Light on Leadership

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🎄 Light on Leadership | Holiday Edition
Five Leadership Lessons from Christmas Vacation

Take a moment away from your holiday planning to reflect on a few leadership lessons from everyone’s favorite Christmas dad, Clark Griswold, and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation!

1. Vision Without Alignment Creates Chaos

Clark has a clear picture of the “perfect” Christmas, but he never checks whether others understand it or really even want it. The result is confusion, frustration, and stress.

Leadership Tip: Vision is only powerful when it’s shared. Clarity, communication, and alignment matter.

2. Unspoken Assumptions Undermine Trust

Clark assumes his bonus is guaranteed and builds expectations around it. When reality doesn’t match the assumption, some very “bad things” happen.

Leadership Tip: Assumptions are dangerous. Strong leaders clarify expectations early and often.

3. Stress Reveals Leadership

As pressure builds, Clark’s responses swing from humor to denial to emotional outbursts. Stress doesn’t create character; it reveals it.

Leadership Tip: How we show up under pressure sets the emotional tone for everyone else. Calm, grounded leadership matters most when things go crazy.

4. Relationships Outlast the Moment

Despite everything going wrong, the story ends with connection, forgiveness, and shared laughter. The relationships endure long after the lights go out.

Leadership Tip: Results matter, but relationships will always be most important.

5. Gratitude Reframes the Experience

Clark’s final realization isn’t about perfection. It’s about being together. Gratitude shifts his perspective from frustration to appreciation.

Leadership Tip: Gratitude is a leadership practice. It reminds us what truly matters and helps us appreciate the moments we have together.

💡 Closing Thought
Leadership isn’t about having a perfect plan or being perfect. It’s about impact and relationships. Even Clark Griswold eventually gains perspective, humility, and gratitude for what he has, rather than chasing an unrealistic version of the future.

Wishing you a season filled with rest, reflection, and meaningful connection.

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