Learning Leadershp from Moana

After last week's blog, I had the pleasure of watching Moana again (and again! When do these kids go back to school though?). I love that every time I watch that movie, I see something new. I learn a new lesson that I can share with my son and with all of you! Here are two more lessons that I learned from Moana.

1. Don't become so content that you lose your focus on becoming better. Who you are is important, but growth is the goal. Every person should be focused on becoming a better version of themselves. When you focus on enjoying the person you are today AND simultaneously welcome and prepare for the person you can be, you can give so much more to the world.

I think Grant Cardone says it best in 100 Ways to Stay Motivated: It is my duty to be successful. Take that duty seriously, and strive to be better every moment of the day.

2. Think outside of the box. Leaders should be empowered to discover new roads and help their people to become better versions of themselves! It is our role as leaders to encourage idea generation and improve upon the processes, rules, and procedures in place. The only boundaries that exist for a leader and their organization are the ones that the leader establishes. If you choose to allow freedom within your organization, it doesn't undermine your power.

If appropriately built, your organization will know what your vision is, and they will bring you ideas to support and sustain that vision in the long term. After all, what is a visionary without the help of his or her "visionees?"

Shanta Wilkerson

Moana: Disney's still teaching life lessons!

It is no coincidence that today marks exactly 1 full year from my last post! It is #WINTENTIONALWEDNESDAY, so let's not talk about the losses or the unforeseen events of the last year that lead to my silence. What I want to discuss today is far more necessary than that! When I was a kid, Disney movies were always teaching me something. The Lion King taught me that family may not always have your best interest in mind. The Little Mermaid taught me never to sacrifice your voice for the affections of others. Beauty and the Beast taught me to always see the good in people even when their past has made them ugly. There are so many more, but let's dive right in! These are just a few of the lessons I learned from watching Moana (approximately 1 million times since my child found it on Netflix).

1. We are given our life mission before we know what life is.
2. We have our ancestors to guide us through our journey. We call it intuition.
3. We may be tempted to give up on our mission/vision/goals when things get tough, but we can't. People are relying on us to get it right!
4. We don't need special tools to complete the assignment. (Shiny isn't always a good thing LOL)
5. We will need to find our own strength to face the challenges of our journey, but those destined to help will always come when we need them!
6. We may have been chosen to fix a problem that we didn't create.
7. The reward of a completed mission is well worth the risks it took to get there.

What are some of your favorite Disney movie lessons?