Learning from the Movie

You Never Know What You Are Carrying - The unmanned train was carrying toxic chemicals. While this is a negative situation in the movie, this has positive implications for leaders. Leaders carry experiences, expertise, people skills, and insights that they often do not even know they possess

Great Results Come From A Series Of Great Decisions - Leaders make dozens, sometimes hundreds, of decisions daily. Each decision either takes you toward your desired goals, or farther away from them.

One Bad Decision Pivot Decision Can Result In Several Bad Strategic Decisions - The decision by a train operator not to connect the air brakes resulted in a rescue operation needing to take place.

What Really Matters - Right before events take place that could result in Barnes’ death, he calls his two daughters to tell them he loves them. This is often the case because when your life is almost over, it doesn’t matter how big your organization was, what the company profits were or how you increased shareholder value. What matters will be your family.

Experience Matters - The movie’s hero Frank Barnes had 28 years of railroad experience.

Trust People In The Trenches - Information needs to be gathered at one level (the trenches). Only then do decisions need to be made at the next level (Executive)

You Can Choose Your Decisions. You Cannot Choose Your Consequences. – Our decisions put into motion a series of events that we often have no control over.

Persistence – Barnes tells Colson before beginning to chase down the runaway train that “You quit too easy.” Often our greatest successes come just after we almost quit.