WonderTour

Whether we find ourselves just starting out in a new role, as new parents, or on another journey, the scope of the world that we understand is never enough for our liking.  Like Belle reading her books, we are always dreaming of understanding the world better and making an impact on it.  But what if we aren't just like Belle, we are also like Beast and Gaston? Beast comes from influence and contro...

One of the reasons we love Beauty and the Beast is because we can relate to Belle.  We all want to be a part of something bigger than "this provincial life".  Like most of us, Belle yearns for an adventure that makes her life meaningful.   While Belle wouldn't call herself a leader when we find her early in the story, she practices magnanimous character within the small world she lives in.  By cur...

Salute mi Familia - the most recognizable line in the Fast and Furious franchise.  We all want to be part of the familia that Dom Toretto is building when we watch these movies, but how do we create those types of teams and moments in real life? Despite his calloused exterior and checkered past, Dom Toretto is one of the most magnanimous leaders we've seen on WonderTour, a true Gandalf-type.  Dom'...

Just like in Fast Five when Dom, Brian, and the team are trapped in Rio and on the run from both Hobbs and Reyes, it can sometimes feel like our lives are out of our control.  Someone else makes the map and we just have to stay within their lines.  But as magnanimous leaders, we believe that the current map of reality isn't all there is to the story.   When our known maps seem incompatible with ou...

When we enter a new ecosystem, like Pandora, with new rules, players, functions, etc. It can be a rude awakening that our maps of reality are utterly insufficient to navigate this new terrain.  Un-writing maps of reality can be a painful and energy-intensive process, just ask Jake or Trudy.  Both come to Pandora with a hunan-centric view of the universe and struggle to accept what they see and wha...

When Jake Sully reaches Pandora in Avatar, he comes pre-loafed with a series of mental maps that he uses to navigate reality: his maps of reality.  Jake's maps include all kinds of useful tools that he's learned on earth from how to navigate the world without the use of his legs to how to respond to combat situations.  We all have our own maps of reality that we use to navigate and become reliant...

Like Indiana Jones at the end of The Last Crusade, we all want to be the type of hero that can pass the trials when they inevitably come and save the day.  But Indy can't pass those tests without his father Henry's wisdom and we as magnanimous leaders we know that it's not about us, it's about others.  So how might we equip our team to pass the trials when it's hard to know when the trials will co...

It's time to begin a new series on WonderTour.  This time we are talking about Map-making and what better place to start than Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.  Navigating a complicated world takes all kinds of skills but one of the most under-rated is Map-making.  While few maps are 100% accurate, many are useful.  There are a plethora of different types of maps that we can make and use dependi...

It's hard enough to have Compassion on our peers, but how do we have Compassion on those above us and below us in the organization chart? All too often we hear blaming and conjecturing but rarely, for example, does an executive take action and have Compassion on the grassroots or does a citizen have compassion on their public servants.  To put it in Stranger Things terms, it takes a lot of energy...

We would all probably say that we want to be compassionate people.  But what do you do when you don't agree with the person you are trying to have compassion on? In Stranger Things S1E5, the Flea and the Acrobat, the children learn a lesson in compassion as they search for the Hawkins Lab.  El manipulates the compass to try to keep them safe but Lucas uncovers her secret and and calls her out caus...

Energy management is one of the most challenging parts of being a functioning member of the world, much less a magnanimous leader.  When the weight of the world feels too heavy to bear it can seem like the only reasonable option is to, like Obi-Wan, close ourselves off from those who need us most.  Our energy stores get diminished and the return-on-investment of compassion makes it hard to justify...

While our world might not seem as dark as a galaxy under the veil of the evil empire, like Obi-Wan Kenobi closing himself off from the force it can sometimes feel like the smart decisions is just to stay quiet and conserve energy instead of putting ourselves out there for the good of others.  While we may be sure of our mission to become better leaders for the good of others, protecting the long t...

In the MCU oftentimes what we remember most about our favorite heroes is their overcoming moment or how they vanquished the bad guy in the final fight.  Yet, in our daily lives we rarely come across events of that magnitude. So how can we still be leaders like Thor in our daily struggles? Thor Ragnarok turns the superhero genre on its head, providing a character-driven buddy cop story where the he...

Choosing to act compassionately can feel like it drains our energy levels.  On top of that the world is full of people in need and our time and resources our finite so how could we be compassionate to everyone all the time?   Like many of us, Thor has some complicated relationships to work through, namely his brother Loki.  Thor's love for his brother is clear but sometimes his actions feel like t...

With humans like with money it just seems like it can't grow fast enough.  We want our investments to compound sooner.  We want the hard work we are putting into our character to yield visible results.  We want to help others flourish.  But is there a ceiling on how fast money can grow?  In order for humans to develop sustainably, should we temper our expectations?  How can we apply what we know a...

In our first Bonus episode, Derrick and Drew go on The Cash Podcast with host Adam Koos.  If you resonate with WonderTour but are wondering how we go about applying what we learn from these stories in different contexts, look no further.  Part 1 focuses on The Office, looking to Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute to help us identify our biases.

As humans, it seems like hope is a currency that we are always short on.  As leaders we seek to inspire hope in those around us, but without a formula to execute, it's certainly daunting.  Hope just isn't always logical.  Enter compassion, an illogical maneuver that completely forgets what someone can do for us, inverting the focus from who we are in the story to who they are.  This week we learn...

Normally it's considered a negative to subvert expectations.  When it comes to compassion, if we wish to see lives transformed then we must look for opportunities to unexpectedly turn the narrative upside down.  Changing a city or a culture is challenging work and it's often complicated.  Like the Batman, how might we learn to have Compassion in the face of overwhelming pain rather than crusade fo...

As we begin episode 1 of a series on compassion, we return to the TV show Parks and Recreation (S2E19) to check out everyone's favorite lovable goofball Jerry.  It's so easy to find ourselves laughing at the Jerrys in life but how often do we actually sit down next to someone who's down on their luck or looked down on by society?  What kind of impact can we have on the world when we do? By learnin...

Why can't we be like the magnanimous leaders from our favorite movies, extending ourselves for the good of others? Over the first 50 episodes of WonderTour we've journeyed through dozens of fantastic stories, developing our understanding of growth mindset, strategy, tactics, curiosity, and integrity.  Join Derrick and Drew as we recap our Top 10 Moments of Wonder, weaving them together into a mode...

One of the main reasons we might examine ourselves and find we don't measure up to the integrity of the ideal leader is because integrity seemingly must come at a cost.  If integrity is about playing the long game, then we might have to give some immediate benefits up in the short term. In the Parks and Recreation season 2 episode "Hunting Trip" Leslie, Tom, and Ron experience both the power of in...

Integrity is a foundational building block for a leader.  A cornerstone that all other character traits are built upon. Much like a magnanimous leader, the film The Prestige is also built on undeniable integrity. Join Derrick and Drew as we go on a journey to discover how director Christopher Nolan magically weaves an unforgettable tale using the power of integrity. 

Continuing our series on integrity we examine the lives of two rival magicians Alfred Borden and Robert Angier as they each seek to become the world's greatest.  Over the course of their life-long pursuits their lack of integrity slowly rips their worlds apart leaving them with hollow endings.  We empathize with their painful plight, but how can we avoid the same fate that many like Borden and Ang...

In life we often feel the stress of conforming to established structures like organization charts and governments.  While these things are great for sustaining order they generally struggle to bring transformation to life and society. That's where the network comes in.  Din wows us with his constant relationship building and unexpected connections.  How might we learn to be more magnanimous leader...

Like Dr. Mindy and Kate, it sometimes feels like we are swimming upstream to deliver a message of critical importance.  "We need to transform our business model!"  "You need to reform your habits".  Our situations may not be an existential threat to humanity but they are existential for you or for your friends or family.  Like Kate going on The Daily Rip, it can be anxiety-inducing to try to share...