I like John Krasinski because of how he actively embraces all parts of his creativity, from acting and writing to directing across genres. I admire how he kindles his intent with a mix of humility and courage to bring projects to fruition. He also seems to partner well with other heavy-hitters. I enjoy knowing how he’s evolving, even if I’m not the audience for that work. Since I pay attention when I hear of his new projects, I watched this 10-minute video where he breaks down a scene from his latest movie, A Quiet Place-II.
I was struck by what he said at the 9:33 mark. He explains why acting in a movie he directs is helpful for him as a director. That when he is on set with the actors, he can shape the energy of the scene as he goes; whether it’s whispering encouragement to someone or modulating and cuing their emotions through his own acting. For example, if he needs someone to be more emotional, he can act more emotional and they pick up the cue. He says – “You can weirdly direct through your acting, which is really fun”. Interesting!
Another thing that’s interesting is that a whole movie is built like this, scene by scene. Even when he is the actor engaged in the scene, the director part of him doesn’t leave…it’s right there all along, guiding him and through him the others. Showing up like this in every interaction requires sustained intellectual and emotional presence. John, the director, has a vision of the end goal and clarity around how every scene, resource and actor plays into it. While there is planning, there seems to be a fair bit of improvisation during execution. To do this well, he has to create an environment where all actors are aligned with the overarching vision and in sync with how that vision is brought to life; an environment where they have the psychological safety to bring their full expression to the performance and also improvise with good judgment. Isn’t that exactly what good leadership is?
Good leaders have a north star and a thoughtful execution map, they assemble the resources, the right skills and team; they set the board upon which the game is played. But they also make thoughtful adjustments to shape the team’s trajectory as the play unfolds. In films, not all directors have the benefit of being actors but in business most senior-leaders were once individual contributors, functional specialists, operatives, middle-managers etc. As they progress into leadership roles, they sometimes lose touch with their internal “actor” because of the many high-stakes demands of leadership. But what if there was a way for them to periodically jump in the scene with their team to see first-hand, understand and learn from them? (Without micromanagement of course). Would it help them lead better? Would it make their own journey, in Krasinski’s words, “more fun”?
“Observation is a passive science, experimentation an active science.”― Claude Bernard
