Random Thoughts: Lesson from Steven Speilberg's Interview

Inside an Actors Studio: Steven Speilberg

I recently watched Steven Speilberg's interview on James Lipton's Inside the Actors Studio (on youtube!). One of the biggest piece of adivce was his answer to how he direct child actors in his movies. There are quite a few movies in which his story was told from a point of view of a child (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., Empire of the Sun). He answered "I don't treat them like children I treat them like my peers". He further added that the moment he begins treating them like children he would become the overbearing adult.

This gave me an indirect lesson on how manager or a team leader should treat his team members. He should treat them like individuals who have their own individuality, personality, aspirations and emotions. He should respect their existence in the team and listen to their opinion with a "porous" mind. The reason I used "porous" mind because such a listener gives the opportunity for the thoughts to go in and out (the very definition of the word porous is allow a passage in and out; an "open" mind doesn't necessarily gives the feeling of return). The moment the manager/team leader begins to think himself as a boss he/she loses the sight of the individual. The individual suddenly turns into a common external voice. We don't want to loose the individual existence as everybody has carved a niche for himself/herself. And as a manager/team leader you want to use the niches to form a brilliant showcase of talents present in your team.