Star Wars in the Enterprise: My Journey from Sith Lord to Jedi Knight

There are so many external forces that influence how we behave in the workplace.? We learn through the institutional knowledge passed to us from our co-workers (both good and bad).? There is training from universities and specialty courses. There are cultural influences.? We learn from arts and theater, books and movies, friends and relatives.?

During our careers, we start to recognize trends and patterns in our styles.? I knew in my early 40s that I needed to make a change. The style that I had cultivated (for lots of reasons to be discussed elsewhere) was not healthy for me.? I was inflexible, arrogant, and rough.? My style was both controversial and divisive.? I was respected or disliked - not a lot in between.? It didn’t feel good.?

I have been working on it for years now.? I’ve had amazing direct managers, mentors, and coaches.? And slowly, I am becoming a more thoughtful leader with?

better tools than just a hammer.? It’s been a strange process, as some leaders valued my old behaviors and encouraged that style.? Obviously, this was awkward.??

In the last few years, Star Wars has been a big part of my life.? While going through some personal challenges - I found myself turning to Star Wars content more and more frequently.? The Jedi, especially, made me think about how to handle complexity and stress.??

And no wonder. I was 9 years old in May 1977, the year Star Wars: A New Hope (the second part of the title was added in 1981) was released.? It is an understatement to say that it had a profound impact on me.??

Star Wars was the zenith (this is in no way subjective. wink).? The representation of space, spacecraft, aliens, and general world-building was mesmerizing. And for me, it was the beginning of my understanding of portraits of good vs evil, light vs dark, and meritocracy vs. autocracy.? But less on politics and more on the general ethics of the Jedi.??

The Jedi ethos is defined in a variety of Star Wars media including novels, encyclopedias, video games, TV shows, and movies (animated and live-action).? Essentially, the Jedi are bound to a code that is most routinely represented in their mantra.? The mantra has a few variations (evolving over the millennia) so let’s stick with the most ancient:

There is no emotion, there is peace.

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.

There is no passion, there is serenity.

There is no chaos, there is harmony.

There is no death, there is the Force.

The Jedi strive to be active participants and guides in a world that is filled with challenges, obstacles, and temptations.? Their goal is to find the way of the Force by limiting their inner turmoil and embodying empathy, lifelong learning, and a belief in a life (and death) force bigger than themselves.??

The Star Wars film canon provides insight into how the Jedi code informs the actions of Qui-Gon, Obi Wan, Yoda, Anakin (as a Padawan), Luke, and the Jedi Council.? The animated series The Clone Wars, Tales of the Jedi, and Rebels all help us to better understand the Jedi and their moral fiber.? And, I find that I am focused (um - obsessed?) with the aphorisms at the start of The Clone Wars episodes and the wisdom communicated by Jedi legends in all the various productions.??

Almost 20 years ago, I started a “code” or what I called My Five Rules that originated when my kids first started school.? Slowly, I realized that I followed these same rules at work and started sharing them with my teams.? I am always surprised by the supportive response.? In my various roles over those years, teammates asked me if I had the rules written down so they could refer to them.? And, ok, it’s not a million people who’ve asked, but enough that I did put them here.? These rules aren’t exactly aligned with the Jedi code - they are my code. I began to consider how I might augment my rules with the code of the Jedi.

In short, my rules are?

1. Be on time.
2. Be organized.
3. Listen.
4. Try your hardest.
5. Look out for your teammates.

In the last 5 years, when I hear a new rule, I make a note of it.? For instance, my friend Rob Francis suggested “be flexible”.? Yes! Yes! Yes!?

Star Wars is my comfort food.? It’s what I watch when I am anxious, sad, lost, happy, found, etc.? Of course the 11 movies and TV shows.? But, most importantly the animated series - specifically the Clone Wars, Rebels, Tales of the Jedi, and BadBatch.?

At the start of (almost) all of the Clone Wars episodes there is a Jedi adage that is intended to encapsulate the theme of the episode.? And it’s these adages (I am using adages, aphorisms, and maxims interchangeably) that align with my continued dedication to improving my daily presence at home, at work, and in life.?

As a start - here are 6 Jedi aphorisms that guide my management style -?

The Best Confidence Builder is Experience.

Trust in your friends, and they’ll have reason to trust in you.

Compromise is a virtue to be cultivated, not a weakness to be despised.

The young are often underestimated.

When in doubt, go to the source.

Embrace others for their differences, for that makes us whole.

These simple sayings represent the beginning of how I began my journey of aligning the core principles of the Jedi with an enterprise technology delivery style.??

Today, I am working on expanding these ideas and integrating them into a repeatable process that emphasizes honesty, intensity, and generosity and results in delivery predictability and enterprise efficiency.

I hope you will join my Substack Community and engage in the conversation as I lay out my methodology - especially since one of the key components is listening to experts like yourselves.?

#mentoring #leadershipdevelopment #starwars #jedi