After watching and enjoying a film over the Christmas period that told the early life story of a hugely successful and visionary business leader, I thought that they would make a good topic for the latest of my 'leadership lessons' posts. Luckily there is also a film which describes the later life of this person, which I have also re-watched, so I am able to reflect on a pretty thorough overview of their leadership career.
The subject of today's leadership lesson is the confectioner Mr William W. Wonka. Rather than just discussing Mr Wonka's chocolate making skills, which are not really in question, I want to focus on his leadership and management abilities, to see if there is anything we can learn from him.*
*For the benefit of one Mr D. Trump, who I am aware is unlikely to view this post, I am fully aware that Mr Wonka, like your 'friend' Hannibal Lecter, is a fictitious character.
When viewing the two films in order we see significant changes in the priorities of the older Wonka compared to the younger. Gone is the focus on, and enthusiasm for building a team that we see in his early work. He is now a lonely, solitary figure, without the support of his team behind him. If I was conducting Mr Wonka's appraisal I would insist that he immediately appoints a deputy manager whose primary role would be to view Wonka's flights of fancy through a lens of practical realism, which would undoubtedly increase the profit margins of his products.
Although Wonka has plenty of 'employees' there appears to be no leadership structure at the factory and no suggestion of any hierarchy or levels of management which would undoubtedly increase the efficiency of the organisation. This is despite promising the Oompa Loompa at the end of the first film that he would make him 'head of the tasting department'. It should be noted that not following through on commitments is a trait of poor leadership and would be likely to undermine the view of him held by his employees.
Despite this though, to some extent in the second film he does appear to be a sympathetic and supportive employer. He recalls 'saving' the Oompa Loompas (his employees) from a dreadful life in Loompa Land which is undoubtedly an act of kindness. For their part they seem to go about their work happily, but when viewing the second film one is left wondering if Wonka should be referred to the National Crime Agency under suspicion of modern slavery and human trafficking. The picture painted of Loompa Land in the first film does not reflect the way that it is described in the second, which significantly undermines Wonka's argument, and the songs of the Oompa Loompas certainly echo the 'work songs' of the historical slaves in the USA. The similarity between these songs and those sung by Wonka and his friends in the workhouse in the first film is also concerning and suggests that the older Wonka may have adopted, whether consciously or not, the techniques of Bleacher and Scrubitt in the workhouse.
In my first paragraph I described Wonka as a 'visionary', and this is shown throughout both films on many occasions. Two that come to mind are the opening of the shop in the first film and the invention room that the older Wonka shares with his visitors in the second. There is also a nice note at the beginning of the second film, when Wonka shows that he is in fact grounded in reality with his understanding of risk assessments, but his the older Wonka's personality demonstrates worryingly maniacal traits and lacks the consistency needed for an effective leader. He is welcoming and thoughtful at times, but at others he is deeply sarcastic and menacing.
Perhaps most worrying though is his seeming need to use Machiavellian manoeuvres to manipulate his relationship with the 'lucky winners' in the second film. The fact that the whole competition appears to have been set up essentially as an 'interview' for the unwitting Charlie Bucket, whilst undoubtedly clever, suggests that Wonka does not value transparency in leadership, so this is definitely another mark against him. Succession planning done this way is likely to be ineffective, and he has also broken the unwritten rule that you should never interview your replacement. This is hands on management in the extreme, and a better manager would have empowered a group of Oompa Loompas to undertake, or at least be a significant part of the process.
So, in summary, Wonka does demonstrate some characteristics of an effective leader. He has high standards and is not prepared to lower them for anyone - as he proudly tells his guests for example, his factory is the only one in the world that mixes its chocolate by waterfall. He is creative and an out-of-the-box thinker, but he relies too much on this side of his personality and would benefit from a better defined company structure to increase its effectiveness. He appears to have lost the empathy that he had when he was a younger man, and the understanding of the importance of relationships too, which means that he is definitely not a cultivational leader so would benefit from attending some of my leadership training!
Leadership rating 6/10
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