is not there, they all learn what he was trying to tell Pooh, “ You are braver than you believe, Stronger than you seem and Smarter than you think!” They all are leaders in their own right, however dysfunctional they all may be. Even with all their different styles they still finish their quest and find Christopher Robin, all by working together and blending their skills into a misadventure. A little like real life.
