Bear with me

One of my highlights of childhood Christmases was my regular gift of the new Blue Peter annual. Inside this treasure trove of delights was always a special Paddington story involving the crotchety next door neighbour, the hapless Browns and the bear with a hard stare. All of this is wonderfully transferred to the big screen in Paddington.

This is a gorgeous tale, written more for adults than children in my opinion. The people laughing loudest were the adults in the cinema appreciating the puns and embedded cinematic references. But mostly, under the fur, it is a story about migration. It celebrates the capacity of the British public to welcome not only a Peruvian immigrant but one from another species into their hearts and families. Do not go and see this if you are a UKIP supporter or holding on to some little Englander xenophobic view of the world. But do go and see this if you want to be charmed by a calamitous bear with a heart of South American silver and gold!

At one point in the film, Paddington is accused of lying which is seen as the worst possible betrayal of the trust he has been shown by the Brown family. (He isn't lying, of course!) This reminded me of the most important aspect of solid leadership: telling the truth.

Yes, leaders may sometimes have to be a little economical and not say everything that they know. And at other times, a small amount of gilding is probably allowed. But outright lying and deliberately telling a falsehood is something no good leader will ever do. (A problem comes when leaders are lying to themselves and lose track of what is true and what is not...)

Have you ever been lied to by a leader you had learned to respect? What then happened?

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This is the sixty fifth of my 2014 series of blogs about leadership ideas to be found in the movies of our time. You can read here as why I am doing this. Please subscribe to this blog if you want to read more. Thanks. Click the label 'film' to see all the others.