Ep 189: Ellen Mirojnick - "The Costume Designer"

In the movie of your life, which part do you want to play?

During award-winning costume designer Ellen Mirojnick's career, she’s worked with directing greats, from Steven Soderbergh, to Ridley and Tony Scott, to Oliver Stone.

She’s the reason the name Gordon Gekko immediately conjures an image in our mind, and why Bridgerton swept millions of viewers off their feet.

Ellen turns costumes into characters. How she does that is worth thinking about for every leader.

Over the last few months on this podcast, we’ve been talking a lot about empathetic, sensitive leadership. About building trust and displaying vulnerability.

Not any of which are words to attach to Gordon Gekko.

Gordon Gekko was greedy, immoral, self-obsessed. Labels that fit some of today’s leaders but are probably not descriptions that you aspire to, if you’re listening to this podcast.

Which brings up the all important question. How do you want to be described?

Each of us play multiple roles in our lives. In every relationship, we have to decide which parts of ourselves we bring center stage and which we move into the wings.

Which personality traits, which characteristics, which areas of expertise should be prominent, and which should take a back seat in that moment.

In our private lives, there’s - usually - more forgiveness and more latitude. But in our leadership roles, when we are confused or inconsistent about how we show up, we run the risk of being misunderstood or, worse, misrepresented. And the consequence of that inconsistency is an erosion of trust and confidence from everyone around you.

The best leaders are clear about the attributes they want to be known for, and then turn them into a character that shows up, consistently, every day.

Strategic, empathetic, ambitious, risk-taking, disruptive, loyal, creative, sensitive, rule-breaking. The choices are yours.

And as long as they are true to who you really are, you’ll have the foundations of a leadership character that can draw people with you on the journey, and will have people remember the impact that you made long after the final credits have rolled.