Leadership Multiverse

Lord Vader is not a role model in any conventional sense. Yet he does show how structure, clarity, self-discipline, and strategic focus can help someone step into leadership with more stability than they ever enjoyed before.

In the Marvel universe, few characters are as complex or as quietly commanding as Natasha Romanoff, better known as Black Widow. A former assassin trained in the Soviet Red Room, she is introduced to us as a weapon: efficient, calculating, emotionally detached. Yet by the end of her story arc, she is the moral centre of the Avengers, the glue that holds the team together when everyone else falls apart. In our latest  The Leadership Multiverse Podcast ,  Ellen Daniels  and I e

Despite (or because of) their flaws, the Ghostbusters complement rather than compete. Venkman sells the mission. Ray sustains it. Egon powers it. Winston redeems it. Together they form a balanced, if chaotic, unit. They are a model for how multidisciplinary teams succeed when they value difference over dominance.

Most superhero teams are built on noble ideals. They’ve got pristine headquarters, glossy PR, and a mission to save the world. But The Boys are something else entirely: a scruffy guerrilla unit of misfits, bound together not by virtue, but by trauma and vengeance. They shouldn’t work. And yet, they do.

In Game of Thrones, Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell, is the embodiment of integrity. He’s transparent, dutiful, loyal to his people and his cause. He lives by the code that “he who passes the sentence should swing the sword.” He’s the leader we all say we want to be - fair, consistent, courageous. And he gets his head chopped off.

In our latest Leadership Multiverse podcast, we explored Kirk’s leadership through a contemporary lens of servant leadership, risk appetite, moral integrity, and the fine art of strategic rule-bending. What emerged is a portrait of a complex leader: fallible, impulsive, but deeply principled. And, for modern executives, surprisingly relevant.

We’ve all met a Batman. You know the type, the overworked, emotionally repressed, control-driven “leader” who believes no one can do the...

The lesson of the Avengers is that talent is not enough. You can assemble the brightest minds, the biggest reputations, and the most impressive CVs but without trust, accountability, and a shared culture, you don’t have a team. You have a fragile coalition waiting for the next crisis.

Princess Leia remains more than a sci-fi heroine. She is a case study in resilience, compassion, decisiveness, and the realities of leading in a complex and often hostile environment.

Star Trek Day is upon us, and while some may be celebrating by quoting “Live long and prosper” or revisiting their favourite episodes, I’ve been reflecting on a character who has quietly shaped my own understanding of leadership: Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

What does Tony Stark teach about leadership? Not that he is a model to emulate wholesale, but that leadership is inherently messy, contradictory, and human, even in the Marvel Universe.