Summer Blockbusters: It’s Getting Hot In Her(r)e

The headlines this summer have been scandal fueled. Like me, your stomach is probably churning thinking about the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of women who have been harmed by P. Diddy, Jeffery Epstein, and the scores of men with whom they affiliated. These abuses of power are horrific, but this past week it’s the Kiss Cam debacle that has my attention. It’s gotten me thinking of leadership, role models, the impact on the workplace and the world.

Let’s start with Gwyneth Paltrow, God bless her (Now that’s a sentence I never thought I’d write)! You have to appreciate her good humor for agreeing to participate in the best marketing response in the history of marketing responses. 

If you haven’t seen her in the new Astronomer ad, then watch this. You’ll laugh, which is a welcome relief from the despicable behavior of Andy Byron, the now ex-CEO of Astronomer and Kristen Cabot, their now former Chief People Officer. 

Given the uproar, you can’t have missed the un-conscious uncoupling they were forced to do on screen at a recent Coldplay concert as Byron ducked away from the Kiss Cam and Cabot covered her face in shame. Their actions were shameful - and they knew it. 

Former employees immediately weighed in, calling Byron an aggressive, sales-obsessed “toxic” leader. He had a history of problematic leadership at previous companies. Former employees reported Byron would lash out against employees who disagreed with him, including threatening to fire them. 'You couldn’t challenge him,' said one who worked directly for him. Many reportedly quit because of the work culture he created - it was all about delivering results at the expense of everything, and everyone, else.  

Here’s the thing: We all know CEO sex scandals aren’t new. Hell, there have been four in just the past two years (we see you, Kohl’s, Norfolk Southern, BP, Cboe), but not much research has been done to quantify the impact, until now. 

Following #Metoo, research around the impact of leadership integrity on company culture has revealed that high levels of perceived integrity are positively correlated with good outcomes, in terms of higher productivity, profitability, and higher level of attractiveness to prospective job applicants. 

Other research has shown that employees who trust their leadership are 38% more likely to give extra effort (ie: increased productivity). Inversely, when trust and perceptions of leadership integrity are broken, productivity, profitability, retention and the ability to hire top talent tumbles. 

But this wasn’t just Byron’s leadership failure; it was Cabot’s as well. Hired last fall because, as her boss said, she brought “exceptional leadership and deep expertise in talent management, employee engagement, and scaling people strategies.” Like Byron, Cabot’s decision to place personal desires above her duty as a leader will have lasting impact, and not just within the company. This scandal reinforces skepticisms about the role of HR as a trusted employee advocate. William E. Grob, partner at law firm Ogletree Deakins, said, “If that trusted relationship is compromised by the appearance of favoritism toward one side or the other, the efficacy of the position is damaged and likely irretrievable.”

Within days, Bryon was put on leave and has since “resigned.” Cabot resigned as well. And, the good news is that this scandal might just be a win-win for the company. Interim CEO, Peet DeJoy, wrote on LinkedIn, "The spotlight has been unusual and surreal for our team and, while I would never have wished for it to happen like this, Astronomer is now a household name…we're here because the mission is bigger than any one moment."

We’ve seen this playbook before. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi turned the company’s culture and brand perception around after taking the helm from Travis Kalanick who was fired for his bullying behavior. Under Khosrowshahi, Uber has evolved from a culture of "move fast and break things" to "move fast and do the right thing." Time will tell if the Astronomer board and leadership will prioritize a winning culture over a sales obsessed CEO.

Meanwhile, the social media storm agrees on one thing: both leaders got “a big helping of humble pie.”  Leaders take note: Lessons in humility, a core modern leadership power skill, are everywhere. The sad truth is that often the lessons are cautionary rather than inspiring.

So…you can imagine my delight when I went to see F1:The Movie, the heart-pounding summer blockbuster which has grossed over $509 million globally - an estimated 7 million viewers around the world have seen the film. That’s not just a great Return on Investment, it's a fantastic Return on Impact. 

F1: The Movie isn’t just a masterclass in fast car racing or summer blockbuster filmmaking, it’s a masterclass in modern leadership. As I watched the film, I kept wondering:

What would the Return on Impact be if company investors and boards and executives looked for leaders committed to building great company cultures, rather than focusing exclusively on results? 

In the film, Sonny Hayes (played by Brad Pitt) is the hail-mary hire (some might call him a DEI hire, given his age) of underdog F1 race team, APXGP, run by Rubin Cervantes (Javier Bardem). Rubin has one last chance to turn around his failing team before he is forced to hand it over to investors. Sonny’s job is to win races for the team. Instead, he focuses on team culture so that together they can win races.

Here are a just a few of the modern leadership lessons from Sonny Hayes:

It’s About We, Not Me:

As the story goes, Sonny lost his chance to become an F1 star 30 years ago. In theory, joining the APXGP team is his chance at redemption. Instead, Sonny puts his teammate, Joshua Pierce’s (Damson Idris) success above his own. He understands that his role isn’t to win the race, but rather to mentor the rookie, Joshua, to greatness.

Collaborate, Don’t Dictate:

Throughout the movie, Sonny reminds everyone from the engineering team to the pit crew that F1 is a team sport and winning is a collective outcome. In one scene, he gathers the team and says, “If each of us finds just a tenth of a second — in the pit, on the setup, in the garage, on the track — that’s the difference between last place and first.” In another scene, he inspires Kate McKenna (Kerry Condon), the team’s technical director, to redesign the car’s aerodynamic capabilities, which gives the team the needed edge to win.

Share the Credit, Hoard the Blame:

When Joshua ignores Sonny’s advice and ends up crashing the high performance race car, Sonny takes the blame, letting others believe it was his wild-boy antics that led to the crisis. He is willing to hide the truth so Joshua’s reputation is not harmed. Near the end of the movie, when Sonny stands on the podium to receive the trophy for leading the best F1 race team in the world, he immediately hands the trophy to Rubin, sharing credit for the team’s success rather than keeping the spotlight on himself.

Sonny Hayes is a modern leader who models for us all how it’s done. With seven million people having already seen F1: The Movie and likely many more to come, we can only hope that the lessons being taught will be fuel for the next generation of leaders. If only today’s real life leaders would join the team, what a wonderful world it would be.

Lead On!

Lisen

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