Television can be a wonderful escape from the stresses of work, but it can also hold some tangible life lessons for entrepreneurs. Workplace TV shows are a relatable reflection of our own lives, and some of the most iconic characters are usually the boss.
When it comes to starting up your own business, heavy is the head that wears the crown. Being responsible for other people can be a daunting prospect, and these legendary fictional leaders earned a place in our hearts for all the right, and wrong reasons. Remember, just because they’re not real, doesn’t mean you can’t learn from them…
The best
Jed Bartlet – The West Wing
In the current landscape, Aaron Sorkin’s The West Wing becomes more obviously a work of fiction with each passing year. President Josiah “Jed” Bartlet was created as the ideal leader: a paragon of virtue, strong leadership skills and homespun New Hampshire wisdom. Making sure you’re hiring the right staff is critical for a successful workplace, and old Jed had a knack for picking the best.
You might be thinking that the majesty of the Oval Office might seem like a leap from a UK startup (trying to do an Sorkin style ‘walk-and-talk’ in your home office doesn’t quite work the same, from my experience), but there’s still a lot that can be gleaned from the Bartlet administration about successful company culture. President Bartlet always knew exactly when to delegate, trust his staff and even became a surrogate father to them. He’s got my vote.
Leslie Knope – Parks and Recreation
“What I hear when I’m being yelled at is people caring very loudly at me”, positivity thy name is Leslie Knope. As deputy director of the Parks and Recreation Department in Pawnee, Indiana, Leslie led her motley crew of government employees by example, and was a ray of sunshine in an otherwise bleak bureaucratic environment, never letting herself stray from her core values of hope, optimism and doing the best you can under trying circumstances.
Above all, Leslie saw the best in people. Organisational culture is critical to success for small businesses, and the best way to retain talent is by creating a positive working environment. She might not have been the coolest boss – her favourite hobby being organising her agenda – but add a healthy dash of Knope to your leadership style, and you won’t find your staff secretly browsing Indeed during their lunch breaks. In the words of the woman herself “Now go find your team. Get to work”.
Captain Raymond Holt – Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Captain Holt was given the unenviable task of running a New York police precinct comprised of oddballs and zany personalities, including Andy Samberg’s perpetually unserious Jake Peralta, but practically every episode was a masterclass in performance management. The line between being a friend and a boss is a very tricky one, but it’s a tightrope that Ray Holt walked deftly.
A master of strategic planning, Holt knew how to perfectly utilise the strengths and weaknesses of his team. He might have displayed a reserved and austere personality – in spite of his claims that he is “good at emotion” – but he also knew exactly when to show a gentler, sillier side to his staff and when it was time to be serious. He’s the type of leader you can always turn to. Just don’t interrupt him mid-soup.
Liz Lemon – 30 Rock
“Guess who’s got two thumbs, speaks limited French, and hasn’t cried once today? This moi” Liz was messy, chaotic, had some questionable taste in food, and even more questionable taste in love, but she’s undeniably the type of boss we’d all like to have, despite displaying what can kindly be described as an unorthodox, rebellious leadership style. As the creator and headwriter of TGS with Tracy Jordan, Liz was caught between her team of introverted writers, extroverted cast members and her own success-obsessed 80s throwback boss (and occasional mentor) Jack Donaghy.
Liz was flawed to say the least, but she never shied away from being her authentic self, and she knew exactly how to manoeuvre around the clashing, and sometimes toxic, personalities of her colleagues. As an employer she was also a font of motivational quotes, blessing her fellow 30 Rockefeller Plaza employees with such sage wisdom as “Living a lie will eat you up inside. Like that parasite I got from eating sushi on Amtrak”.
The worst
Mr. Burns -The Simpsons
Nuclear energy proprietor, casino magnate and local tyrant. In many ways Charles Montgomery Burns is the “final boss” of well…bosses. You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, and you should be offering your staff benefits and perks to keep them happy, but Mr. Burns preferred to motivate with fear and hidden trapdoors (though I’m sure there are some managers who have secretly fantasised about a booby trap ridden office to deal with bothersome colleagues). You’ve got to imagine the Glassdoor reviews for the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant would be pretty savage though.
Promoting health and wellbeing in the workplace should also be a number one priority for employers, but Mr. Burns was never too fussed about it. His defence as to why a missing Brazilian soccer team was found working in his reactor core was simply that their plane crashed on his property. Don’t be like Burns, and make sure your employee mental health and wellbeing is well cared for.
Al Swearengen – Deadwood
A true small business pioneer, Al Swearengen was the owner of the spit and sawdust Gem Theater in the frontier town of Deadwood, South Dakota. Al didn’t have to worry about flexible working or having a LinkedIn presence, but he did have to contend with barroom brawls and shootouts (arguably still less scary than a Zoom interview). Though frankly, the curmudgeonly, foul-mouthed proprietor could have benefited from brushing up on our guide to networking.
Al wasn’t going to be seen sipping his whisky from a “world’s best boss” mug anytime soon, considering he mostly bullied and swore his way through his saloon staff. Delegation is the key to good management, but Al asked a bit too much from his employees: sending one of his underlings out to participate in a street fight to the death (to be clear, you shouldn’t be asking your staff to do this, HR frowns on it these days).
Logan Roy – Succession
It’s going to be hard to discuss the domineering, imitable Logan Roy without using the F word…family that is. Succession showed us the pitfalls with mixing business with relatives, and Logan’s bickering children could have benefited from our guide to building a startup without family funding. The Emmy-award winning drama series had us all hooked to the family drama unfolding within Logan Roy’s media empire, Waystar Royco, which took toxic work culture to shocking (and highly entertaining) new heights. Just remember, it’s only funny when it’s fictional!
Logan Roy was a bully, and he’s not exactly front-runner for father of the year, but he knew what his audience wanted and Logan was a wizard when it came to competitor analysis, was a formidable negotiator, and displayed a keen understanding of the needs of the customer: “No one was going to watch network, except you give it zing and they do. You make your own reality” A bad man? Certainly. A bad businessman? Arguably not.
David Brent – The Office
Efficiency. Turnover. Profitability. Those are just three specific changes David Brent made as a paper merchants middle-manager, and he can give you another two if you need them. He hates management speak though, and saw himself as less of a boss, and more of a chilled out entertainer. We’ve all had to endure a staggeringly delusional boss like Brent, someone who’s done their best to try and change the company work culture, but for all the wrong reasons.
Arguably it’s commendable that Brent tried so hard to find meaning in his work, it’s just that he often got the meaning badly wrong. “I do it so one day someone will go, there goes David Brent…I must remember to thank him” Brent mused in one episode, but the likelihood of any staff showering Brent with praise seems quite unlikely. Try to steer clear of the narcissistic, self-absorbation displayed by then Wernham Hogg Paper Company manager, and your employees really will thank you.
What next?
Now that you’ve seen the most inspirational, and horrific, examples of leadership your television set has to offer, it’s now time to hear from real-life business leaders in our very own Speaking of Startups podcast!
Or if you’re still on your road to leadership, you can get some inspiration from our massive guide to 101 business ideas you can get off the ground right now!
