What Prince Akeem from Coming To America Can Teach Us About Leadership
“When you think of garbage, think of Akeem.”
Ah, yes, June of 1988. I had just graduated from high school, and my terrible, awful, no-good senior prom song was still stuck in my head. That song? “I’ve Had the Time of My Life” from Dirty Dancing, whose only saving grace was the fact that it starred the magical Patrick Swayze. I mean one of the hottest songs at the time was “Nothin’ But a Good Time” from those ’80s glam rockers, Poison, which would have been the perfect choice, but it didn’t stand a chance against Johnny and Baby’s romantic tome.
Bad prom songs aside, I was preparing for my freshman year of college by heading down to Ocean City, Maryland, to live for the summer with seven other guys in a 3-bedroom house. The ratio of bedrooms to humans wasn’t great, but we did have an amazing summer, and I secured a job at Candy Kitchen, shoveling fudge and gummy rats to tourists each and every day. Besides a very unwise decision to fry and eat eggs that had been left out for several days (in a pan that hadn’t been washed in several weeks), I made it through fairly unscathed — well at least as far as you will know for now.
The price of movies was rising rapidly (insert sarcasm here), and it was becoming more difficult to find a ticket under $3.00, but that didn’t stop the masses from making the pilgrimage to local theatres. The box office wasn’t lacking for star power with Tom Hanks, Kevin Costner, Sylvester Stallone, Dan Aykroyd, John Candy and John Hughes all represented at the top. Big was “shimmy shimmy cocoa popping” its way to #3 while Bull Durham was providing laughs to a more “mature” audience. John Rambo was doing Rambo things in Rambo III and The Great Outdoors was showing, once again, that comedy with a heart sells.
But it was the movie premiering at number one this week that is the basis for our lessons in this chapter. Coming to America starring Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall and James Earl Jones, and directed by John Landis (who also directed arguably the most famous music video in history — Thriller), hit theatres on June 28, 1988.
The movie tells the story of Prince Akeem Joffer (played by Eddie Murphy) from the fictional African country of Zamunda and his quest to find the love of his life. Based on his station in life as royalty, his parents arrange a marriage for him at the age of 21. But the prince is not interested in this lifestyle and wants to both prove he can survive on his own and find a woman who will love him for who he is and not for his title and fortune. He grabs his assistant Semmi (played by Arsenio Hall), and they head for America. More specifically Queens, NY, because as Semmi asks, “But where in New York can one find a woman with grace and elegance? A woman suitable for a King?” to which Akeem says, “Queens!” And with that, they are off.
So, what did our humble Prince Akeem teach us about today’s workplace and life?
Unearned leadership creates pleasers. Earned leadership creates believers.
Oftentimes, how we define leadership is based on our own experiences with a variety of “leaders” we have met throughout our careers and personal lives. Do a Google search on leadership, and it won’t take long to find thousands of definitions from thousands of people about what makes a great leader. Depending on the industry or background, the definition of great can be different as well. For example, a great military leader might need to show decisiveness, courage, loyalty and organization while a great philanthropic leader might show compassion, openness, altruism and an understanding of business principles. Additionally, a military leader who has spent time in combat or in theater (defined by Merriam-Webster as the entire land, sea and air area that is or may become involved directly in war operations) and the philanthropic leader who spends real time with the people impacted by the very problem they are trying to solve rather than only glad-handing at events, will quickly find real respect from those they lead. Earned leadership.
Near the beginning of the movie, Akeem and his soon-to-be bride are having a conversation in an attempt to get to know each other a little better. The conversation goes like this:
Prince Akeem: “What do you like to do?”
Imani: “Whatever you like.”
Prince Akeem: “What kind of music do you like?”
Imani: “Whatever kind of music you like.”
Prince Akeem: “What is your favorite food?”
Imani: “Whatever food you like.”
Even Semmi, his best and only friend and personal assistant, will ultimately follow Akeem’s lead and only question him if he feels that a decision could harm or negatively impact Akeem. And then we have the father of Prince Akeem’s crush, Cleo, who owns the fast food restaurant McDowells where Akeem and Seemi take jobs. He does a complete 180 on his view of Akeem as soon as he finds out he is royalty. Prior to finding out he was royalty, he showed zero respect to Akeem when he was just an entry-level employee from a poor goat-herding family (Akeem’s self created back story) as revealed in this exchange:
Cleo: “You know how to mop, don’t you?”
Akeem: “Oh, yes.”
Cleo: “Don’t use the bucket. It’ll just confuse you.”
However, once it is clear that Akeem is Prince Akeem, he says, “A prince. He’s a prince. Oh, Lisa, you did it this time. You hit the jackpot. Your little goat herder makes Daryl look like a welfare case.” When Cleo meets Akeem’s mom, the Queen, he says, “I don’t know whether to shake your hand or kiss it or bow or what. I feel like breakdancing.”
As a 21-year-old prince who was born into wealth and power, Akeem hasn’t proven himself on any kind of leadership level, yet he still has followers. Converts are easy to come by once they know his social status. They don’t need to know if he has any real accomplishments or even goals, and the fact that everything he owns or enjoys was given to him without any effort on his part does not matter. Whether it’s fear, laziness or a desire to climb socially via a shortcut, his followers are not following out of any kind of true respect. Unearned leadership creates pleasers.
Unearned leadership creates pleasers.
Let’s look at earned leadership versus unearned leadership in a different scenario that I think most of us can relate to. At some point in our lives, most of us have been given something material that we really wanted — usually when we were kids and begged our parents for something until they gave in. You know you were guilty of this at some point, I mean everyone had their figurative Red Rider BB-Gun from the classic holiday movie, A Christmas Story. If you are a connoisseur of that movie, then you will also recall the “pink nightmare” moment which some of us (me) actually lived through in reality — but because that has nothing to do with our leadership lesson here, I’ll quickly move on before telling you too much more about my awkward childhood.
So, my figurative Red Rider BB-Gun was something called an Omnibot, which I got as a Christmas gift back in my early teens. The Omnibot was a robot that you could program to do basic tasks like deliver food to a room on its tray, carry books or, in the words of the ’80s music icon Lionel Ritchie, you could program it to go “Dancing on the Ceiling” to your favorite music. Well actually on the floor but you get the idea. You could even program it to say things like “Hello, my name is Luka,” “I’ll be back” and “Feed me, Seymour.”
Every time the commercial came on, I made sure to turn up the volume and call my mom into the living room so she could see it. I begged and pleaded for my Omnibot. I even came up with some cockamamie (yes, you don’t have to be 93 years old to use that word) idea that it could be programmed to provide educational content. Lo and behold, I arose Christmas morning to find my very own Omnibot under the tree, and a love affair with my toy blossomed… for three whole weeks, at which point it was relegated to a corner of my bedroom and was eventually laid to rest in the back of my closet. He didn’t do anything wrong. I mean this wasn’t my mogwai “Don’t feed them after midnight” moment from Gremlins.
Like Akeem’s leadership, my Omnibot was unearned, and because of that, I cared less about the time, effort and cost invested in providing me with this gift. Thankfully, it was clear that based on his actions, Akeem knew his leadership was unearned as he showed in this exchange with his father, the King:
King Jaffe Joffer: “And who are you?”
Prince Akeem: “I am a man who has never tied his own shoes before!”
King Jaffe Joffer: “Wrong. You are a prince who has never tied his own shoes. Believe me. I tied my own shoes once. It is an overrated experience.”
Akeem desperately tries to get his arranged bride-to-be to tell him about the things that she enjoys; he encourages his personal assistant/best friend to challenge him; when he finds an apartment building in Queens, he purposely asks for the worst apartment; and he takes a job as an entry-level employee at a fast food joint so he can learn the value of a hard day’s work. He even takes on garbage duties proudly as he states:
“I have recently been placed in charge of garbage. Do you have any that requires disposal? When you think of garbage, think of Akeem.”
But in the real world, those who are given their mantle of leadership unearned are often severely lacking in any type of humility. On the contrary, they tend to lean more toward an entitled mentality, that somehow because of their status or connection to someone in a power position that they deserve to be a leader. Let me guess — most of you have a wry smile as you read this and recall someone in your professional life who resembles this character very closely. They are hard to forget, and I’ve had several. Just like my lack of appreciation for the time, effort and cost that went into my Omnibot, those in unearned leadership positions tend to lack appreciation or understanding for key leadership qualities, like accountability, empowerment, inspiration and integrity. Rather than earn respect, they demand it, and eventually they drive out the very best that a company, division or team have to offer leaving them with only the pleasers. But pleasers do a very good job pleasing, and that is what the unearned leader seeks.
But in the real world, those who are given their mantle of leadership unearned are often severely lacking in any type of humility.
Fast forward to the following year, and I had my eye on a super sweet dual cassette deck boombox complete with bass boosters. With that in tow, I would be king cat daddy indeed. Of course, there was one small problem — it was $250 — and well, I just spent my last two dollars trying to reclaim the high score on Galaga at my local arcade. What can I say, I needed to see my gamer initials ACE at the top of the leaderboard. But I really wanted that boombox and I took the Omnibot approach, which failed miserably this time around. Thankfully, I did have an option — get a job, and get a job I did. I was officially part of the workforce, making $2.25 an hour as a dishwasher in a local restaurant, and it was magnificent. Yeah, my mom had to drive me and pick me up, which she gladly did.
There I was, cleaner of plates and pots and beverage glasses along with one of my good friends from school. Even though we were being paid less than minimum wage, it was still a fun environment for my first real job. We had the occasional late-night food fight after the rest of the staff had left, and sometimes the chef would let us try some of the artsy dishes they created (although my guess is that we looked like Josh [Tom Hanks] in the movie Big when he attempted unsuccessfully to eat caviar and treated baby corn as if it was on the cob).
Sometimes the chef would let us try some of the artsy dishes they created (although my guess is that we looked like Josh [Tom Hanks] in the movie Big when he attempted unsuccessfully to eat caviar and treated baby corn as if it was on the cob).
Throughout it all, I had my boombox goal, and when I achieved it, I also appreciated it. So much so that it went to college with me four and a half years later. I earned it and so unlike my Ominbot; I understood the time, effort and cost that went into making it happen. This is also true of earned leadership, and it’s why leaders who earn their position value things like responsibility, motivation, positivity and commitment. Rather than demand respect, they earn it, which creates believers. In the corporate sense, when people believe in someone, they do what’s necessary for the business, their team and their leader to succeed. Earned leadership creates believers.
Earned leadership creates believers.
In conclusion and in ’80s terms (of course), if unearned leadership can be represented by every guy in a romantic comedy who wore a sweater tied around his neck, then earned leadership is the “kickboxing sport of the future” coolness that is Lloyd Dobler from Say Anything. Be like Lloyd.
