Friday 26 September 2014

Not the Oxford that I know...

I lived in Oxford for twenty years. Even so, I was always aware that much of it was hidden to me behind the bowler hatted door stewards and alluring gates to the various quads. The Riot Club appears to open a few doors on a side of Oxford I was only dimly aware of...

This is a chilling film that will lower the temperature of your bones. The basic story: boys club plus tribal arrogance plus copious alcohol results in some very unsavoury things happening. You get the gist I am sure. It is tightly acted and directed with the visual treat of an Oxford stage. This is a film to see and speculate on how much of it could be true...


The clear message of this film is that all the members of the club are future legendary leaders of the country who will be bound by the chivalrous pack of one for all and all for one. It is a tale of deep clan loyalty built on shared self interest. (There are no prizes for guessing the connections this story is seeking to make...)

One of the questions the film left me with was: how much of leadership power is borne of credibility built on action by the leader her/himself, and how much does this power arise from past loyalty & favours bestowed or sealed? And what is the optimal balance?

From where does your leadership power arise?

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This is the fifty second 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.

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