Five Leadership Lessons From James T. Kirk - Forbes

Transcription

1 Business Investing Tech Entrepreneurs Op/Ed Leadership Lifestyle Lists Log in Sign up Connect Help Search news, business leaders, and stock quotes How To Ace Your Job Interview Most Miserable Sports Cities Best-Paying Jobs For Social People AdVoice: Lessons In Creativity From Google Subscribe > Alex Knapp, Forbes Staff I write about the future of science, technology, and culture. + Follow on Forbes Subscribe 295 TECH 2:27AM 272,619 views Five Leadership Lessons From James T. Kirk 116 comments, 89 called-out + Comment now Captain James T. Kirk is one of the most famous Captains in the history of Starfleet. There s a good reason for that. He saved the planet Earth several times, stopped the Doomsday Machine, helped negotiate peace with the Klingon Empire, kept the balance of power between the Federation and the Romulan Empire, and even managed to fight Nazis. On his five-year mission commanding the U.S.S. Enterprise, as well as subsequent commands, James T. Kirk was a quintessential leader, who led his crew into the unknown and continued to succeed time and time again. Most Popular NEWS People Places Companies Five Leadership Lessons From James T. Kirk Kirk +268,612 views Smart Move Is Selling Apple On ipad Announcement Announcement +36,380 views Facebook Can Tell You If A Person Is Worth Hiring +34,784 views Five Leadership Mistakes Of The Galactic Empire +33,419 views Meet Cheetah, Boston Dynamics' Terrifyingly Fast Running Robot (Video) (Video) +31,135 views + show more Kirk s success was no fluke, either. His style of command demonstrates a keen understanding of leadership and how to maintain a team that succeeds time and time again, regardless of the dangers faced. Here are five of the key leadership lessons that you can take away from Captain Kirk as you pilot your own organization into unknown futures. 1. Never Stop Learning You know the greatest danger facing us is ourselves, an irrational fear of the unknown. But there s no such thing as the unknown only things temporarily hidden, temporarily not understood. (Image via Wikipedia) Alex Knapp Forbes Staff + Follow on Forbes I've been the Social Media Editor at Forbes since October, Prior to that, I was a freelance writer and contributor here. On this blog, I focus on futurism, cutting edge technology, and breaking research. Follow me on Twitter You can me at aknapp@forbes.com ALEX KNAPP S POPULAR POSTS Five Leadership Lessons From James T. Kirk 273,653 views Five Leadership Mistakes Of The Galactic Empire 201,588 views Physicists Create a Hole In Time to Hide Events 85,439 views Quantum Teleportation Breakthrough May Pave the Way for Quantum Computing 72,899 views NASA Satellite May Have Found The Smallest Known Black Hole 64,660 views Page 1 of 6

2 Five Leadership Mistakes Of The Galactic Empire Alex Knapp Forbes Staff How to Reboot Star Trek for Modern TV Alex Knapp Forbes Staff Captain Kirk may have a reputation as a suave ladies man, but don t let that exterior cool fool you. Kirk s reputation at the Academy was that of a walking stack of books, in the words of his former first officer, Gary Mitchell. And a passion for learning helped him through several missions. Perhaps the best demonstration of this is in the episode Arena, where Kirk is forced to fight a Gorn Captain in single combat by advanced beings. Using his own knowledge and materials at hand, Kirk is able to build a rudimentary shotgun, which he uses to defeat the Gorn. If you think about it, there s no need for a 23rd Century Starship Captain to know how to mix and prepare gunpowder if the occasion called for it. After all, Starfleet officers fight with phasers and photon torpedoes. To them, gunpowder is obsolete. But the same drive for knowledge that drove Kirk to the stars also caused him to learn that bit of information, and it paid off several years later. In the same way, no matter what your organization does, it helps to never stop learning. The more knowledge you have, the more creative you can be. The more you re able to do, the more solutions you have for problems at your disposal. Sure, you might never have to face down a reptilian alien on a desert planet, but you never know what the future holds. Knowledge is your best key to overcoming whatever obstacles are in your way. 2. Have Advisors With Different Worldviews One of the advantages of being a captain, Doctor, is being able to ask for advice without necessarily having to take it. Kirk s closest two advisors are Commander Spock, a Vulcan committed to a philosophy of logic, and Dr. Leonard McCoy, a human driven by compassion and scientific curiosity. Both Spock and McCoy are frequently at odds with each other, recommended different courses of action and bringing very different types of arguments to bear in defense of those points of view. Kirk sometimes goes with one, or the other, or sometimes takes their advice as a springboard to developing an entirely different course of action. However, the very fact that Kirk has advisors who have a different worldview not only from each other, but also from himself, is a clear demonstration of Kirk s confidence in himself as a leader. Weak leaders surround themselves with yes men who are afraid to argue with them. That fosters an organizational culture that stifles creativity and innovation, and leaves members of the organization afraid to speak up. That can leave the organization unable to solve problems or change course. Historically, this has led to some serious disasters, such as Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Organizations that allow for differences of opinion are better at developing innovation, better at solving problems, and better at avoiding groupthink. We all need a McCoy and a Spock in our lives and organizations. MORE FROM ALEX KNAPP Alex s News Stream Show all activity (20) New Post 7 hours ago LEGO Space Shuttle Makes It Into Space New Post 7 hours ago Need To Know The Structure Of A Molecule? Google It. Comment 9 hours ago Yeah, the Kobyashi Maru was part of this original list, but my comments [...] on Five Leadership Lessons From James T. Kirk Comment 9 hours ago That's an excellent point, thank you [...] on Five Leadership Lessons From James T. Kirk Subscribe to Forbes Just $1 an Issue Your Name Address City State Zip FORBES SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscribe To Newsletter Subscribe To Magazine Subscriber Customer Service Subscribe Jobs In Canada Get Your Canadian Work Visa. Take Our Free Visa Assessment Now Affordable Web Design And Made-To-Measure Websites Discover It On marketing.yell.com marketing.yell.com Solar Panels Online Quote Compare all solar PV panels prices To Save. on PV system Buy Direct Page 2 of 6

3 Page 1 2 Next Page» 116 comments, 89 called-out + Comment now Print Report Corrections Request Reprint More on Forbes Right Now FEATURES Facebook Can Tell You If A Person Is Worth Hiring TODAY'S TOP STORIES 10 Steps To Boost Your 401(k) +3,496 views The IPO Class Of ,498 views 10 Ways To Build A Business Culture Like Apple Forbes 400: America's Rich List +3,128 views Post Your Comment Please log in or sign up to comment. Enter Your Comment Forbes writers have the ability to call out member comments they find particularly interesting. Called-out comments are highlighted across the Forbes network. You'll be notified if your comment is called out. Comments CALLED-OUT Expand All Comments Page 3 of 6

4 George Bradt, Contributor 1 day ago Well done Alex. You point out five valuable leadership traits. Don t forget that the Enterprise has one of the great mission statements of all time: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before. Parmy Olson, Forbes Staff 1 day ago I especially like the points about Kirk being surrounded by two advisors with polar views to one another. Not only did that make for more enjoyable, edgy dialogue in the films and show, it s a simple appointment any politician or corporate exec can carry out. Of course one need the cojones, like Kirk, to actually *want* to surround yourself with people who disagree with you. Alex Knapp, Forbes Staff 23 hours ago George, that s very true! I like a concisely written mission statement. Author Alex Knapp, Forbes Staff 23 hours ago Author Parmy, it s a lesson that Kirk no doubt learned from his own personal hero, Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was also strong enough to have a cabinet of people who disagreed with him and each other. Rob Finfrock 19 hours ago Great article, Alex! Somewhere, Gene Roddenberry is smiling that someone gets it. The second point was stated a bit more bluntly on the Aaron Sorkin series Sports Night by the character Isaac Jaffe: If you re dumb, surround yourself with smart people and if you re smart, surround yourself with smart people who disagree with you. That s a mantra we all should live by. art frailey 18 hours ago I would not agree with having all smart people that disagree with you. Some of them should be smart people that agree with you, but have possibly better ideas. If we are really smart, we will recognize the ones with better ideas on both sides. To bad our politicians don t work this way. Sheena Burton 23 hours ago How ingenious! I love the way your mind works. Of course, Star Trek. GrrlScientist 23 hours ago another lesson: NEVER, under any circumstances, wear a red shirt! (signed by one of society s red shirts) + expand comment Page 4 of 6

5 MarkLucio 23 hours ago I believe you left out Always enter into intimate diplomatic negotiations with an alien species, especially if they re hot David LaBerge 21 hours ago And don t forget that you might be find that their cheap jewlery is really made up of dilithium crystals which Scotty and jury rig in an emergency to get warp power and phasers back on line. (Dolman Of Elaas) Russ Moon MBA 22 hours ago Alex I don t feel like such a Nerd for saying to a guy in the gym as I handed him my iphone to take a picture Kirk to Enterprise. Kirk is cool and his leadership style evolved beyond his time. Great content with a unique, wrapper. You know the greatest danger facing us is ourselves, an irrational fear of the unknown. But there s no such thing as the unknown only things temporarily hidden, temporarily not understood. my phaser is normally set to stun Jim Harrer 22 hours ago Nicely done Alex. We used several Star Trek episodes in our leadership courses. The writers were, in many ways, light years ahead of us. Jim Alex Knapp, Forbes Staff 21 hours ago Interesting. Which episodes do you focus on? Author M C D 18 hours ago Hugh Nibley s son (forgot his name) used to write for them. Maybe that s why they were so far ahead of their time. Piotr Dudała 16 hours ago Should be guessed easily enough, though I d like to hear answer too; my list would be: TOS: Tholian Web TNG: Best of Both Worlds, Allegiance, Redemption, The Wounded, Lower Decks, Disaster and most of all Peak Performance DS9: In Pale Moonlight VOY: Death Wish, Scorpion Page 5 of 6

6 The Forbes 400 World's Billionaires Celebrity 100 World's Leading Companies more + The Forbes 400 is the definitive list of wealth in America, profiling and ranking the country's richest citizens by their estimated net worths. #1 Bill Gates #331 Stewart Rahr #14 Mark Zuckerberg View complete list» #212 Lynda Resnick #7 George Soros #37 Rupert Murdoch Photo Galleries and More The IPO Class Of 2012 Ten Ways To Pay For College Right Now 10 Steps To Boost Your 401(k) The Top Celebrity Charity Relationships Essential Gear For Smarter Travel Home Business Investing Tech Entrepreneurs Op/Ed Leadership Lifestyle Lists Forbes Conferences Newsletters Advertising Information Self-Serve Advertising Reprints/Permissions Terms, Conditions and Notices Privacy Statement Contact Us Sitemap Help 2012 Forbes.com LLC All Rights Reserved MAGAZINES Free Trial Issue Subscriber Services Buy Back Issues Page 6 of 6