🎥 What can Wicked teach us about Leadership?
Leading from Forces or Fears? A Wicked Leadership Tale
🎬 Film: Wicked (2024) 📖
Scene: Elphaba and Glinda — two leaders, two paths. One leads from forces, the other from fears. Their journey collides in a dance of connection, and their choices shape their destinies.
🎯Focus: How authenticity and belief (Elphaba) and fear of belonging (Glinda) define leadership — and how fear, left unchecked, creates the very monsters we seek to avoid.
Two Leaders, Two Paths
Elphaba and Glinda couldn’t be more different.
✨ Elphaba leads from forces — from her authenticity and belief in justice. She embraces her uniqueness, even when it isolates her. And yet… even she sometimes seeks approval.
😨 Glinda leads from fears — from her fear of belonging. She chooses acceptance over truth, even when it costs her integrity.
1. Leading from Forces (Elphaba) vs. Leading from Fear (Glinda)
Elphaba refuses to conform. She knows who she is, even when the world rejects her.
Glinda desperately wants to fit in. She fears losing approval, so she makes choices that keep her safe.
💡 Leaderness Insight: True leadership starts with Authenticity.
👉 Are you shaping your path, or letting the need to belong shape you?
2. The Dance: Moving from Fear to Connection
But then comes the moment of the secret party.
When Elphaba arrives, wearing the ridiculous hat Glinda had gifted her as a joke, something shifts.
Elphaba challenges the audience! and then…
The prince: “She doesn’t give a twig what anyone thinks.”
Glinda: “Of course she does. She just pretends not to.”
💡 Glinda sees it. Elphaba, too, wants to belong.
And in that moment, Glinda does something unexpected — she steps in, she steps out of her comfort zone!
For a moment, Elphaba and Glinda let go.
The music takes over.
They drop their fears.
They connect.
They dance.
They don’t care about status, expectations, or power.
They just see each other.
This is what happens when we stop leading from fear and embrace our shared humanity.
Stepping out of your comfort zone
💡 Leaderness Insight: Connection isn’t found in belonging — it’s found in Belief.
👉 What would happen if you let go of fear and truly connected?
3. Are We Creating the Monster We Fear?
Elphaba becomes the Wicked Witch of the West.
Glinda becomes the Good Witch of the North.
But here’s the twist:
❌ Elphaba isn’t truly wicked — she’s just unwilling to conform.
❌ Glinda isn’t purely good — she’s just willing to play the game.
They are not born hero or villain — they become them through their choices.
But here’s the real question:
🚨 Did fear create the very monster they were trying to avoid?
The Wizard feared losing power — so he tried to control Elphaba. His fear created the most powerful enemy he could imagine.
Glinda feared being an outcast — so she stayed silent. Her fear pushed away the one person who truly saw her.
Society feared Elphaba’s power based on what they have told — so they called her wicked, and in doing so, they made her their villain.
💡 Leaderness Reflection: Are our own fears shaping the outcomes we dread most?
Now imagine if they had led from forces instead of fears:
✨ The Wizard could have embraced vulnerability and ruled with wisdom instead of manipulation.
✨ Glinda could have chosen courage over comfort and fought for truth.
✨ Society could have accepted Elphaba’s power instead of turning her into an enemy.
👉 Would leading from forces have changed their fate?
4. The Final Choice: Who Are You Becoming?
In the end, Elphaba and Glinda make their defining choices.
🔥 Elphaba chooses forces. She embraces her authenticity, stands by her beliefs, and refuses to let fear define her. She walks away — not because she is weak, but because she is free.
💔 Glinda chooses fear. She remains where she is, maintaining her image, accepting a role she never truly wanted. She becomes “Glinda the Good”, but at what cost?
🎶 “Because I knew you, I have been changed for good.”
This final song is Glinda’s realization: while she played it safe, Elphaba truly lived.
💡 Leaderness Insight: Leadership is about choice.
👉 Are you defining your path, or letting fear define it for you?
👉 Are you embracing growth, or holding onto comfort?
👉 Are you living for impact, or playing it safe?
Elphaba chose forces.
Glinda chose fear.
💡 What will you choose?
Your Leaderness in Action
✨ Impact = Forces − Fears
✅ Authenticity: Are you leading as your true self?
🔥 Belief: Do you trust in your path, even if it’s hard?
🎯 Direction: Are you choosing growth over fear?
💙 Empathy: Are you connecting beyond appearances?
Ready to Unlock Your Leaderness?
🎬 Watch the final moment of transformation: Defying Gravity — Wicked
Defy gravity