Are you with me? … To the death.
The Chronicles of Narnia movie series kicked off in 2005 and was based in the mystical world of Narnia. In the first film a series of events rapidly culminated with ordinary teen Peter (upper photo) becoming the leader of an army (the “good guys” in the morality tale). His troops were staked out on a mountain and they could see the evil army approaching across the fields. They were outnumbered at least ten to one. It was time to lead the charge down the hill and defend their land. Peter looked at second in command Oreius (bottom photo) and said, “Are you with me?”
Let’s get inside Oreius’ head for a minute. He knew the kid didn’t have any battle experience. He could clearly see they were vastly outnumbered. He knew the tactics of the evil leader, who had said “I have no interest in prisoners. Kill them all.” It had to be obvious to Oreius that if he went charging down that hill it was likely the end of the story for him. But what Oreius had in common with Peter was a belief. A belief that what they were doing was the right thing. It was important. It was something that was worth great personal risk for the common good. So when he heard Peter say,
“Are you with me?” he immediately responded “To the death.”
Then Peter yelled “For Narnia!” and they all raced into battle. I get chills every time I see that scene and just got them again when I typed it. I remember the first time I saw that scene. I jumped out of my chair and exclaimed “I want that guy on my basketball team!” (Which is a great way to get yourself noticed in a theater, by the way.)
The power of this type of attitude in business cannot be overstated. Are your employees punching a clock / just going through the motions, or do they really believe in the company direction and have pride in being a part of it? I always look for this attitude when hiring, selecting people for a project, or whatever it is I’m trying to accomplish.
On a personal level, does your inner circle share your hopes and dreams and “are they with you” in pursuit of them? If you surround yourself with people that are mutually committed to achieve a common goal then there’s no limit to what you can accomplish.