Joseph Lalonde is an award-winning leadership blogger. He helps leaders understand how to use movies to improve their leadership skills and abilities.
Joseph has a unique way of teaching leadership. He found that many leadership training and teaching styles were boring. The way leadership is taught often takes away the fun of entertainment. Joseph believes leaders can learn from movies and that is what he has been doing for the last 10 years, using movies to teach leadership. He recently released his book, Reel Leadership, where he digs deeper into this topic and way of learning.
“Humans are not ideally set up to understand logic; they are ideally set up to understand stories.” ~ Roger C. Schank, Cognitive Scientist
This episode is brought to you by PodMatch, the dating service for podcasters. They introduced me to Joseph Lalonde, and I’m so glad they did. I hope you’ve enjoyed our conversation and remember that if you have a podcast or something to share with the world, check out PodMatch and tell them Lucinda sent you.
I’m so passionate about stories that I created the Story-Power podcast and Patreon communities so I’d have an excuse to talk story with other story lovers. If you’re passionate about stories too, and want to talk about what you’ve learned from your favorites, come join me at patreon.com/StoryPower.
“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” ~ John F. Kennedy
My dad used to say that the only sure thing in life was change. There was no getting around that, so we might as well get used to it.
Today I embrace a big change in my life, my retirement. For several years I have wanted to retire from formal teaching at the college, but I didn’t want to leave them in the lurch with no one to take over my classes. Fortunately as I’ve written here before, my friend, Dave Dahl, came along and since he’s now fully qualified to take over, I feel comfortable leaving. I celebrate his talent and enthusiasm. My enthusiasm is heading in a much different direction.
The moment I saw that the dramatic structure class I had agreed to teach one last time was canceled, I felt a rush of relief. I’m free. I don’t have to adhere to the school schedule anymore. Once Barry is retired, we can pick up and go whenever we want. And my full attention and energy can now be concentrated on my creative projects. That makes me so happy on the one hand. On the other I was looking forward to teaching dramatic structure again because I love talking about stories. I will get to do that with my Patreon Community, but it’s not very large yet and my patrons are quite busy this summer promoting their book, artwork and such.
But, teaching must be part of my life’s purpose because as I was waiting for students to sign up for my class, I came across a course at Mindvalley, that teaches people how to build online courses. I was hooked. I’ve been thinking about creating an online course for quite some time, but I didn’t know how to do it. Now, I’m learning all the steps you have to go through to create a dynamic online course, filming the segments, finding a platform on which to sell it, and how to promote and market it.
What am I teaching? Of course, the class will be about how to analyze stories so that you can use what you learn in your real life. In essence, I’m teaching what my father taught me all those years ago and have used over and over in every class I’ve taught that involves stories. It’s my belief that stories are one of the oldest teaching tools. They were used even before writing was invented. It’s a fun way to learn, and if the story is told well, we connect with it emotionally and see people and the world around us in new ways.
Those are not the only changes that have been happening in my life. After our trip to the Pacific Northwest in July, I want to stay connected to my family better. I’ve been a horrible correspondent. I’d like to create the 21st Century equivalent of the hand written letter exchange. My father-in-law writes a weekly email letter about what he and my mother-in-law have been up too. That’s great, but if I do that, I don’t just want it to be a one way exchange. I want to hear what everyone else is doing too. I know, I could just call, but I can’t see photos during a phone call. Social media is fine, but there are things I don’t feel like sharing on platforms that anyone can access. So, Barry has indicated that there might be a platform that would be private and both sides of our family can subscribe and share. I like that idea.
So, as the summer winds down and Barry and I are preparing to celebrate our 42 anniversary, I’m grateful that change happens. Wouldn’t it be boring if we had to live the same day over and over again? Hmm, maybe that’s what the movie Groundhog Day is trying to tell us. Even in that story, Bill Murray’s character gets bored and begins to find ways to vary the events of the day he keeps reliving until finally he gets the lesson he’s supposed to learn.
What changes are you embracing right now? Or are you frustrated by being stuck. Not to worry, nothing stays the same forever.
Lucinda is the author of The Space Between Time, an award finalist in the “Fiction: Fantasy” category of the 2017 Best Book Awards.
Have you ever experienced life shattering events? Yeah, after the last few years, most of us have. In The Space Between Time, Jenna Holden gets slammed by her fiancé walking out, her mother’s untimely death, and losing her job all in one week. But she receives unexpected help when she finds her three-times great-grandmother’s journals and begins the adventure of a lifetime.
The Space Between Time is available in all ebook formats at Smashwords and for Kindle at Amazon, or you can find the ebook at iBooks or Barnes and Noble. If you prefer a physical copy, you can find a print-on-demand version at Amazon. Stay tuned for news when the audiobook version is published.
Lucinda is also the host of Story-Power a podcast where she and her guests discuss their creative endeavors, and/or the stories that have changed their lives. It’s available here on Sage Woman Chronicles and on Apple, Google, and Spotify podcast apps. Please rate and leave a review. It helps people find me.
Patreon
I’m so passionate about stories that I created the Story-Power podcast and Patreon communities so I’d have an excuse to talk story with other story lovers. If you’re passionate about stories too, and want to talk about what you’ve learned from your favorites, come join me at patreon.com/StoryPower.
PodMatch
If you are a podcaster, or have a message or fantastic product you want to share with the world, I encourage you to check out PodMatch. Use the affiliate link and tell them, Lucinda sent you. Then contact me so we can set up a Story-Power chat.
“The more difficult it is for us to articulate our experiences of loss, longing, and feeling lost to the people around us, the more disconnected and alone we feel.”
“We are dangerous when we are not conscious of our responsibility for how we behave, think, and feel.” ~ Marshall B. Rosenberg
Shane as Iron Man
All the crazy things that have been going on in the world the last few years have convinced me of one thing; it is our out of control emotions, and our failure to take responsibility for them, that causes all the pain and suffering in the world.
I’m preparing to teach Dramatic Structure one last time. Watching the movies I’ve chosen I got to thinking about all the things we can learn from stories. In fact I believe they were one of the very first teaching tools of humanity.
Out of all the lessons we can learn by discussing the nuances of stories, I think emotional intelligence is the most useful. For some reason, characters from the MCU came to my mind. Even though I’m 69 years old, we have a teenage nephew who is a huge superhero nerd. So, to keep up with him, we have watched lots and lots of superhero movies, both DC and MCU. I have to say the MCU is my favorite series, but Wonder Woman is amazing.
Anyway, while we were in the PNW on vacation, we watched the latest Spider Man movie. In that version, (spoiler alert), there are three versions of Peter Parker. The older ones help the youngest one solve a really big problem and in the process the teenage Peter, learns a bit about his emotions and that it’s not good to stuff them.
So, I do this random thing where I’m thinking about a story in the back of my mind as I’m doing other things. One thought led me to another. First, superhero movies are one genre of modern stories that are our modern mythology. Then I was thinking about the things we learn from stories. And this random tidbit from my teacher training came to me. It’s as important to foster emotional intelligence in our students as it is mental processes, so they can learn to think critically. In fact, Those two things go hand-in-hand.
The MCU is a perfect example of the importance of emotional intelligence. There are characters on either end of the spectrum from highly emotionally intelligent to not very emotionally intelligent at all. Here is my example. Tony Stark is a mental genius, but not very emotionally intelligent, at least not at first. He makes decisions without really taking time to consider the consequences. He thinks taking action will alleviate his jumbled emotions. Steve Rogers, on the other hand, is not stupid, but his genius is his emotional intelligence. He’s able to take a step back when a problem presents itself, think of the consequences of his actions, and think strategically to come up with the best plan. All the other MCU characters are at various places on the spectrum between those two.
There are so many examples in stories where a character tries to stuff his or her feelings and then just reacts without much thought when something goes wrong. When they do that, the outcome is usually not very good. They get themselves into deeper and deeper trouble.
I can attest to the fact that stuffing my feelings made my life so much more miserable because the pain grows. It doesn’t disappear. If I allow myself to feel the pain, it tends to dissipate quickly and I can see options to solving my problem.
The thing I love about stories is that, if we choose to, we can put ourselves into the character’s shoes and maybe learn from their mistakes, strengths, and successes. How are we like them? How are we dissimilar? And does what they’re going through give us clues to take home and apply to our own lives? Those are the kinds of questions my parents put to me whenever we watched movies, TV shows, or read books together. Those are the kinds of things I want to promote with this blog, my podcast, and my Patreon Community. I want to foster dialogue about the things we learn from stories.
Those are my thoughts today. I hope you are doing well. I’d love to hear what stories you love because you learned something from them.
Have you ever experienced life shattering events? Yeah, after the last few years, most of us have. In The Space Between Time, Jenna Holden gets slammed by her fiancé walking out, her mother’s untimely death, and losing her job all in one week. But she receives unexpected help when she finds her three-times great-grandmother’s journals and begins the adventure of a lifetime.
The Space Between Time is available in all ebook formats at Smashwords and for Kindle at Amazon, or you can find the ebook at iBooks or Barnes and Noble. If you prefer a physical copy, you can find a print-on-demand version at Amazon. Stay tuned for news when the audiobook version is published.
Lucinda is also the host of Story-Power a podcast where she and her guests discuss their creative endeavors, and/or the stories that have changed their lives. It’s available here on Sage Woman Chronicles and on Apple, Google, and Spotify podcast apps. Please rate and leave a review. It helps people find me.
Patreon
I’m so passionate about stories that I created the Story-Power podcast and Patreon communities so I’d have an excuse to talk story with other story lovers. If you’re passionate about stories too, and want to talk about what you’ve learned from your favorites, come join me at patreon.com/StoryPower.
PodMatch
If you are a podcaster, or have a message or fantastic product you want to share with the world, I encourage you to check out PodMatch. Use the affiliate link and tell them, Lucinda sent you. Then contact me so we can set up a Story-Power chat.
Jason Sherman is a successful entrepreneur, award winning filmmaker, published author, tech startup expert, and journalist. He has been featured by several media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Verge, and ABC News. Jason is fluent in Spanish, is a classically trained violinist, and was a featured speaker on FOX’s Futurist TV Show: Xploration Earth 2050.
Jason runs a web and mobile dev shop and film studio from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He gives guest lectures at area universities, and regularly supports hackathons or tech events as a mentor and judge. His methodologies on entrepreneurship and data driven decisions are his main source of education to those he helps all around the world. His startup book Strap on your Boots is the culmination of his life’s work to help other entrepreneurs succeed and is the focus of a class he created called Startup Essentials. He originally taught the course as a guest lecturer at area universities, including the Wharton School of Business and now the course is available online for students on Udemy.
“Humans are not ideally set up to understand logic; they are ideally set up to understand stories.” ~ Roger C. Schank, Cognitive Scientist
This episode is brought to you by PodMatch, the dating service for podcasters. They introduced me to Jason Sherman, and I’m so glad they did. I hope you’ve enjoyed our conversation and remember that if you have a podcast or something to share with the world, check out PodMatch and tell them Lucinda sent you.
I’m so passionate about stories that I created the Story-Power podcast and Patreon communities so I’d have an excuse to talk story with other story lovers. If you’re passionate about stories too, and want to talk about what you’ve learned from your favorites, come join me at patreon.com/StoryPower.
“I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want. I can never train myself in all the skills I want. And why do I want? I want to live and feel all the shades, tones and variations of mental and physical experience possible in my life. And I am horribly limited.” ~ Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
“Humans are not ideally set up to understand logic; they are ideally set up to understand stories.” ~ Roger C. Schank, Cognitive Scientist
My life is in transition. I’m winding down teaching. In fact, I may not even have students for my favorite class this fall. That’s all good with me. I’ve been ready to concentrate on Story-Power, this blog, and working on my novel for quite some time. It’s not that I won’t write about my spiritual journey, or how I feel about current events, but lately I’ve begun to realize that everything that happens to us in life, we turn into stories. And I’m a bit like Sylvia Plath. I want to experience everything, or as much of it as I can. That’s what stories do for me. I’m able to get a glimpse into someone else’s emotions and experiences when I chat with them, or when I read a book, or watch a movie or TV show. It’s not exactly the same as experiencing it myself, but it’s close.
One day I was doing a MindValley lesson with Jeffrey Allen and he said something that gave me another insight into why I love stories so much. He said something like, “We watch movies so we can feel emotions.” And I said to myself, “That’s it! Stories help us examine emotions at a safe distance.” Maybe we have had some bad experiences that have left us feeling damaged and vulnerable and we think if we go to those dark places in our minds, we’ll get lost there. But examining those dark feelings through characters in a story can be helpful.
I’ve actually been thinking of writing a book about my personal experiences of discussing stories with my parents and how that has helped me take what I learned from the characters in the stories and apply them in the real world. It’s our emotions that get us into trouble most of the time. I believe that exploring lots of different kinds of stories and using them as a kind of therapy is a good thing. My parents also used stories as a way for us to communicate some of our deepest feelings without feeling embarrassed. We could use the characters experiences as a substitute for our own.
Another thing I love about stories, as Sylvia Plath indicated, I can examine emotions and situations that I might never experience. In a way it’s like living many lifetimes vicariously. How cool is that!
It’s my sincere belief that we are either extremely curious about other people, or conversely, we are afraid of others because we see them as hostile toward us. In either case, examining stories can help us learn to live more easily with others.
I will start off this series by sharing what I’ve learned about living on this planet, one story at a time. The insights I gained from watching or reading the story and how I applied the lessons to my everyday life. I’m not a parent, but I have seen the eyes of my students light up during discussions of a story when I indicate that they can take the lessons it offers and use them in their everyday lives. That was obviously not something they had ever thought of before. That’s the message I want to share. Stories teach us important lessons that we can use in our encounters with our fellow human beings.
I hope you’ll share your insights from a book, movie, TV show, or personal interaction with us. I want to learn from you as much as from all the media I consume and my personal connections.
Thanks for reading, liking, and commenting. I appreciate it.
Have you ever experienced life shattering events? Yeah, after the last few years, most of us have. In The Space Between Time, Jenna Holden gets slammed by her fiancé walking out, her mother’s untimely death, and losing her job all in one week. But she receives unexpected help when she finds her three-times great-grandmother’s journals and begins the adventure of a lifetime.
The Space Between Time is available in all ebook formats at Smashwords and for Kindle at Amazon, or you can find the ebook at iBooks or Barnes and Noble. If you prefer a physical copy, you can find a print-on-demand version at Amazon. Stay tuned for news when the audiobook version is published.
Lucinda is also the host of Story-Power a podcast where she and her guests discuss their creative endeavors, and/or the stories that have changed their lives. It’s available here on Sage Woman Chronicles and on Apple, Google, and Spotify podcast apps. Please rate and leave a review. It helps people find me.
Patreon
I’m so passionate about stories that I created the Story-Power podcast and Patreon communities so I’d have an excuse to talk story with other story lovers. If you’re passionate about stories too, and want to talk about what you’ve learned from your favorites, come join me at patreon.com/StoryPower.
PodMatch
If you are a podcaster, or have a message or fantastic product you want to share with the world, I encourage you to check out PodMatch. Use the affiliate link and tell them, Lucinda sent you. Then contact me so we can set up a Story-Power chat.
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