What business leaders can learn from The Avengers movies

Hello, friends & happy new year. This newsletter is a curated dispatch of business leadership lessons. For busy professionals like you. It's designed to be a quick read and should be sent roughly once a month.

?? Today’s leadership lesson: Be intentional about learning from the people you spend time with. Actively observe, analyze, and reflect on the behaviors & attributes that make them stand out to you — it’s an overlooked way to add new arrows to your quiver.

Collect your infinity stones.

That’s one lesson business leaders can learn from Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, two of the top five highest-grossing films of all time. The plot of both films centers around the Infinity Stones: a set of gems that give their holders different abilities.

Collecting the infinity stones in your life means intentionally learning from people around you — collecting different abilities from your colleagues, family, friends, and others. Psychologists call it “social learning” — acquiring new skills & behaviors by observing and imitating others.

But whatever it’s called, it’s clear that it can pay dividends. Here are some examples from my own life:

Scott Ernst: Leaders can wield more influence by developing an executive presence.

I cut my teeth in the business world over fifteen years ago as an associate at online analytics startup Compete, Inc, which was acquired by TNS Media during my time there. And just a few months later, TNS itself was acquired by global advertising conglomerate WPP in a successful hostile bid. Leading the company through this period of dynamism was then-Compete President, now-Drift CEO Scott Ernst. Although I rarely interacted with Scott directly at the time, his sense of gravitas around the office was palpable and he commanded attention effortlessly. Watching him interact with others during my time at Compete taught me various lessons about developing an authoritative, executive presence that I still carry with me today.

Ashé Brooks-Cook: Leaders can be more effective by getting their validation from within.

I’d describe Ashé Brooks-Cook as a free spirit that marches to the beat of his own drum. We became friends at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, and we later became roommates in Boston, Massachusetts years after graduation. One thing that always amazed me about Ashé was his ability to get along with everybody — he maintained/maintains an extremely diverse, eclectic circle of friends. While there are many reasons for this, one lesson I learned from observing Ashé is that in a world where most people rely on external validation, the few that don’t can be irresistibly charming. I’m reminded here of this quote: “What other people think of me is none of my business.”

Adam Guy: Leaders that use humor well build deeper relationships & improve team morale.?

While I was at Compete, there was a guy called A. Guy :) Adam led the company’s Telecom & Media practice at the time I believe, while I worked in the Travel practice. It's a bit fuzzy now but what I do remember was that almost every time I saw him, I’d be met with some witty remark or other. There's a saying that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but they won’t forget how you made them feel – and that’s true of Adam. While I don’t remember the jokes themselves, I remember the laughs all these years later. And though I didn’t know it at the time, I was learning lessons on the power of humor in the workplace, and today it's a weapon I wield wontedly.

It’s important to note that the lessons I learned from Scott, Ashé, and Adam didn’t come from me explicitly asking them to share their wisdom. Rather, they came more passively, from observation, analysis, and reflection.

German statesman Otto von Bismarck once said, “Only a fool learns from his own mistakes; the wise man learns from the mistakes of others.” And while that’s true, the wisest amongst us learn from the skills & successes of others too.

Put this into practice:

Think about the people you interact with regularly that stand out and make you feel something. Maybe they make you laugh, maybe they inspire you in some way, or maybe you want to be like them somehow. Now list, to yourself or on paper, the qualities you admire in them, and as you continue to interact with them going forward, be intentional about collecting these infinity stones — adding their abilities to your own arsenal.

How? Actively observe them and take mental recordings, analyze what makes them effective, then reflect on your observations & analysis as you gain more observations. Finally, take immediate action as soon as you can by “imitating” them & bringing their attributes alive in your own interactions. Collect the infinity stones in your life and learn from anyone, even from afar.

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