The Father Christmas Organisation had now fully embraced 21st Century technology. Under the expert guidance of Santa’s eldest son and Operations Director, Steve Christmas, ‘The Sleigh’ had been re-imagined into a cross between the Alien Mothership from Independence Day, and Amazon’s gigantic distribution centre in Baltimore. Thousands of elves toiled tirelessly on hyper-efficient automated Germanic production lines. Hundreds more sat behind endless rows of constantly flickering screens in an enormous hanger-like Customer Service Centre. No time for unnecessary ‘decking the halls’ or singing Christmas songs. Not a reindeer in sight.
CEO and well-loved figurehead, Father Christmas was clearly struggling to keep up with the times. Cleverly caricatured as displaying the primary behaviours of a befuddled people –pleasing Amiable Style, (with an occasional flash of stubbornness bought about by his unfulfilled Esteem Needs), Jim Broadbent’s Santa was a man out of touch, no longer able to rally the troops with a compelling vision, or possessing the self confidence to do the right thing when challenged by his bullying and driven son.
It was Christmas Eve, and self-proclaimed heir to the Big Red Cloak, Steve Christmas -brilliantly bought to life in an out-and-out Dominant / Hostile ‘Driver Style’ by actor Hugh Lawrie – organised the biggest logistical operation in history with military precision. There was no margin for error, and no room for passengers.
The central character, Father Christmas’s second son Arthur, viewed as a complete liability by elder brother Steve, was locked away in The Post Room where it was felt that he could do as little damage to operations as possible. As it happened, in Clifton’s Strength based leadership terms, this position was perfect for Arthur, who was played very much as a mixture of Warm/Submissive Amiable needs and Task/ Submissive Security Needs styles by actor James McAvoy. Arthur was responsible for opening, reading and replying to all letters addressed to Santa. In addition to an expert knowledge of languages and geography, the Post Room role required huge reserves of caring and compassion, coupled with an almost obsessive attention to detail. During the film we discovered that one of Arthur’s primary motivators was ‘worry’. As it turned out however, his biggest motivator, and the driving force that inspired and eventually enabled him to win the engagement and support of not only the predominantly elfin workforce, but also his CEO and co-directors, was his complete dedication to, and belief in the importance of The Organisation’s Mission Statement: “No child will be missed”.
If you’ve not yet seen Arthur Christmas, or if you were under the illusion that it was a kid’s film, I urge you to see it. The lessons for business come thick and fast:
· The Father Christmas Organisation, in their quest for greater efficiencies, had lost sight of its core values and beliefs.
· The Elves, who for hundred’s of years had been held up as the iconic example of a loyal, hard-working and committed workforce, had become disengaged and disenchanted by a CEO who no longer appeared to care, and an Ops Director who lacked the necessary ‘soft skills’ to win hearts as well as minds.
· There are huge organisational benefits in finding ways to enable employees to work to, and build upon, their strengths as opposed to their weaknesses. (”…and they were happy”)
· Arthur Christmas, with the help of retired Grandsanta and his trusty (yet obsolete) reindeer, demonstrated the importance for organisations of being willing (and able) to respond quickly and ‘do the right thing’ when their systems and procedures failed to deliver a compelling customer experience.
· Even the most unlikely employees are capable of remarkable contributions when they feel inspired and motivated working for an organisation that they can feel proud to be a part of, and a leader that they trust and respect.
On behalf of all of us at Audience with Charisma, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and an happy, healthy and abundant New Year.
Mark
