Last year, I launched a Spring Leadership Series to think about leadership in nontraditional ways. As 2024 continued, I presented additional ways to think about leadership during my Olympics Leadership Series and Holiday Leadership Series. With a new year upon us, I've invited 25 thought leaders to share their responses to five questions relating to team-building, reading, and leadership. My #SpringLeadershipSeries2025 began the first day of Spring and continues through June 20th, the first day of Summer.
Before we begin, I'd like to applaud two special individuals for providing the inspiration for this series. First, big applause goes to Erika Andersen, a leadership expert and author who I've had the pleasure of knowing for nearly 15 years, and she's appeared on my blog 13 times since 2011. She wrote an article for Forbes entitled, "How Springtime Can Make Us Better Leaders," and that article serves as the core of the series as its first question. Second, I also applaud Joseph Lalonde, a leadership expert and author of a book called REEL LEADERSHIP, for planting the seeds for last year's Spring Leadership Series on my blog. After I read Joe's book, I started looking at movies as well as works of fiction, TV shows, and TV characters with "leadership-tinted glasses."
For today's post, I'd like to introduce Joseph Lalonde. Joe is experienced in all aspects of IT, leadership, project/sales, and design with a history of working with small businesses and individuals. He is also an award-winning leadership blogger ranked in the top 40 leadership blogs in the world, and his book REEL LEADERSHIP showcases the intersection of leadership and entertainment. As Joe says, "I love great stories and feel we all have a great story to tell."
QUESTION: Leadership expert and author Erika Andersen wrote an article for Forbes entitled, "How Springtime Can Make Us Better Leaders." In the article, Erika compared gardening to management and leadership. What are your thoughts, or was there something that stood out from the article?
JOSEPH LALONDE: I love finding ways to relate our everyday, normal activities to those required by our role as a leader. Erika made some great points in her article. One thing that stood out to me was the analogy to pruning. Pruning is always strange. You have to find the right way to do it, in the right time, and with the right people. If you don't, you can wind up damaging the person or organization. Done right, you can make them thrive.
One thing I might add to her article is this lesson: Plants grow in their own time. Erika already mentioned that you can't make a plant grow. You also can't make a plant grow outside of its own time. Some plants take longer to grow, others sprout right up. Be prepared to sit and wait for some team members while you may see others take right to the tasks assigned.
QUESTION: What was the most recent example of inspiring leadership that made an impact on you?
JOSEPH LALONDE: I recently heard the story of Mimi Bloo. She's a young artist who took a big chance. And an experienced artist took an even bigger chance in introducing her to her audience. Mira (Mimi's real name) and her mother went to Graveside Variety. There, Mira's mother approached Amanda Palmer. She told Amanda that her fourteen-year-old daughter was in the crowd but too nervous to ask to sing. Amanda told her mother to go get the girl and that of course it would be okay to sing Into The Unknown from Frozen. Mira then asked Amanda how do you write a song. What happened next was pretty cool. Amanda told her it was complicated but she had an idea since Mira had the lyrics in her head. After Mira sang Into The Unknown, Amanda brought her back out to the stage and helped Mira work on her song. Since then, Amanda has helped Mira record and release the song. This is inspiring because it shows the power of a seasoned leader pouring into an up-and-coming leader. Always take the chance on the new person.
QUESTION: What is your favorite team-building activity, and why?
JOSEPH LALONDE: One of my favorite team-building activities takes place outside of the office in the great outdoors. For years, I've gone ice climbing with a group of guys. I didn't know these guys before but they've become like a band of brothers. Why? Because ice climbing required me to trust them, help them, and motivate them to continue to climb when they thought they couldn't do it anymore.
SHARE THIS: Ice climbing is one of my favorite team-building activities because it requires me to trust, help, and motivate others. ~@josephlalonde #SpringLeadershipSeries2025 #DebbieLaskeysBlog
QUESTION: Which book is on the top of your to-be-read pile, and why?
JOSEPH LALONDE: I just finished reading a graphic novel called They Called Us Enemy. It's written by George Takei from Star Trek. He shares his experience of being placed into an internment camp during World War 2 and the affects it had on him.
The next book on my to-read list is Origins of a D-List Supervillain. I read the second book in the series and loved it. I now want to go back and see the origins of the character I loved reading about.
QUESTION: In the past year, has a TV show, film, or work of fiction stood out as a result of its emphasis on leadership?
JOSEPH LALONDE: I tend to find leadership lessons in everything I watch or consume. Recently, I found a lot of leadership lessons in the film A Complete Unknown. It's the story of Bob Dylan's rise to fame. It also showed how being good, finding fame, and being successful can also hurt you. We see Dylan being consumed by his fame and hurting those around him. I think it's a great cautionary tale of what success can do to you.
I also recently re-watched The Iron Giant. The story can teach us not to judge others by their appearance or differences from us, how other leaders may not be seeking the right resolutions, and more.
My gratitude to Joe for sharing his leadership insights and for being a part of my #SpringLeadershipSeries2025. Did these questions open your eyes to think about leadership in nontraditional ways? That was the hope!
Image Credit: Prudek via DepositPhotos.
Read Erika Andersen's article, "How Springtime Can Make Us Better Leaders"
https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikaandersen/2015/05/14/how-springtime-can-make-us-better-leaders/
Read about the story of Mimi Bloo:
Read Joe's previous appearances here on my blog:
SPRING LEADERSHIP SERIES – Featuring Joseph Lalonde (March 2024)
https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2024/03/spring-leadership-series-featuring.html
FALL BACK TO READING SERIES – Featuring Joseph Lalonde (December 2023)
https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2023/12/fall-back-to-reading-series-featuring_01893009969.html
8 Business Books for Your Winter and Early 2024 Reading List
Featuring Joe's book REEL LEADERSHIP (December 2023)
https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2023/12/8-business-books-for-your-winter-and.html
Connect with Joe at these links:
Website: www.jmlalonde.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephlalonde
Twitter/X: https://www.twitter.com/josephlalonde
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jmlalonde
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