Description
TLC Zoom
25th June 2025 @ 18:00 BST
The Fellowship of the Ring:Â
(exploring leadership through the characters of Tolkien’s middle earth)
Amos Jacob
I want TLC to be so much more than ‘a one man band’. You need to see different presenters and styles. Thanks to so many of you for contributing to the survey issued a couple of months ago.
We need to attract a younger audience and therefore younger speakers and so I turned to our ‘old’ friends at Deloitte for input and innovation. Tonight will be one such example in turning over the running of tonights ‘gig’ to Amos.
Let me get Amos to explain the background to this event.
An orphan, a veteran of the first world war, a professor of Anglo Saxon and English literature and a philologist, the now antique name for one who loves and studies language, JRR Tolkien knew that the stories we tell have a profound influence.
And of course, for when we appraise someone’s actions and their character, the weights we weigh by are the same in both a story and in a ‘True’ story.
One could certainly argue that, among other things, stories and myths are a preserve of case-studies in the trials and tribulations of how to act and thus of leadership.
Tolkien’s writings render the themes of ancient sagas and folklores into a story which continues to capture the attention of wider culture since it was published.
My talk is going to be a playful, hobbit-style stroll through Tolkien’s masterpiece, The Lord Of The Rings – studying its characters as a way to explore aspects and instances of leadership.
With its central themes of choice and fate, of temptation and sacrifice, of determination and commitment, The Lord Of The Rings towers above many a contemporary leadership textbook.
And if we don’t get lost in thought or waylaid by its perilous motifs, I will also attempt a broader discussion on the relationship between leadership, bravery and adventure, and perhaps of leadership and story itself.
No prior knowledge of Tolkien is necessary; a curious mood will suffice.
Background
I am currently Senior Consultant at Deloitte and passionate about improving the efficacy of the public services. In a previous life I was a gardener and, in the life, before that I made theatre. I started to attend The Leaders Club as soon as I discovered it, seeing it as a special space to hear personal and insightful reflection. I have coordinated our two Deloitte events, with a keen focus on how to engage intergenerational dialogue, that is to say, storytelling.
Personally, Tolkien’s work made a deep impact on me from an early age. It gave me the profound sense of the obligation we have to improve the world we find ourselves in, even if we don’t know the way.
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Background
I am currently Senior Consultant at Deloitte and passionate about improving the efficacy of the public services. In a previous life I was a gardener and, in the life, before that I made theatre. I started to attend The Leaders Club as soon as I discovered it, seeing it as a special space to hear personal and insightful reflection. I have coordinated our two Deloitte events, with a keen focus on how to engage intergenerational dialogue, that is to say, storytelling.
Personally, Tolkien’s work made a deep impact on me from an early age. It gave me the profound sense of the obligation we have to improve the world we find ourselves in, even if we don’t know the way.
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