Gripping secrets

Secret in Their Eyes is a great movie which seems to have almost slipped out with little fanfare and trailers. But this is a subtle, harrowing and understated film that deserves your attention. This film is based very closely on an original  (El Segreto de sus ojos) and has been compared less favourably to it.

But go see this for no other reason that Julia Roberts' performance. It is a very different Ms Roberts on show and she plays the part with great determination and skill. Chiwetel Ejiofor is excellent too. Critics have not been raving about this film. I was gripped by it though but it is far from light!

Secrets corrode well being. Secrets can sit like parasitic worms at the back of our consciousness, burrowing away at our mental health. The bigger the secret, the bigger the worm. Although many people appear to have the ability to live with such secrets, this is probably at some cost.

In this regard, I am not talking about confidences or matters that deserve to kept undisclosed. The secrets of which I talk are the ones that are edged with guilt, if not completely woven with such a feeling. Secrets such as these are never going to help make things smooth. Leaders need to be aware of how their behaviour may foster the keeping of secrets, that will eventually come to be destructive, even to the leader.

How do you ensure that whilst there can be confidences, guilt ridden secrets are not encouraged?

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Blog 154: 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.