3 Leadership Lessons from The Lion Guard.
Spending time with my kid and enjoying some of his pass times, introduced me to animation series for kids during COVID19. One such animation series is The Lion Guard by Disney, he likes it most and it captivated me too. It is the story of Simba’s (the lion king protagonist) son Kion and his friends.
Simba, asks Kion as the future king of Pride lands, to form a Lion Guard. A pride, that will protect the animals in the jungle and maintain the order. As young do it, they go beyond the social differences, Kion forms a group that comprises of his best friends — a honey badger, a Hippo, a bird, and a cheetah.
Simba insists, that the Lion Guard should only have lions. Kion contests the idea of his father and convinces him of the choice of his team members. The new Lion Guard has a courageous honey badger, A cheetah, who is fastest among all, A strong hippo who can demonstrate his strength on land as well as water, a bird who can provide an eye view from the sky and help keep vigil.
As a king, Kion not only chooses trusted team members but comrades with diverse qualities. Finally, Kion prevails over his father and Simba allows him to have his lion guard. Simba as a father and king of the jungle continues mentoring Kion & his team from time to time without meddling in their affairs. he lets them differentiate between right and wrong, and find a solution to their problems.
He ensures that the Lion Guard does not violate or misuse the rules while conducting their operations.
This beautiful story for kids had some valuable leadership lessons for us grown-ups too. I have listed them below:
1. Merit & Competency of a team member is key: The team should be formed on the basis of the competencies, skills & merits of the members. One should respect diversity and practice inclusiveness. A diverse team has its own strength, this strength makes up for the weakness of other members. Eg. Kion’s team members are diverse and have different core competencies and skills.
2. Let them learn by Doing it: Future leaders can be cultivated in an environment where they can experiment and learn. Failure is the best teacher if the lesson is learned from it. Leaders are expected to lead in a dynamic environment, facing unprecedented events. Learning by doing it can be an approach to prepare leaders for the future. Failure should not be considered as a sin in such an environment. Eg. Simba lets his son Kion handle the challenges, while he keeps a watch and helps him with a review where ever necessary.
3. Mentoring is not micromanagement: King Simba, mentors, and coaches his son Kion as a leader. He lets his son and his team make decisions. He never interferes, instead he asks questions and shares his perspectives. A leader should be like this. He should let his prodigy take the decision. Leaders should ensure that the prodigy has taken a 360 degree perspective of the situation. They should support from the backseat and let the prodigy drive. Micromanagement spoils the game.
Learning is a constant process, it can happen anywhere and anytime, what's required is a willingness to listen and observe. Next time when you are playing with your kid, be attentive, you may learn something new.
