A leadership lesson from Buddy the Elf

There are many traditions and important figures associated with the holiday season. One of those popular individuals is Buddy, the main character in "Elf" (2003). Buddy is a lovable character who can teach us an important lesson in leadership.

Buddy’s journey highlights the importance of value clarification. Luckily for most of us, we don’t have to pass through the seven levels of the Candy Cane Forest or the sea of swirly-twirly gum drops. Buddy makes this trip to discover who he is.

Leaders need to make the same discovery by understanding their character strengths and clarifying their values. These important aspects of self-awareness and self-leadership guide our actions and provide a strong foundation that leaders must draw upon to be successful.

Your journey to self-awareness may be more like Buddy’s than you would like to admit. We often gain our self-awareness through our failures, trials and tribulations. Those hard times help teach us who we are, but only if we couple them with reflection. Experience for experience’s sake does not give us self-awareness. Leaders have to learn how to make sense out of their experiences by asking themselves questions or discussing their journey with a coach or mentor.

Buddy the Elf has his place in pop culture. But he also provides us with a great lesson in leadership development.

Photo by Warner Home Video