Leadership

Serious leadership lessons drawn from unexpected, playful sources — Star Wars, Firefly, Formula One, WWII, Genghis Khan, Top Chef and more. Rigorous insight from surprising places.

15 posts

What Today's Leaders Can Learn from the Allied Leadership of WW2
Leadership

What Today's Leaders Can Learn from the Allied Leadership of WW2

The Allied victory in WW2 was engineered by flawed but formidable leaders. Here are seven lessons in...

Series: Leadership, #1

Jun 22 2026

Read: 8 minutes
What Today's Leaders Can Learn from the Axis Leadership of WW2
Leadership

What Today's Leaders Can Learn from the Axis Leadership of WW2

The Axis leaders of WW2 achieved rapid, dramatic success before collapsing under the weight of their...

Series: Leadership, #2

Jun 22 2026

Read: 5 minutes
What Formula One Can Teach Today's Business Leaders
Leadership

What Formula One Can Teach Today's Business Leaders

Formula One runs on marginal gains, split-second decisions, and relentless process discipline. Here'...

Series: Leadership, #3

Jun 22 2026

Read: 7 minutes
What Being a Film Producer Can Teach Today's Business Leaders
Leadership

What Being a Film Producer Can Teach Today's Business Leaders

Film producers are among the most demanding leaders in any industry — managing vision, talent, risk,...

Series: Leadership, #4

Jun 22 2026

Read: 8 minutes
What Firefly Can Teach Today's Business Leaders
Leadership

What Firefly Can Teach Today's Business Leaders

Fourteen episodes, one film, and two decades of cancelled potential — Firefly remains one of the mos...

Series: Leadership, #5

Jun 22 2026

Read: 7 minutes
What Being a Fleet Admiral Can Teach Today's Business Leaders
Leadership

What Being a Fleet Admiral Can Teach Today's Business Leaders

The Fleet Admiral commands at a scale few can imagine — dozens of vessels, thousands of crew, across...

Series: Leadership, #6

Jun 22 2026

Read: 9 minutes
What Genghis Khan Can Teach Today's Business Leaders
Leadership

What Genghis Khan Can Teach Today's Business Leaders

What can the world's greatest conqueror teach modern business leaders? Quite a lot, actually. From m...

Series: Leadership, #7

Jun 22 2026

Read: 8 minutes
What Star Trek Can Teach Today's Business Leaders
Leadership

What Star Trek Can Teach Today's Business Leaders

Star Trek isn't just science fiction — it's a masterclass in organisational leadership. From Picard'...

Series: Leadership, #8

Jun 22 2026

Read: 7 minutes
What Star Wars Can Teach Today's Business Leaders
Leadership

What Star Wars Can Teach Today's Business Leaders

From Darth Vader's fear-based management to Yoda's servant leadership, Star Wars offers surprisingly...

Series: Leadership, #9

Jun 22 2026

Read: 8 minutes
What The Expanse Can Teach Today's Business Leaders
Leadership

What The Expanse Can Teach Today's Business Leaders

The Expanse is the best sci-fi show you've probably already watched — and one of the most sophistica...

Series: Leadership, #10

Jun 22 2026

Read: 9 minutes
What Being a Top Chef Can Teach Today's Business Leaders
Leadership

What Being a Top Chef Can Teach Today's Business Leaders

The professional kitchen is one of the most demanding environments on earth — and one of the best le...

Series: Leadership, #11

Jun 22 2026

Read: 5 minutes
What Bernard Law Montgomery Can Teach Today's Business Leaders
Leadership

What Bernard Law Montgomery Can Teach Today's Business Leaders

The general who won by refusing to hurry is a masterclass in a truth most leadership writing avoids:...

Series: Unconventional Leadership, #12

Jul 01 2026

Read: 4 minutes
The East India Company Ran the World. Then It Ran Itself Into the Ground.
Leadership

The East India Company Ran the World. Then It Ran Itself Into the Ground.

The most powerful corporation in history built extraordinary capability and never built the governan...

Series: Unconventional Leadership, #13

Jul 01 2026

Read: 4 minutes
The General Who Distrusted Generals
Leadership

The General Who Distrusted Generals

The most powerful soldier of his age trusted almost nothing — not his plans, not his ego, not even t...

Series: Unconventional Leadership, #14

Jul 01 2026

Read: 4 minutes
What Admiral A. B. Cunningham Can Teach Today's Business Leaders
Leadership

What Admiral A. B. Cunningham Can Teach Today's Business Leaders

The Royal Navy's finest fighting admiral was aggressive, calm and ruinously loyal in equal measure, ...

Series: Unconventional Leadership, #15

Aug 01 2026

Read: 4 minutes