Ardeth Bay - My Role Model of A True Leader#

The cover image of my leadership blog is Ardeth Bay, a Medjai chieftain and warrior in a movie I watched few years back - The Mummy Returns.

Being the descendent of royal Egyptian secret bodyguards also knows as the Medjai, Ardeth is the leader of 12 Medjai tribes that together control tens of thousands of warriors. For over 3000 years, Ardeth along with his Medjai worriors in desert performs the duty of safeguarding the eternal confinement which prevents the ancient evil supernatural powers from releasing to this world.

What captures me most subconsciously about Ardeth was a movie scene where Ardeth laid sat on one of the half-broken bus chairs for a break after a dangerous yet successful battle with Rick O’Connell’s family against 4 enemy mummies on a double-deck British bus when Rick asked if he’s alright, he smiled genuinely and replied:

Ardeth

“This was my first bus-ride”. (see the clip below)

There are lots of “fake” leaders who enjoys the countless power and wealth and yet there is a true leader who at his adult age never had the experience of boarding a regular bus. While those fake leaders always shot for short-term gains for their personal wealth, Ardeth throughout the entire movie is focusing something bigger beyond himself - serving for his people, his faith, and his value. Wealth, power, or all those luxury lifestyles are meaningless to him. What distinguish Ardeth from other “leaders” is that Ardeth is truely an earch-touching leader with an infinite-game mindset.

There is no “end” for a leader. A leader is not someone who sits at the top enjoying champaign in a glorious golden house, but instead like Ardeth who hold his position, his integrity, and his faith somewhere in a place where he belongs, where he is fulfilling the oath of his ancestors’ duties, and where he someday shall pass this glorious responsibility to his next generations and all the way to the infinite future.

The Infinite Game¹#

Large groups of people, united in common cause, chose to collaborate with no clear end in sight because we felt like we were contributing to something bigger than ourselves, something with value that would last well beyond our own lifetimes

It is well within our power to build a world in which the vast majority of us wake up every single morning inspired, feel safe at work and return home fulfilled at the end of the day

Great leaders are the ones who think beyond “short term” versus “long term.” They are the ones who know that it is not about the next quarter or the next election; it is about the next generation.

When we lead with a finite mindset in an infinite game, it leads to all kinds of problems, the most common of which include the decline of trust, cooperation and innovation. Leading with an infinite mindset in an infinite game, in contrast, really does move us in a better direction. Groups that adopt an infinite mindset enjoy vastly higher levels of trust, cooperation and innovation and all the subsequent benefits.