LEADERSHIP SECRETS THAT MAKE TOY STORY GREAT
You are probably one of the millions of people who found the time to go and watch Toy Story 4 this summer. I recently joined the club as well. If you haven’t seen it yet, no worries, there are no ‘major’ spoiler alerts here, but an invitation to see the power of art, film and the larger hunger for understanding the deeper human condition.
I was 18 when Toy Story 1 came out and still remember the unique way a movie unlocked the power to change how we see things and how we understand ourselves. These types of movies become classics. While sequels can be hit or miss the Toy Story brand found a way to push and pull at the right heart strings and raise the bar in every single one of its movies.
My I suggest that the secret to the timelessness of the movie rests in it ability to open us up to something that we rarely slow down to think about.
Almost every moment of conflict, joy, disagreement, fear and forgetfulness that the Toys experience has to do with an internalized question. All the Toys feel it, but Woody is their representative.
Will I still matter if no one needs me ?
The Toys, all of them, find their identity on being liked and needed by Andy, the human boy, their owner. At every corner, and with every possible change comes the growing fear again. What will happen to us and will we matter when new Toys show up? When Andy might not need us anymore?
LESSON 1: Can we learn to embrace that our ‘enemies’ can become our closest friends.
For those who remember, Toy Story 1 introduces us to Buzz. Woody and the other Toys were not ready to learn that Buzz, who they thought was about to steal their place, would become a friend and one who would need them instead. The Toys all help Buzz to figure out who he really is, a toy, a kids play thing. Buzz’s crisis is our crisis. Maybe, who I always thought i was isn’t true. I am not a savior but a servant to kids and friends. It has never been more urgent to understand those who awaken or stir our deepest fears.
Every leader must find a way to model what Woody does: Those we once perceived as enemies might become our greatest friends.
LESSON 2: We are never ready for the things that will really challenge us.
In the midst of every fear-filled moment, Woody and the Toys did not anticipate that their greatest challenge would not be another Toy. Instead, it would come from the one they love the most; Andy.
Andy is getting older and older kids don’t play with toys. The fading name of Andy on the bottom of Woody’s shoe was that subtle but true reality. What happens if we get to a place where no one needs us any more? Might we have to finally get honest with our own identity ?
As a leader who gets to spend considerable time with people I have noticed the secret way that our questions of personal identity, meaning and usefulness are mysteriously intertwined. No amount of positivity quotes can silence that inner fear that we are get older and thus, we might not matter in the same way. As the rate of change increases many will find a way to use this human fear for their own advantage and yet we must remember that our place is not the same as our purpose.
Only when we embrace this part of our human limitation can we learn what it means to belong beyond our fears and to be open to leadership surprises we never saw coming.
Lesson 3: You matter more than you can understand now.
Toy Story 4 takes a big risk to introduce a new character called Forky. While I think the risk paid off, we will have to see how many people will chose Forky as their Halloween custom.
One of the most powerful moments in Toy Story 4 happens when Forky doesn’t know what it means to be a real Toy. He wants to do his own thing and hide in the trash. Instead, Forky must learn that he is special and unique for Bonnie, his creator.
Forky will find his place by the end of the movie. You’ll have to watch and see how he also makes a new friend that will have you giggling. But do not let the laughs and the stunning creativity cause you to miss the way we all need to be reminded of how much we matter to others around us.
We are wise to pay attention to how great art draws us closer to what makes us all human. Toy Story will remain a classic for years to come. I hope they consider making a Toy Story 5, but i don’t have much pull with that.
At the end, Woody’s work seems to be done when he has helped numerous toy pals remember where they came from and why they matter even when they do not feel needed. It is part of the weakness of the human condition to spend our whole lives seeking to feel needed and miss the ways the world does in fact need us to lead, to learn and to love.
We matter even when we don’t think we are needed. It’s in that scary and sometimes fearful place that our new identity gets formed making us ready for the next story we are meant to write with our lives.
