# Intro: The Disney movie leadership philosophy

- **Episode:** [215](https://agents.truthliesandwork.com/episodes/215.md) (2025-07-17)
- **Type:** intro
- **Tags:** leadership, disney, philosophy
- **Time:** 0:00–2:20 (start 0s)
- **Listen:** [https://truthliesandwork.com/215?t=0](https://truthliesandwork.com/215?t=0)

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[0:00] Al Elliott: One of the most powerful leadership philosophies in the world comes from a Disney movie. Yes, a Disney movie. And not just any Disney movie, Frozen 2
[0:08] Leanne Elliott: Frozen 2 is a great movie. And our guest today is Tim Lupinacci. He credits a song from Frozen with helping him lead 1,400 people through a global pandemic
[0:19] Al Elliott: Tim's built his entire leadership philosophy around the idea that everybody leads regardless of your title, corner office, or even perceived power
[0:27] Tim Lupinacci: I'm Tim Lupinacci. I'm the CEO and chair of one of the largest law firms in the United States. Baker Donaldson. I've really developed a passion around leadership and this philosophy that everybody leads, uh, in the context of everyone has influence and everyone has impact and can have influence and impact on others
[0:44] Leanne Elliott: Tim's approach flies in the face of traditional leadership thinking, especially in the legal industry. He talks openly about seeing a therapist. He admits when he doesn't have the answers, and he literally passes ceremonial batons to junior staff members to show he trusts them to lead
[1:01] Al Elliott: And in a world where leaders are told to be more masculine, this so-called soft approach might seem to be a bit of a mistake. But Tim has turned Baker Donaldson around, consistently delivering record financial years, massively increasing employee engagement scores, and now they boast a much lower employee turnover than industry averages. So if you've been told your leadership style isn't brash enough, or you've struggled with imposter syndrome in a senior role, this episode is right up your street
[1:28] Leanne Elliott: Hello and welcome to Truth, Lies and Work, the award-winning podcast Where behavioral science meets workplace culture, brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. My name is Leanne. I'm a chartered occupational psychologist
[1:43] Al Elliott: My name is Al. I'm a business owner
[1:45] Leanne Elliott: And we are here to help you simplify the science of work
[1:47] Al Elliott: As we said, today we're going to discover how Tim uses a Disney song as his leadership mantra, why he believes acting like Winston Churchill is the key to business success, and we'll hear his biggest mistake that taught him leadership is a daily practice. Not just a destination. We'll join Leanne and Tim after this very short break