Most people lack that type of conviction, which leads them to mediocrity.Ĭontinuous Learning: Gardner is a great example of someone who believes that one should never stop learning. It’s the main reason why they succeed and become successful leaders. In real life, successful people can visualise their successes and make up their minds about what they want regardless of whatever obstacles they have to face en route. People can’t do something themselves, they want to tell you you can’t do it. I find this quote from the movie very inspiring: “Don't ever let someone tell you, you can't do something. Persistence: Despite the many setbacks Gardner has been through, he never stopped trying and his persistence brought him success eventually.
Now, let’s pick a few examples to elaborate on further. Also, I find these qualities essential for leadership. If you read between the lines of Christopher Gardner’s story, you can see the many amazing qualities worthy of note: agility, persistence, collaboration, ambition, respect, compassion, true expertise as well as his enthusiasm of continuous learning.Īll of these qualities have helped him fulfill his potential and ultimately reach his goal. He went on to become a multimillionaire as the founder and CEO of the brokerage Gardner Rich - and as the author of the autobiography-turned-movie we all enjoyed. It was a dramatic reversal of fortune and the climb didn’t end there. Luckily, with his self-confidence, a quick wit and strong determination to become successful, he soon landed an unpaid internship in the highly competitive stock brokerage Dean Witter Reynolds, and later earned a full-time position. We see how his life started to crumble - his wife left him, he was thrown in jail, he lost his house, his bank account and credit cards, and was forced to live on the streets and in shelters with his son. It focuses on his struggles as a single parent of a young son, and how they were homeless for almost a year after Gardner invested virtually all of his savings in something that didn’t work out. The movie is based on the autobiography of the same title written by Christopher Gardner. It’s not new, having come out a decade ago, but I’ve been thinking lately about what it can teach us. Today I’d like to depart from my usual approach and take you through the lessons we can all learn from a movie called The Pursuit of Happyness. Also, from time to time, that song or that movie will also teach us invaluable lessons about life, love, or even leadership. From time to time, a song or a movie comes along that captures the hearts of audiences and becomes a blockbuster hit.