… or my leadership style as opposed to Stuart’s

When Stuart Krohn heard a commotion behind him at a Dodgers game, he turned to see that a man three rows back was choking. Dozens of people surrounding the man were panicking, impotent to help. But without a second thought, Stuart bounded up the three rows, lifted the man out of his seat, and began performing the Heimlich manoeuvre.

Main Character Energy

Stuart is one of those people that, when a group is called on, he assumes that he in particular is the one being addressed, and needs to respond. Stuart has what the kids these days call “Main Character Energy”, what we would have called in the past “Leadership Qualities”.

As a documentary filmmaker, I’ve filmed Stuart coaching on international rugby tours, leading a boy’s and a girls team, over 15 years. I’ve interviewed him about his approach to leadership and taken notes, to begin with:

He is always prepared: he knows every moment of the tour and is ready to adapt
He is always there to support the players: delivering stirring pep talks, sharing reflective exercises, and being on call 24/7 for “deep and meaningfuls”
He’s able to foster trust and delegate—something I appreciate, as he lets me do my job without micromanagement.

I’ve tried to apply these principles to my own life, but I’m a very different sort of person—I’m not a natural leader, I like to work on a task alone, diligently, painstakingly, and when all is done… take all the credit!

My Leadership, or Lack Thereof

When Stuart and I were on Safari with the teams, all players had been told in no uncertain terms not to feed or touch the monkeys that surrounded our break spot. But as a filmmaker, when I noticed Mekhi feeding a monkey, rather than stepping in… I filmed him, waiting for the scene to play out.

I’m a little concerned that this was not merely professional documentary objectivity—I am in some way dispositionally a documentary filmmaker, I tend to sit back and observe.

NPC

I have generally not assumed I’m central to decision making. In modern parlance I am at times an NPC—a term that has entered the popular culture through the world of video games^[1]. An NPC, or Non-Player Character is any agent in the game that’s not being controlled by a real person. NPCs are there as foil for the player, something to test them, and provide context for their decisions. But NPCs don’t make decisions themselves, they don’t ...