After seeing Swift Kick’s Dance Floor Theory leadership training on building a strong culture of engagement, I started seeing examples of DFT tips everywhere, especially in movies. One film that has some great examples of getting others involved is “Pitch Perfect.” In this movie, Beca, a college freshman, is totally uninterested in finding any sort of niche on campus. But when she stumbles upon an a cappella group’s booth at the club fair, she starts her journey from “meh” to “hmm.”
Beca meets the Barden Bellas leaders, Aubrey and Chloe but doesn’t think much of the group, especially when she hears about their embarrassing performance at a huge competition the previous year. She carries on and seems determined to keep to herself and finish school as quickly as possible so she can finally work on becoming a DJ. But at the insistence of her father, Beca decides to audition for the Bellas. She makes the group, but the drastically different personalities of all the new members makes it difficult for them to see eye to eye at first. Beca is the most reluctant to become a team player because she thinks the Bellas are taking a too-safe approach in their song selections. At one of their first competitions, Beca decides to take the performance in a new direction, but in doing so she completely blindsides the other members of the group. They go on to lose the competition, and their road to the championship ends.
After the winning group is disqualified, the Bellas are back on track to perform at the championship, but Beca’s decision to switch things up on the unsuspecting Bellas brings to mind a great DFT tip about taking a step back and allowing others to contribute their talents: “It’s not about showing off your best dance move, it’s about helping others to show off their best dance move.” This is such a great way to show others that you value their talents and ideas. In “Pitch Perfect,” Beca takes the spotlight away from the others and it comes back to haunt her. She comes to understand how her actions negatively affected the Bellas and how the group is most successful when everyone puts the group as a whole ahead of themselves individually. This is one important aspect of a cappella in general; it’s all about taking individual parts and putting them together to create something beautiful.
A great way to get people involved in your community is to give them a chance to shine. It lets them feel appreciated and respected, and it can help them to become better leaders, too. Beca eventually learns how important it is to work with your group as a whole as the Bellas go on to win the championship. It doesn’t come without hardship, but the feeling of accomplishing something as a team encourages Beca to continue with the group and finally find a place where she belongs.
There are examples of people putting Dance Floor Theory tips into action everywhere! Have you seen any movies that highlight ways to get people involved in their communities?
