"The Walk" is a movie based on the true story of a French high-wire artist,
Philippe Petit, who, at the age of 24, walked between the Twin Towers of the
World Trade Center in New York on a high wire on August 7, 1974. He walked at a
height of around 1,350 feet, covering a distance of around 200 feet. Philippe
Petit is the only man on this planet who did this. This movie shows how the
"impossible" can be made into the "possible" and teaches various lessons that
could be useful for everyone. 
1. Define your vision and identify your goal: To
become a leader, one must first define his or her goal, a clear vision of where
they want to go.Like Philippe, he was skilled in wire walking and always used to
look for a perfect place for his wire walk. He got the vision to take the
world's highest wire walk when he was 18 years old and once visited a dentist
due to his ailing toothache. He found the proposed construction and saw drawings
of twin towers in a magazine.
2. Learn from failures and keep moving forward:
Failures provide a foundation for success.During his training, Philippe fell
from the wire because he thought he had arrived at his destination three steps
before it. He learned from Papa Rudy that most wire walkers die when they arrive
because they think they've arrived when they're still on the wire.During his
first public performance, Philippe got distracted by the insults and laughter of
the fishermen. Walking on the wire is as much mental as physical. Philippe lost
his concentration, leading to a loss of balance and fall into the lake.
3. Build
a great team: Once a leader has the vision, he has to communicate it
passionately to create his team. If a leader's vision is well understood by his
team members, then they will approach the world in a different way to achieve
the vision of the leader. Like Philippe, he passionately shared his vision with
various people and involved them as his team members and mentors. In Paris,
Annie helped him with a perfect place to practice, Papa Rudy taught him the
finer traits of wire walking, and Jean-Louis helped him with a way to get the
cable across the towers. In New York, Barry Greenhouse and J.P. helped him in
various ways, and there were a few other team members whose contributions helped
Philippe in achieving his dream.
4. Recognize your own strengths and
limitations: A leader should be aware of his own strengths and limitations, and
then work on improving his strengths and bringing on board people who can assist
him with his limitations.Though Philippe had been doing wire walking for a few
years, he realised that wire walking at the Twin Towers would be a different
level of challenge. He rediscovered traits of wire from Papa Rudy. In the 6
years between defining his vision and achieving his dream, he planned and
practised multiple times to achieve perfection and built a team with members
with different strengths required to achieve the objective.
5. Give great
attention to every area: Complex tasks require close attention to the details of
every area. A leader should have proper understanding and also have to pay
attention to their achievements. Philippe studied the towers, visited them
multiple times, and enquired about specifics. As a result, he learned how to
accommodate issues such as wind and weather effects on the wire at that height;
what type of wire and accessories to use in terms of weight and thickness; how
to enter towers with his collaborators; the need to put wood blocks between the
wire, and so on.
6. Define the deadline: Achievers don't wait too long for
favourable conditions. They give themselves deadlines and then, instead of
accepting unfavourable conditions as an excuse, they figure out their own way to
achieve the objective. They apply the mindset of ‘how it can be done’ instead of
‘why it can’t be done’. Three months before the date of his dream walk, Philippe
decided the date of his walk and made sure that he achieved his goal as per the
deadline.
7. Establish a clear set of responsibilities: Operational details of
who will do what in the team and how it will be done should be clearly defined.
In the movie, it is shown that before the walk, Philippe involved the entire
team, established responsibilities, planned the timelines and sequence, and then
communicated the plan more than 20 times to the team.
8. Adapt to unexpected
situations: Though Philippe and his team planned for every possible step, they
faced numerous challenges while being in the final situation. For example, they
were 3 hours behind schedule. The team was delayed when the heavy cable sank too
fast and had to be pulled up manually for hours.
9. Show your gratitude to your
team: A leader pushes their teams to achieve their vision. After achieving a
goal, it is very important to thank team members for their efforts. After
achieving his dream of becoming the most glorious high wire walker in the world,
Philippe told his team, “I would like to make a toast." To all of you, My
accomplices I'm aware that I can be... a little difficult. But, but... You never
gave up on me. And because of this, I was able to walk on that wire. So for
allowing me this honor, thank you."
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