Personality Lessons From Classic Cinema

I recently watched the classic film The Great Escape starring Steve McQueen and Richard Attenborough.

This legendary motion picture includes a diverse range of personalities. As I watched it for what is likely at least the tenth time, I realized that we can evaluate the main characters' likely Core Values Index psychometric profiles to learn more about our own and those we live and work with.

The Great Escape was one of the highest-grossing films of 1963. It received critical acclaim and helped firmly plant actor Steve McQueen's already burgeoning career and seated him as one of the most legendary leading men in Hollywood.

The film represents a semi-fictionalized telling of real events that took place at a German POW camp operated by the Luftwaffe during World War II. Many of the characters in the film are composites of real people.

As I watched the variety of characters, I realized several of the key roles were great examples of how the four core value energies represented in the Core Values Index psychometric assessment can manifest in an individual's personality.

The Cooler King

The character Captain Hilts, portrayed by Steve McQueen, is an American flyer and renegade nicknamed "The Cooler King." He is individualistic, crafty, often quick-witted, and unafraid to act boldly. Hilts is somewhat of an escape artist, having gone "outside the wire" numerous times through individual action.

McQueen's character, Hilts, prefers to act alone, but when it comes down to it, he agrees to make a huge personal sacrifice for the sake of the group effort. He escapes through the wire, gathers extremely valuable intelligence for what lies beyond, and deliberately gets caught so as to be returned to the inside, knowing he'll spend weeks or longer in solitary isolation ("The Cooler") before being able to relay that intel to the group's leadership.

This act of altruism isn't Hilts' first instinct, but the altruistic selflessness it represents is a core underpinning of his personality.

We estimate Captain Hilts has a likely Core Values Index profile of Builder/Innovator or Innovator/Builder, likely in equal parts. He acts boldly, never losing faith that he will always know what to do, and maintains a clear focus on what he seeks to accomplish (Builder traits). Hilts shows great ingenuity in his ability to solve problems, and his catalytic energy of altruistic compassion for the sake of others fuels his greatest effort of all (Innovator traits).

The Leader

Perhaps the most striking personality in the movie is that of RAF Squadron Leader Roger Bartlett, portrayed by Richard Attenborough. He is the leader of the X Organization, a collection of escapees who organize in secret to bust POWs out of German camps.

Even though Bartlett has a lower military rank than the POW's de facto leader, Captain Ramsey, he runs the organized escape attempt with Ramsey's tacit approval. Bartlett's personality profile becomes immediately clear when he tells Ramsey that he intends to begin the effort to bust out that very night.

Bartlett exhibits strong leadership skills with a palpable impatience to make things happen quickly and boldly. But his drive isn't all a solo effort. Bartlett is quick to delegate key tasks to others for maximum effectiveness.

In real life, many business and organization leaders often have Merchant/Builder or even Builder/Merchant core value profiles. The Merchant aspect is what enables them to motivate others on an emotional level, getting everyone to enthusiastically pull together toward a common cause.

Unlike many business leaders, however, Bartlett doesn't have much Merchant energy in his psychometric profile.

There are two key clues in Attenboroughs' portrayal of Squadron Leader Bartlett that tell us this. First, his sense of urgency coupled with a lack of fear and doubt are classic Builder traits. Second, he never expresses any worry or thought to what others think of him, which is typically a hallmark of the Merchant core value energy.

The best estimation of Squadron Leader Bartlett's secondary core value energy is likely Innovator. He exhibits ingenuity and a motivation to find the best solution. It is his primary Builder core value energy that enables him to find that ability to declare "Good enough, let's act!" whereas a primary Innovator would be more likely to continue pursuing the perfect plan, always tweaking and refining with less drive to put it into action.

The Forger

In sharp contrast to Captain Hilts and Squadron Leader Bartlett, the character of Flight Lieutenant Colin Blythe, portrayed by legendary actor Donald Pleasance, exhibits Banker core value energy.

Blythe was a photo reconnaissance interpretation officer for the RAF who went along on a bombing flight as a sightseeing excursion. His plane was shot down and he found himself in the Luftwaffe camp along with all the other POWs. Blythe's attention to detail and deliberate, methodical approach made him an excellent forger and he soon found himself playing a key role producing fake documents for the escape effort.

Donald Pleasance's portrayal of The Forger is one of detail and knowledge but no leadership or personal initiative. At one point he derides a subordinate for leaving out an eagle from several documents, a tiny detail that most people would never notice, but that's the extent of Blythe's dramatic range.

What he has in attention to detail, Blythe lacks a Builder's drive, an Innovator's need for cleverness, or even a Merchant's urge to be the group's social glue. In essence, The Forger's personality is an archetypical Banker with no other indication as to what his secondary core value energy might be.

The Scrounger

Legendary actor James Garner plays Flight Lieutenant Bob Hendley, one of the three American characters in the film. Hendley uses his skills of ingenuity and persuasion to fulfill his role as the group's Scrounger.

James Garner was wounded and held captive as a POW during the Korean War, and was known for his scrounging abilities during that conflict.

There are a few key requirements to be a good scrounger in a POW camp. First, one must think outside the box. As Hendley showed, you need to creatively figure out that leaf springs from a truck can be repurposed to make pick axes.

Second, you must be persuasive. Hendley manipulates Werner, one of the German guards, into providing him with a camera crucial to the fake document production efforts. It is implied throughout the movie that Hendley further manipulates Werner and likely other guards to smuggle in various items that wouldn't normally be found within a POW camp (bolts of cloth, etc.)

Because of Hendley's creativity and ability to emotionally manipulate and persuade others to get what he wants, we estimate his character is a Merchant/Innovator, likely in equal measure between the two. If we had to guess his tertiary core value energy, it would be Builder, exhibited by Hendley's willingness to act boldly when the situation calls for it.

The Team: Organization X

"We've put all the rotten eggs in one basket."

The consistent theme of what made the movie great and the actual escape that it represents is how a group of many diverse individuals can pull together as a team for the greater good. As the POW camp Commandant von Luger said, "We've put all the rotten eggs in one basket."

Like any modern organization, each person has their own strengths and weaknesses. Everyone has a role in which they can make their highest and best contribution. Putting the right people into the right seats is the number one predictor of success.

Failure would come swiftly if you expected your mild-mannered and detail-oriented Forger to make bold decisions and lead from the front, or if you denied your most innovative members of the team the opportunity to demonstrate their profound wisdom and creativity.

In the actual events The Great Escape portrays, a highly successful operation was planned and meticulously executed because it was comprised of a team of well motivated individuals, more so because each had their own specialization and were put into a role best suited to their personality.

From a hiring and leadership perspective, The Great Escape is arguably one of the best examples in cinema of the value of putting the right people into the right seats.

It's amazing what you can learn about real world personality by watching classic movies.

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