Sometimes we can learn serious lessons from comedy. In a very funny video titled "Ponies" by the comedy team of Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, we can learn some lessons about leadership. At one point in the video, Dawn's horse, Peter Pan, ignores her and grazes, while Dawn imagines winning the Badminton Horse Trials 3-day event. When she can't even get Peter Pan's head up, she tells him he is wonderful anyway. She leans down on him and changes her fantasy to crossing the desert.
Dawn's character makes several leadership mistakes here. First, she asks Peter Pan to lift his head and to move off. When he doesn't she just allows him to keep grazing. At that moment, Peter Pan knows she is not an effective leader, and does not have to do anything she asks. Second, she stops and cuddles him when he disobeys. Again, that teaches him that it's OK to keep grazing.
The most egregious error Dawn French makes is that she has completely unrealistic goals. Peter Pan does not know what the Badminton event is, nor does he have the physical abilities to compete there. So, Dawn's fantasy is harmless.
What if she were running a business and set unrealistic goals? It would be one thing to stretch her employees expectations, like "We will increase our sales 10% over the next year." If she is an effective leader, her employees would be excited by the possibility. But, if she said, "We will triple our sales this month," he employees would just write her off and ignore her, just like Peter Pan kept on grazing. If the leader proposes goals that are completely unreasonable, she will lose her following.
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