Leadership Madness.

Leadership Madness, Video, 2006, Video Visions, $795.

Support: leader guide, worksheets, PowerPoint slides.

Leadership Madness is an excellent DVD about leadership. It demonstrates six warning signs of ineffective leadership, showing how seemingly insignificant actions can develop

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Wrong way leadership

The wrong choices are played out with engaging humor, encouraging each of us to take a fresh look at our own leadership practices. The narrator, a psychiatrist in a white lab coat, introduces each scenario as he would a patient seeking treatment, Here is "the case of the ______ leader." The scene unfolds as a no-nonsense parable-like lesson. Using actors in TV sitcom-like situations, the scenarios start out fine but quickly degenerate into chaos as the leaders' signature flaw undermines their success.

The DVD's key message--"Leadership is a powerful substance that can be easily abused.... The key to using it wisely lies within each of us"--is clearly illustrated through a series of realistic, entertaining dilemmas.

The DVD never fails to entertain an audience: it is a guaranteed success as a stand-alone training or module in a larger offering. Key learning points of Leadership Madness include the following:

* Allow people to do their jobs. Beware of doing people's jobs for them. Give them a direction and get out of their way.

* Tell people what they're doing right. Beware of only telling people what they're doing wrong. Notice what they're doing right and tell them.

* Use your enthusiasm to solve problems. Beware of addressing real problems with meaningless pep talks. Use positive energy to find solutions.

* Put leadership before friendship. Beware of placing friendship before work. If you want to be respected as a leader, act like one.

* Take the time to really listen. Beware of dominating every discussion. Instead, listen more and talk less.

* Be an ethical role model. Beware of little white lies. Set the standard by your own behavior.

Engaging style

The DVD's engaging style is its strongest key selling point. It is versatile: it clearly illustrates key management principles and can be used as an introduction or wrap-up to any course or training on leadership.

Having used the DVD repeatedly in corporate training sessions and demanding, academic classroom settings, I have seen first-hand how engaging the DVD really is. Learners are riveted by the presentation of "Derailed Leadership" and the vivid counter example-example format.

After viewing the video, learners often want to tell a story about their experience with leaders similar to those depicted in the show. In fact, they often see their current or former manager in one of the caricatures and recognize that the individual struggled with a certain "lesson" but never drew conclusions that would have helped everyone. The DVD teaches that even rising stars can make unnecessary, avoidable errors, which come back to haunt them in comical yet poignant ways.

Recommendation

Short, funny, and highly effective, Leadership Madness should be a welcome addition to anyone's multimedia training repertoire.

Review by George Hall

Product Ratings

Leadership Madness

Holds user interest  ****
Acting/presenting    ****
Diversity            ***
Production quality   ****
Documentation        *** 1/2
Value of Content     *** 1/2
Instructional Value  ****
Value for the money  ****
Overall rating       *** 1/2