Leadership Lessons from The Woman King

The Woman King is a movie that follows an all-female warrior group called the Agojie. Viola Davis stars as General Nanisca, the leader of the Agojie, who was responsible for protecting the kingdom from slave traders. The film follows the lives of Agojie and offers several lessons on leadership.

Here are the key takeaways from the leadership lessons this article will discuss:

• Rebellious leaders are noble and can still be trusted.
• Leadership is a verb, not a noun.
• Leaders are teachers who must also be willing to learn from their students.

Rebellious leaders are noble and can still be trusted.

Leaders should anticipate encountering defiant behavior, and when it happens, they shouldn't take offense. In the film, Nanisca receives a directive from the king not to leave the palace to rescue missing women from her clan. But despite the instruction, she went anyway. While some might find Nanisca's disobedience troubling, on the contrary, it's a great depiction of how true leaders operate when their judgement is being challenged.

Natural leaders are natural rebels, too. But the intended outcome of the rebellious action should preserve loyalty to the organization's vision and sustain a level of respect for authority. Although Nanisca disobeyed instruction, her motives remained aligned with the king's over-arching vision, while upholding a level of care and honor for his authority.

When there is respect and vision alignment, it leaves no question about a person’s ulterior motives or intentions because everyone is working towards the same outcome.  In Nanisca’s case, the king still trusted her, even after learning about her defiant behavior, because of the mutual levels of respect and trust that existed within their relationship. It was Nanisca’s defiance that ultimately saved the village, resulting in her promotion to The Woman King.

Nanisca’s actions teach us that leadership is about executing strategy that aligns with the greater vision, even when it might mean being disobedient to an instruction. So as a leader (especially leaders of leaders), it’s important to anticipate your team members will have better ideas, different perspectives, and opinions. Resist the urge of being dismissive to what may not seem logical and avoid making choices for them. Respecting their judgment will build their confidence and show the level of trust you have in their ability to lead.

Leadership is a verb, not a noun.

Leadership is more than a name and position on the organization chart. Leadership is an action that is specific and deliberate to drive an intended result. A leader is not just a person or name to call yourself. Effectively leading requires the person to also perform.

John Maxwell has a quote that says, “Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.” Contrary to this trending sentiment, Leadership has everything to do with titles. Titles carry weight. The higher-level titles come with greater authority to make changes and greater responsibility to drive the change.

In the movie, we learn that the title represents rank. A higher position holds a more significant impact of influence. Nanisca was a General, the highest militant rank below the king. Nanisca was well respected (even when disliked) because of how she moved as a leader. And it was because she held the title of General that she could deploy meaningful action that aligned with her level of authority. Her actions involved being connected, caring and confident, which garnered her respect from the king and her army.

The authority to influence change gradually declines as you move down the organizational chart because the people with the power to make the change sit at the top. Maxwell’s quote should evolve to instead say, “Titles aren’t necessary to lead, but leaders with the title have greater authority and responsibility act.” The type of action taken is what grants the distinction of being a leader.

Leaders are teachers who must also be willing to learn from their students.

Nanisca, a well-respected and knowledgeable leader, encountered a young, ambitious fighter, Nawi. Nawi was confrontational. She was fearless in challenging or questioning rules that did not make practical or tactical sense to her.

During combat practice, Nawi played a practical joke that resulted in a fixture used for target practice exploding. Amazed at how that was even possible (the time is around the early 1800s), Nanisca appeared offended by Nawi’s stunt but inwardly was intrigued by Nawi’s talent.

Nanisca wisely became curious to understand how Nawi figured out how to create an explosive reaction. Nawi taught Nanisca about the power of a simple spark. Although the conversation was brief, Nanisca took that lesson and later used that same explosive tactic to ignite a raid. Throughout the movie, there are several other examples of how Nawi’s naivety triggered curiosity over traditions that Agojie warriors would never question, only blindly obey.

Nanisca could have quickly banished Nawi for her unruly antics (because Nawi, although acting as a rebellious leader, did not bare the title or respect granting her the authority to behave defiantly). But instead, Nanisca realized that this new generation of recruits brought diverse perspectives, so she leveraged Nawi’s intellect to learn new strategies for war. Nanisca was learning from Nawi while simultaneously teaching her the rules of engagement as an Agojie warrior; principally, they were learning from each other.

Leaders must value continuous learning. Progression requires evolution, and evolution is change. Great leaders must embrace change and recognize that sometimes the new talent will have the answers and ideas that offer competitive business advantages.

About the Author

?LaShawn Davis is the founder of The HR Plug (https://www.thehrplug.com). She is a mastermind in transforming dysfunctional workplace cultures into ideal workplaces. Her personalized strategies create profitable businesses, produce productive employees, and build strong leaders and engaged teams.

Connect with LaShawn on social media platforms (@thehrplug) if you appreciate this content.