Interview: Authors of Leaders Assemble! Leadership in the MCU by Sy Islam and Gordon B. Schmidt

October 30, 2023 Ayla Ruby Book Interviews, Comicbook Films & Shows, Comics, Marvel, MCU, Media Studies 2 min read

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Cosmic Cafe host Ayla Ruby talks with Dr. Sy Islam and Dr. Gordon B. Schmidt about their book Leaders Assemble! Leadership in the MCU (Exploring Effective Leadership Practices through Popular Culture). The book examines what we can learn in the real world about leadership based on the characters, films, and shows within the MCU from Marvel Studios. Dr. Islam and Dr. Schmidt are experts in the field of industrial organizational psychology and they had tremendous insight on how some characters within the MCU lead – and sometimes don’t lead.

The conversation about leadership in the MCU

[Editor’s note: This interview has been lightly edited for clarity. Heavy spoilers for everything Marvel are discussed below. Audio of this interview is available in podcast form below or most places podcasts are available.]

Timestamps:

00:10 – Intros
00:45 – How did you come up with the idea for the book?
04:50 – What was your journey to your fandom? How did it start?
11:55 – What was your prep for Leaders Assemble! Leadership in the MCU?
13:55 – What has been the response from colleagues and students?
18:00 – Was there anything surprising you found about the Marvel Cinematic Universe as you worked on this book? (Black Widow and “The Glass Cliff”)
23:35 – Leadership lessons in Ms. Marvel and She-Hulk
26:00 – Talk about The Eternals
30:25 – Talk about Secret Invasion
34:50 – What is the biggest lesson in leadership people should use in their everyday lives?
38:00 – What’s next for you? Next books they’re working on.
39:45 – Outros