MOVIE LIFE LESSONS: 12 O'CLOCK HIGH: LEADERSHIP

Question: What is the only movie to ever be taught and studied in the Harvard Business School?

Answer: 12 O’Clock High starring Gregory Peck.

The movie was released in 1949 and focuses on an Air Force squadron, the 918th, which is conducting daylight bombing runs during World War 2. The movie is taught at the Harvard Business School as a case study in leadership, and how to effect change in organizations. This film is also studied by the US Navy as an example of leadership styles in its Leadership and Management Training School.

Which is why it is the focus of today’s Movie Life Lessons blog post.

THE 10 MOVIE LIFE LESSONS ON LEADERSHIP FROM 12 O’CLOCK HIGH

1. OFFER SOLUTIONS NOT EXCUSES

“We could have. If it hadn’t been for our stinking luck.”

“We’re talking about luck. I don’t believe in it. I believe a man makes his own luck.”

When the movie begins the current commander of the 918th Squadron is Colonel Keith Davenport. Davenport is beloved by his men and returns the feeling. To the detriment of the whole squadron and the larger mission. Davenport makes excuses for the high number of losses his squadron experiences.

The problem as Frank Savage understands it is Davenport’s loyalty is to his men. He is holding on way too tight. The loss of life on each mission is getting to him.

However, in making excuses for his men, in chalking it up to rotten luck, Davenport fails to require the effort of them as individuals. Instead, he explains to his commanding officers why it wasn’t this airman’s fault for missing the target, or that a pilot’s mistake was because they’re tired or because of where they're from, or whatever the reason.

In the end, they are all excuses Davenport makes for his men. This is his mistake.

And it leads to the next Movie Life Lesson:

2. HAVE HIGH STANDARDS AND MAINTAIN THEM.

“I have to ask you to take nice kids and fly them until they can't take no more. Then put them back in and fly them some more. “We've got to try to find out just what a maximum effort is and how much a man can take and get it all.”

Gregory Peck’s General Frank Savage doesn’t waste time making his new style of leadership felt among the base. When the gate guard doesn’t check his credentials and doesn’t salute him Savage chews the man out. He makes it known from the moment he sets foot on the base that he is in charge, and that he expects the rules to be followed. Something that has been missing for too long. The effects of this change in style of leadership are immediately felt by the men. Like when he closes the base canteen.

It’s more than just what he says. It’s how he looks. His uniform is crisp. He is buttoned down. He carries himself like a man in charge. Which he is.

3. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOURSELF AND YOUR ACTIONS

“You met that responsibility the same way you met his need. You ran out on it.”

Savage, memorably chews out Lieutenant Gately for his failure to support his commanding officer, Colonel Davenport, in achieving the mission, and sharing some of his burden. But, even with a soldier like Lieutenant Gatley who he considers to be a coward, Savage doesn’t pass the buck. He doesn’t relieve Gately of command and transfer him to another unit. No. He forces him to take responsibility. He demotes Lt. Gately. He has him change the name of his plane to “The Leper Colony.” He tells him that he is going to get every airmen on base who can’t hit his target, who can’t find the mens room…

Why? What’s the point?

To remind him that no one man is more special than the rest. And that regardless of connections or legacy (Gately’s father and grandfather are both war heroes), each of us is responsible for our actions as individuals no matter what circumstances we might be saddled with or how unfair we think they are. We live in a world that currently thinks that when the standards set become to high for a particular group the answer is to obliterate the standards. Frank Savage proves why that thinking is incorrect. It is the standards we hold ourselves to that make it possible for us each to achieve our missions as individuals.

How to accomplish that leads to the next Movie Life Lesson:

4. GET BACK TO FUNDAMENTALS (TO OVERCOME FEAR AND DOUBT)

“Tell them to put their requests in through proper channels. Meanwhile, they fly.”

General Savage gets his men back to fundamentals; he gets them flying. No more medical exemptions for his airmen. He keeps sending them up. He reviews the missions even on days when the men aren’t going on a bombing run. When people face failure in life, they find themselves at a fork in the road; they have a choice. They can either choose to persist in the mission. Or they can quit. A smart way to bounce back is to get back to basics.

In Top Gun after Goose’s death when Maverick refuses to engage what does his commanding officer (Tom Skerrit) do? He keeps sending Maverick up. Getting him back in the cockpit.

In Rocky III after Rocky loses to Clubber Lang (because he didn’t train properly) what is Apollo Creed’s solution? He takes Rocky back to the basics. He trains him in the basics. He learns to fight again.

In 12 O’Clock High Frank Savage takes the same tactic. In doing so he stops the men from feeling sorry for themselves (or at the very least he doesn’t give them the time to wallow in their self-pity. He doesn’t let them think they are special. He keeps them busy with the basics. The fundamentals. Then he builds on that. No one person’s hide is worth saving more than another. No one man is more important than the mission.

Which leads to the next Movie Life Lesson.

5. PROMOTE EXCELLENCE

“I better practice saluting you first. It goes with the metal. It was a privilege to add my name to that recommendation.”

Savage’s focus on excellence involves demoting aircrew who make mistakes to The Leper Colony; those who prove themselves get promoted out of it.

5. MAINTAIN YOUR DISTANCE

“You’ve gotta find a way to save yourself a little. You can’t carry all the load. It’s too big.”

“He’s going to bust wide open. And he’s going to do it to himself. Why? Because he is a first-rate guy.”

Over the course of the movie despite his stoicism in dealing with the strain of leading men into combat, General Frank Savage begins to succumb to the same tendencies his predecessor. Flying with his men he has grown close to them. Too close. He is holding on too tight. When one of the other planes is shot down, Savage calls over the radio for the pilots to bail out. But, it is too late. Afterward, we see he is clearly affected by the loss.

In Saving Private Ryan we see another character who employs this tactic in leadership. Tom Hanks’s Captain serves alongside his men but does not forget that his role as their leader necessitates that he maintain a separation from them. There are certain facts about his life he won’t share. When it comes to complaining as he explains to one of the soldiers under his command, “gripes go up.”

6. BUILD SUPPORT

Major Stovall: “He'll never feel things about the group the way that made her Davenport dead. And nothing is going to start eating holes through him. He's too tough for it.

Joe:“There’s also such a thing as being human.”

Major Stovall: You know something, Joe, the only difference between Keith Davenport and Frank Savage…is Frank Savage is about that much taller.”

At the start of the film Keith Davenport and Frank Savage seem like entirely different men. Which calls to mind, Lt. Stovall’s remark about Frank Savage and Colonel Davenport.

Major Stovall (Dean Jagger, who won an Oscar for his portrayal) at first does not like Peck’s, General Frank Savage. Initially, Stovall longs for the personal connection of the former commanding officer, Colonel Davenport who has close personal connections with all of his men. By contrast, Stovall views Savage as cold, unsympathetic, and tough.

A hard ass.

Major Stovall comes to understand that Savage and Davenport are both good men who want the same thing: Victory. They both care about their men. That there is no difference between them.

When the pilots threaten to transfer it is Stovall who agrees to stall the pilots’ requests to give the general’s approach time to take effect.

7. INSPIRE OTHERS IN THE MISSION

“But right now the deal is to hang on….We’re in a shooting war,” -Frank Savage

With his pilots on the verge of transferring, Savage calls a trusted young officer, Bishop, into his office to hear his concerns. Bishop explains that he can’t see the point of their attacks. Savage explains why their missions are so important, convincing Bishop to stay. In turn, Bishop convinces the other pilots to stay as well.

Be clear about your mission goals and why they are important to achieve. Following orders is all well and good, but in a larger sense, the team needs to be inspired to complete their objectives. The way to make this happen is to instill a sense of purpose in your people. To inspire them. Doing so makes the sacrifices that will no doubt be necessary along the way seem worthwhile for everyone involved.

Tony Robbins refers to this as the “must.” The idea is that people are properly motivated by things that are most necessary to them in their lives. Therefore, people will do what they “must do” to maintain, protect, and keep, those things in their lives that are most valuable

8. SACRIFICE

“I guess a man only has so much to give and you’ve given it.”

Anything worth doing requires sacrifice. This is at the heart of what the movie is about. The young airmen who are sent on dangerous bombing runs by their commanding officers, who give their lives for the sake of the greater mission.

Which sounds good but is easier said than done. For example, everyone knows they should eat healthily. However, many of us are not willing to make the necessary sacrifices (giving up sweets, foods we love, and eating certain meals at certain times). The reason being we are often not properly motivated or inspired in our missions. We don’t have the right “must.”

For example, if a person is overweight or out of shape they might know they need to work out and eat healthier. But until a doctor tells that person they’re going to have a heart attack (or serious health problems) if they don’t change their ways, they very often don’t. But once they understand why they must do things for the greater good, they will make the necessary sacrifices.

Of course, that begs the question of what should be sacrificed, and how much to sacrifice.

This leads to the next Movie Life Lesson:

9. BUILD LEADERS

“And while you're at it tell ‘em we're going to work now to try and build some leadership around here. And when it comes to counting on me, tell him you're gonna be the next one. And it better be good. And tell Bishop he's gonna lead one and find out what it feels like to carry the load.”

Savage insists that every man must carry the load. Every man must learn to lead. That way the squadron/team is not reliant on one man. They can each rely on themselves and on the men on their team. The lesson is to organize your squadron/team/company in such a way that every man or woman pulls their weight.

In this way, the mission carries on beyond just one man.

In my experience in Hollywood, there are essentially two ways to run a writer’s room/production. The first is the way Matt Weiner ran Mad Men. Every single decision rested with him. Most of the production was forced to wait for Matt to weigh in on whatever decision was being made. One time filming stopped for hours over a decision about whether a character should wear a hat in a scene until Weiner could be reached and render his decision.

Contrarily, on Breaking Bad, Showrunner Vince Gilligan broke stories in the writers room in such a way that any of the writers in the room could write any episode, not only the one they were assigned. If Vince Gilligan were unavailable to handle one aspect of the writing/production, he knew and the organization (AMC) knew that there were others on the team who could step up and lead.