Rudolph's Boss is a Jerk
You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen.
Comet and Cupid and Donner and Vixen.
But do you recall the worst boss on TV of all?
How NOT to lead brought to you by Santa Claus
I love watching Christmas cartoons, but watching Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer just enrages me. Why? Because Santa is such an ass. If a boss treated his or her employees the way Santa treats those elves and reindeer, there'd be a company riot.
Don't believe me? Watch this lowlight reel of Santa's less stellar leadership skills.
Table of Contents
Kindess always win
Santa harshly dresses down Blitzen when he tries to cover up Rudolph's nose. The only reason Blitzen pulled that stunt was because Santa told him that no matter how talented Rudolph is he'd never make the sleigh team.
The cover-up was a mistake. You make mistakes. I make tons of mistakes. Leaders make mistakes. Correct mistakes with understanding and compassion. Kindess always wins. Being mean loses…employees.
Praise the good, great & amazing
Did you see the way he talks to his elves? They go out of their way to create Santa a beautiful Christmas song. The dude looks like he is in pain while watching it. Instead of saying one nice thing about the song, he says “Needs work” and scurries off.
When elves or people who work for you work their butt-off, create something special or noteworthy, the very least a thank you is in order.
Vision is the most important leadership quality
Rudolph has mad talent. I mean he can fly, his take-off is great, and he is smart. Bonus his nose glows red which might be useful in say inclement weather. However Santa wants reindeer cogs. He doesn't want reindeers with unique valuable talent.
In fact Santa is so blind to possibilities, he'd rather cancel Christmas than see the glowing nose before him. The most invaluable quality for a leader to have is vision. To see the possibilities in people. If there the boss does not know where s/he is going, how can he or she expect their employees to follow?
Who knew Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer could teach us so much about communication and leadership?
May your holidays be as bright as Rudolph's nose!
How ironic! I wrote about Rudolph too, but from a different angle! This is a good point. It’s been a long while since I’ve seen the movie from start to finish, but you make some excellent points here. I hadn’t thought about it this way.