In the heart of the sea?

In the Heart of the Sea is stunning and compelling film with an engrossing narrative and stunning special effects. It is finely acted and directed but... it just didn't engage my heart. Somehow, it did not really bother me whether the characters survived or not... The only sentient being I had any connection with was the whale...

And I am really not sure precisely why except perhaps it was difficult for me to feel anything but loathing for people who spent their lives killing whales. Yes it was historic and evidently then (so we are told) an economic necessity but the idea of destroying these huge and intelligent beasts of the sea is not one I can warm to... But the film is good and if the whale hunting is less emotive for you, you will probably enjoy and engage with this movie in a way that I could not.

There is a moment in the film where one character is challenged to tell the truth as being the only true mark of his leadership and indeed honour. In the story there are also compelling reasons to twist the truth somewhat...

In a courtroom, witnesses swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Can a leader be a true leader with integrity and then not follow this same code? Are there ever any good and expedient reasons to tell less than the whole truth? I think there are, but they are finely judged: there are times when less than the whole truth needs to be told. Integrity comes from knowing what the limits are.

When did you last tell less than 100% of the truth?

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This is Blog 138 in my 2014/15/16 series of blogs about leadership ideas to be found in the movies of our time. You can read here as why I began doing this (with an update at the end of 2014 and 2015). Please subscribe to this blog if you want to read more. Thanks. Click the label 'film' to see all the others.