Movies for leaders: 40 films about leadership and teamwork
Forty films worth watching as a team, each with the leadership lesson and one question to discuss. Plus a 30-minute discussion guide for a movie club at work.
Good leadership movies do something a workshop can’t: they let a team watch leadership succeed and fail from a safe distance, then talk about it. This list has 40 movies about leadership and teamwork, grouped by the lesson they teach. Each comes with its year, rating and director, a one-line setup with no spoilers, the leadership lesson and one discussion question. All are rated G, PG or PG-13 except one 1950s classic made before ratings existed.
40 movies about leadership and teamwork
Numbered down the page so a group can vote by number. Ratings are the U.S. MPAA ratings.
Sports leadership movies
Coaches and captains who turn a group of individuals into a team.
Remember the Titans (2000)
Directed by Boaz Yakin · PG
In 1971 Virginia, a Black coach (Denzel Washington) is put in charge of a newly integrated high school football team.
The lesson: A team has to become one group off the field before it can play as one on it.
Ask: What did the coach make players do together before he cared about plays, and what's our version of that?
Miracle (2004)
Directed by Gavin O'Connor · PG
Coach Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell) builds a U.S. Olympic hockey team of college players to face the Soviet team in 1980.
The lesson: Picking people for how they fit together can matter more than picking the best individuals.
Ask: Brooks chose players others would have cut. What would we lose if we only hired the obvious stars?
Moneyball (2011)
Directed by Bennett Miller · PG-13
Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) has a tiny budget and bets on data that his scouts don't trust.
The lesson: New ideas need a leader willing to take the heat while the results catch up.
Ask: Which of our habits exists because "we've always done it", and what data would challenge it?
Hoosiers (1986)
Directed by David Anspaugh · PG
A coach with a troubled past (Gene Hackman) takes over a small-town Indiana high school basketball team.
The lesson: Discipline and a clear system give a small team a chance against bigger ones.
Ask: Where would a simpler, stricter way of working help us more than more talent?
Coach Carter (2005)
Directed by Thomas Carter · PG-13
Ken Carter (Samuel L. Jackson) coaches basketball at his old high school and makes players sign contracts about grades and behavior.
The lesson: Standards only mean something if the leader enforces them when it's costly.
Ask: Which of our standards would we actually enforce if it cost us a short-term win?
The Boys in the Boat (2023)
Directed by George Clooney · PG-13
During the Depression, working-class students at the University of Washington join the rowing team, chasing a place at the 1936 Olympics.
The lesson: In some work, the team only moves fast when everyone gives up a little individual style.
Ask: Where does our team need to row in time, and where should people pull their own way?
Leading in a crisis
Calm decisions under pressure, when the plan has already failed.
Apollo 13 (1995)
Directed by Ron Howard · PG
An explosion cripples the spacecraft on its way to the Moon, and the crew (led by Tom Hanks) and Mission Control must improvise.
The lesson: In a crisis, calm leaders turn panic into a list of solvable problems.
Ask: When something breaks here, who does what in the first hour, and is that written anywhere?
Sully (2016)
Directed by Clint Eastwood · PG-13
After landing a damaged airliner on the Hudson River, Captain Chesley Sullenberger (Tom Hanks) faces an investigation into his decision.
The lesson: Experience lets a leader decide fast, and a good process checks the decision afterward.
Ask: How do we review a decision that worked, so we learn from success as well as failure?
Thirteen Lives (2022)
Directed by Ron Howard · PG-13
Cave divers from around the world (including Viggo Mortensen and Colin Farrell) try to reach a youth soccer team trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand.
The lesson: Crisis leadership often means letting the real experts lead, whatever their title.
Ask: In our next crisis, whose expertise should outrank the org chart?
Darkest Hour (2017)
Directed by Joe Wright · PG-13
In May 1940, newly appointed Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Gary Oldman) must decide whether Britain should negotiate or fight on.
The lesson: Leaders under pressure still need to listen to the people they lead before committing.
Ask: Before our last big decision, who did we listen to outside the leadership team?
The Martian (2015)
Directed by Ridley Scott · PG-13
An astronaut left behind on Mars (Matt Damon) has to survive on limited supplies while NASA works out how to bring him home.
The lesson: Break an impossible problem into the next solvable one, and keep morale up while you do.
Ask: What's the smallest next step on our hardest problem right now?
Captain Phillips (2013)
Directed by Paul Greengrass · PG-13
A cargo ship captain (Tom Hanks) tries to protect his crew when pirates board his ship off the coast of Somalia.
The lesson: A leader under threat protects the team first and stays steady for them.
Ask: What does the team need to see from its leader in the first minutes of bad news?
Business and startup movies for managers
Founders, bosses and teams at work, including a few cautionary tales.
The Founder (2016)
Directed by John Lee Hancock · PG-13
Milkshake machine salesman Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton) meets the McDonald brothers and sees what their restaurant could become.
The lesson: Drive builds companies, and it needs integrity next to it.
Ask: Where is the line between persistence and taking credit that isn't yours?
Joy (2015)
Directed by David O. Russell · PG-13
A struggling single mother (Jennifer Lawrence) invents a self-wringing mop and fights to get it sold.
The lesson: Ownership means fighting for your idea when nobody else believes in it yet.
Ask: Which idea on our team deserves more backing than it is getting?
The Intern (2015)
Directed by Nancy Meyers · PG-13
A 70-year-old widower (Robert De Niro) joins a fast-growing online fashion startup as a senior intern, working for its young founder (Anne Hathaway).
The lesson: Experience and fresh energy make each other better when people actually listen.
Ask: What could the newest and the longest-serving people on our team teach each other?
Ford v Ferrari (2019)
Directed by James Mangold · PG-13
Car designer Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale) build a car for Ford to race Ferrari at Le Mans.
The lesson: Great teams need someone who shields the makers from corporate interference.
Ask: What gets between our experts and their best work, and who can remove it?
Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola · PG
After World War II, engineer Preston Tucker (Jeff Bridges) sets out to build a safer, more modern car and rallies a small team and investors behind it.
The lesson: A bold product needs a believer out front and people who handle the money, the board and the details.
Ask: Who on our team turns big ideas into something that can actually ship, and do they get credit for it?
The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Directed by David Frankel · PG-13
A new graduate (Anne Hathaway) becomes assistant to a famously demanding fashion magazine editor (Meryl Streep).
The lesson: High standards can be learned from, and fear is a costly way to set them.
Ask: What would this boss's standards look like without the fear?
Quiet leaders and unlikely leaders
People who lead without the title, the volume or the confidence.
12 Angry Men (1957)
Directed by Sidney Lumet · Not rated
In a hot jury room, one juror (Henry Fonda) votes not guilty and asks the other eleven to talk the case through.
The lesson: One calm person with good questions can change a room's mind without raising their voice.
Ask: When did someone on our team change a decision by asking the right question?
October Sky (1999)
Directed by Joe Johnston · PG
In a 1950s coal town, a miner's son (Jake Gyllenhaal) gets his friends to build rockets after seeing Sputnik cross the sky.
The lesson: Leadership can start with one person's curiosity, shared until others join.
Ask: Who on our team has an idea we haven't given room to grow?
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Directed by Peter Jackson · PG-13
A hobbit (Elijah Wood) agrees to carry a dangerous ring, joined by a mismatched fellowship from different peoples.
The lesson: Mixed teams work when everyone believes in the mission more than in their own group.
Ask: What shared mission would make our different teams pull together?
Moana (2016)
Directed by Ron Clements and John Musker · PG
The daughter of an island chief sails beyond the reef to save her people, recruiting a reluctant demigod along the way.
The lesson: You don't need permission or certainty to lead; you need a reason.
Ask: What problem here is everyone waiting for someone else to fix?
Kung Fu Panda (2008)
Directed by Mark Osborne and John Stevenson · PG
An unlikely panda (voiced by Jack Black) is chosen as a kung fu champion, to the disappointment of the masters who must train him.
The lesson: Good coaches teach to the person in front of them, not the student they expected.
Ask: Who on our team learns differently from how we train people?
A Bug's Life (1998)
Directed by John Lasseter (co-directed by Andrew Stanton) · G
An inventive but clumsy ant recruits a troupe of circus bugs to defend his colony from bullying grasshoppers.
The lesson: The people with odd ideas are often the ones who find a way out.
Ask: Which odd idea from our team deserves a real test?
Movies about teamwork: teams that come together
Movies with teamwork at their heart: mismatched groups that learn to play to each other's strengths.
The Incredibles (2004)
Directed by Brad Bird · PG
A family of superheroes living in hiding is pulled back into action and has to work together.
The lesson: A team gets stronger when each person's strength is used on purpose.
Ask: Does everyone here get to use what they're best at, most weeks?
Cool Runnings (1993)
Directed by Jon Turteltaub · PG
Jamaican athletes form their country's first bobsled team for the Winter Olympics, coached by a washed-up former champion (John Candy).
The lesson: A team can borrow pride and identity from where it comes from instead of copying rivals.
Ask: What should we stop copying from competitors and do our own way?
A League of Their Own (1992)
Directed by Penny Marshall · PG
During World War II, a women's professional baseball league forms, and a washed-up player (Tom Hanks) reluctantly manages a team led by its catcher (Geena Davis).
The lesson: Sometimes the team leads the leader into the job.
Ask: When has our team carried a leader through a hard patch, and did we notice?
Chicken Run (2000)
Directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park · G
The hens on a grim English farm plan escape after escape, and when a cocky rooster crash-lands among them, they ask him to teach them to fly.
The lesson: Persistent teams keep trying, and the final plan uses everyone's skills.
Ask: What would we try next if our first three attempts at a problem failed?
Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Directed by Pete Docter · G
At the factory that powers Monstropolis, top scarer Sulley (John Goodman) and his partner Mike (Billy Crystal) find their routine upended when a little girl wanders onto the work floor.
The lesson: The best partnerships split the work by strengths: one does the visible job, the other keeps everything around it running.
Ask: Who on our team does the behind-the-scenes work that makes the visible work possible?
Toy Story (1995)
Directed by John Lasseter · G
A cowboy doll (voiced by Tom Hanks) feels pushed aside when a flashy space ranger toy (Tim Allen) arrives.
The lesson: Rivals become partners when they share a problem bigger than their rivalry.
Ask: How should a team welcome a talented new arrival without the old guard feeling replaced?
Leading change
Persuading people to accept something new, against strong resistance.
Lincoln (2012)
Directed by Steven Spielberg · PG-13
In early 1865, President Abraham Lincoln (Daniel Day-Lewis) tries to get the 13th Amendment through the House of Representatives.
The lesson: Big change is won one conversation and one vote at a time.
Ask: Whose support do we need for our next change, and who is talking to each of them?
Selma (2014)
Directed by Ava DuVernay · PG-13
Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) and fellow organizers plan the 1965 voting rights marches in Alabama.
The lesson: Movements are led by many organizers, not one voice.
Ask: Who does the unseen organizing work behind our big moments?
Invictus (2009)
Directed by Clint Eastwood · PG-13
Newly elected president Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) backs South Africa's rugby team and its captain (Matt Damon) ahead of the 1995 World Cup.
The lesson: Leaders can use shared symbols to unite people who don't trust each other yet.
Ask: What shared goal could unite two groups here that don't work well together?
42 (2013)
Directed by Brian Helgeland · PG-13
Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) breaks baseball's color line with the Brooklyn Dodgers, backed by executive Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford).
The lesson: Change needs both the person who goes first and the leader who backs them in public.
Ask: When someone here takes a risk, how visibly do leaders back them?
Gandhi (1982)
Directed by Richard Attenborough · PG
The life of Mohandas Gandhi (Ben Kingsley), from his years as a young lawyer in South Africa to leading India's independence movement.
The lesson: Consistency between what a leader asks and how they live is what makes people follow.
Ask: Where do our leaders ask for something they don't do themselves?
Leadership documentaries
Real teams and real leaders, no screenwriter required.
Apollo 11 (2019)
Directed by Todd Douglas Miller · G
Archival footage, much of it never shown before, follows the 1969 Moon landing mission from launch to return.
The lesson: Huge achievements are thousands of people doing their small part exactly right.
Ask: Whose small part made our last big win possible, and did we thank them?
Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)
Directed by David Gelb · PG
A portrait of Jiro Ono, an elderly sushi master in Tokyo, and the apprentices and son who train under him.
The lesson: Mastery comes from repeating the basics long after they get boring.
Ask: What basic skill should our team practice until it's automatic?
Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018)
Directed by Morgan Neville · PG-13
A look at Fred Rogers and the children's television show he created and hosted.
The lesson: Kindness, patience and clear values can be a leadership style of their own.
Ask: What would change if we were as patient with each other as we are with customers?
The Rescue (2021)
Directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin · PG
The real story of the 2018 cave rescue in Thailand, told through footage and interviews with the divers. It pairs well with Thirteen Lives.
The lesson: Volunteers with rare skills, coordinated well, can do what large institutions can't alone.
Ask: What rare skill sits on our team that we rarely call on?
Only have time for one? Movies for leaders, by situation
The leadership movie that fits what your team is going through right now.
A new manager
The InternA team in a crisis
Apollo 13A merger or a new mixed team
Remember the TitansA change nobody wants
MoneyballSpeaking up in meetings
12 Angry MenA family-friendly showing
The Incredibles
How to run a leadership movie club at work
One film a month, watched at home, discussed together in half an hour.
- Pick a theme, not just a film. "Leading in a crisis" gives the discussion a focus. Let the group vote between two or three films from one section.
- Check the length and the rating. Most films here run about two hours. Stick to G, PG and PG-13 for a work group, and mention any heavy themes in the invite.
- Let people watch on their own. Ask everyone to watch at home in the week before, on their own streaming accounts. It also sidesteps licensing questions.
- Keep the discussion to 30 minutes. Use the guide below. Over lunch or at the end of a team meeting is enough.
- Rotate the host. A different person picks and leads each month, so it isn't the manager's club.
- Write down the commitments. Share the list after, and open the next session by asking how they went.
A 30-minute discussion guide
These questions work for any film on the list. The host keeps time.
First reactions · 5 minutes
- One word for how the film left you feeling.
- Which character would you most want on your team?
The leadership · 10 minutes
- Who led in this film, and who had the title? Were they the same person?
- Pick one decision a leader made. Would you have made it?
- Where did a leader get it wrong, and what would have helped?
Back to work · 10 minutes
- Which moment looked most like something that happens here?
- What is one thing this team does well that the film's team didn't?
- Use the film's discussion question from this list.
One commitment · 5 minutes
- Each person names one small thing they'll try this month.
Want to turn the lessons into practice? Our leadership activities come with steps and debrief questions, and the qualities of a good leader page gives you a self-check to pair with the discussion.
Clips or full films? A note on licensing
A personal streaming subscription or DVD is generally licensed for private, home viewing. Showing a full film to a group at work is usually treated as a public performance under U.S. copyright law, which needs a separate license. Some companies hold one from a licensing service; many don’t.
- Simplest option: everyone watches at home on their own account, then you meet to discuss.
- Short clips: a five-minute scene often sparks as much discussion as the whole film, but don't assume clips are automatically allowed.
- Not sure? Ask your legal or HR team before a screening in the office. This page is a general note, not legal advice.
Running a virtual movie night
- Watch on your own, talk together. Set a week to watch, then a 30-minute call for the discussion guide above.
- Use breakout rooms for big groups. Four to six people per room, one question each, then share one answer back.
- Send snacks if the budget allows. A small box at home makes a video call feel like an event.
- Add a quiz. Ten minutes of film trivia before the discussion warms the group up.
Want a movie night someone else runs?
Blockbuster Bash is a live film quiz with a professional quiz host, played on phones from any video call, with rounds on action, family films, classics and soundtracks. For managers, see leadership team building or browse every hosted virtual trivia game. Book about 2 weeks ahead, or get a free quote.
A film quiz and a leadership workshop, both hosted live on Zoom by default.
