“CAPTAIN PHILLIPS" SAILS TO SUCCESS”

Captain Phillips: Piracy, Courage, and Studies in Leadership

Captain Phillips, Directed by Paul Greengrass

Paul Greengrass previously directed The Bourne Supremacy (2004) and The Bourne
Ultimatum (2007), the latter two installments in the Matt Damon spy thriller trilogy.
The Bourne movies enjoy an implausibly high critical and popular reception—the last of them
won 3 Oscars, has a spot in IMDB’s list of the best movies of all time, and has a 94 percent
rating on RottenTomatoes.com.

What others liked about Bourne—the documentary-style realism, the attention to human details
in the midst of carnage—finds much better material in Greengrass’ superb new movie, Captain
Phillips. Phillips is a better vehicle for Greengrass because it is a true story.
In Bourne Greengrass’ approach was a distracting, showy, sort of pretentious realism (way too
much shaky-cam); in Phillips, the same techniques enhance the story.

Captain Phillips is the true story of the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama cargo ship by Somali
pirates off the coast of Africa in 2009. In case you don’t remember how that incident ended, I
won’t give away the ending of the movie. Suffice to say, the film is a harrowing, intense, nail-
biter. It is equal parts a heist movie, procedural, and war movie—a sort of cross
between Heat, Apollo 13, and Zero Dark Thirty, on a small scale.

At the center of the story is the titular Richard Phillips, whose memoir is the basis for the movie.
(Which is not really a spoiler since the introductory credits tell us as much). Phillips is played by
Tom Hanks, one of the best actors working today not named Daniel Day-Lewis. Hanks gives a
strong performances as a man who starts the movie as a reserved, no-nonsense businessman,
shows depths of selflessness and quick thinking as his ship is attacked by pirates, and is forced to
confront his own powerlessness by the end. Hanks’ final scenes are wrenching.

Phillips faces off against the pirate captain, Abduwali Muse, played by Barkhad Abdi. This
movie is the only entry in Abdi’s IMDB entry; if this really is Abdi’s first acting job, it is a
miracle. Abdi carries half the film convincingly. Muse is not the biggest pirate, nor the loudest,
but he is the most self-assured. In an early scene he faces off against a fellow Somali, one larger
and more well-armed than he. The way he calmly and swiftly demonstrates his dominance
establishes both the character’s courage and his cruelty.

In the rivalry between Phillips and Muse the film gives us two pictures of leadership, notable for
their similarities as much as for their differences. Both men are driven by bosses; both are
simple businessmen. (Muse repeatedly assures his American hostages “no al-Qaida here. Just
business.”) Both have a job to do and a crew to manage. Insofar as Muse shows grit,
determination, and ingenuity in his job, the audience begins to sympathize with him. But the
similarities end there, as does our liking for Muse.
Phillips takes responsibility even when the situation is out of his control: he takes initiative and
even improvises creative strategems. Muse is passive and fatalistic: late in the movie Phillips
pleads with Muse to let him go, but Muse simply responds “I’ve gone too far. I can’t go back
now.” Muse refuses to take responsibility for where is choices have led.

Phillips is selfless, telling the pirates to kill him instead of his crew and volunteering to be taken
as a hostage in exchange for his ship. Muse is not; when he is briefly taken captive, he demands
his fellow pirates do whatever they have to free him. Phillips cares for his crew and even shows
compassion for the pirates; Muse is ruthless towards one and callous towards the other. In the
end, Phillips is a servant leader; Muse is an autocrat.
The movie thus gives us two pictures of command, highlighting the roles that choice,
selflessness, and initiative play in shaping a leader. It is similar to Slumdog Millionaire, a movie
that showed two brothers who came from the same slum but ended in diametrically opposite
places because of the choices they made. Phillips and Muse didn’t start from the same place, but
they worked a similar job, made different choices, and ended with different fates.

Captain Phillips is a story about reaping and sowing. The choices we make matter: the actions
we take cultivate our characters and ultimately define who we are. “The house of the wicked
will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish,” (Proverbs 14:11). The contrasting
character studies aren’t the main focus of the movie—more time and attention is spent on
ratcheting up the tension and showing the precise moves each side makes in the fateful march
towards resolution—but it is there, and it helps make Captain Phillips one of the best movies of
the year.
CAPTAIN PHILIPS LEADERSHIP LESSONS: SERVANT VS. AUTOCRAT
LEADERSHIP

The Oscar nominated movie “Captain Phillips”, based on a true story of the hijacking the cargo
ship Maersk Alabama by four Somali pirates off the coast of SE Africa in 2009, tells the story
about two leaders Captain Phillips (played by Academy award winner Tom Hanks) and Somali
pirate captain Abduwali Muse (played by rising star Barkhad Abdi). The movie, presents their
interplay, and exposes similarities and differences in their leadership style.

The leadership lessons learned stem from the films two leaders – both of whom are protagonists
in their own minds – Captain Richard Phillips and Abduwali Muse.

At the very beginning of the movie Captain Phillips shows himself as a competent, responsible,
selfless, servant leader who, when attacked by the pirates, puts himself in danger in order to save
the crew members.

Pirate captain Muse is just the opposite – inadequate for the job, selfish, cruel and determined in
fulfilling his aim, no matter of consequences. In other words a pure example of an autocratic
leader. Muse is irresponsible jeopardizing the lives of his crew, which is especially visible
towards the end of the movie, when confronted with action of the U.S. Anti-piracy ship. Muse
refuses to surrender, even though it is the only reasonable scenario, saying fatalistically “I’ve
gone too far now. I can’t go back now.”
Considering their differences and similarities, we can take out eight main lessons from these two
leaders:

Risk-taking – both captain show this leadership quality. Captain Phillips refuses to be deterred
from the mission of delivering supplies despite multiple warnings of pirate attacks in the route.
Muse demonstrates the same steadfast commitment to his mission: targeting the Maersk
Alabama – even with the threat of military intervention. After the pirates hear Phillips making a
call for armed backup (with no idea that the call is a bluff), they begin to turn around. Muse,
however, responds with gusto: “What are you doing? Where are you going? Come on! Keep
going!” His gusto keeps the small group of bandits moving forward.

Listening – both captains fail to in active listening skills, generally considered one of the most
important skill leader should poses. Muse refuses to listen his crew when suggesting to go back,
an advice which would save their lives, and Phillips did not listen Quinn’s suggestion to leave
after first day of failed attack.

Accountability – both leaders are accountable to someone else. Muse is accountable to elders,
while Captain Phillips is an employer of the cargo company.

Muse: I got bosses. They got rules.

Captain Phillips: We all got bosses.

Responsibility – this leadership quality is expressed in different ways. Captain Phillips shows as
selfless putting himself in danger, emphasizing throughout the movie to take him instead of the
crew. On the other hand, Muse is selfish, doesn’t care about his crew members, e.g. when his
arm was cut, his immediate response was “Just get me out of here! Give Irish the radio”. He
shows lack of empathy when one of crew members was badly injured.

Strategy & Planning – Unlike Muse, Captain Phillips knew the drill in situation of piracy attack.
His crew followed his orders, and pirates were unable to locate them. Muse’s plan was lacking
strategic approach, and back-up plan, assuming that things will be easy “It supposed to be easy. I
take ship..Ransom…nobody get hurt.”

Flexibility – Even when the situation wheeled out of control, Phillips and his crew were able to
adjust. When Phillips was taken hostage his crew decided to follow him. When their skiff sank,
the pirate crew had no idea what to do and found themselves being open to Phillips and his
crew’s suggestions for use of their lifeboat.
Empowerment of followers – Phillips empowered his leaders beneath him to take action in his
absence. Muse’s autocratic style did not allow for a more seamless transition of power. When
Phillips was taken hostage, Shane rose up and took the lead. When Muse left to board the Navy
ship, his followers were confused. While Najee did step up to command, he had difficulty getting
an effective following.

Emotional Intelligence – Both captains are very different types of leaders with Phillips
demonstrating more emotional intelligence and reverent leadership style to his crew and Muse
uses an autocratic style of leadership.

Richard Phillips, captain of the Maersk Alabama and survivor of a 2009 Somalian pirate attack,
speaks at the Information Security and Risk Management Conference sponsored by Information
Systems Audit and Control With a well prepared crew and a never-give-up attitude, almost any
problem in life can be solved.

That was the message Merchant Marine Capt. Richard Phillips delivered Friday to a packed
conference room of corporate security specialists at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

Phillips is well known as the captain of the cargo ship the Maersk Alabama that was hijacked by
Somali pirates on April 2, 2009. The five-day incident involving Phillips and his crew is
portrayed in “Captain Phillips,” a recently released movie starring Tom Hanks.

“There are three major lessons I’ve learned,” Phillips said in a speech at the 2013 Information
Security and Risk Management Conference. “Being the captain of a 17,000-ton ship, I’ve learned
how to navigate changing seas. Also you are much stronger than you think you are, and when we
choose, a dedicated team can come together and get it done.”

Phillips wrote “A Captain’s Duty,” a book about the incident where four pirates boarded and
took control of the unarmed ship in the Gulf of Aden in the Arabian Sea between Yemen, on the
south coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and Somalia in the Horn of Africa.

During the standoff, the ship’s crew overpowered one of the pirates. Phillips was held captive in
a lifeboat after offering himself in return for the safe release of his crew. Phillips was rescued by
U.S. Navy Seals, who shot and killed three of his captors, while a fourth was captured and is now
serving a 31-year sentence in a federal prison in Indiana.

Phillips said another important lesson he learned from the ordeal, which can be applied to
information security or any business is to “hope for the best, but plan for the worst.” He said he
knew as captain of the Maersk Alabama, that it wasn’t a matter of if they were going to be
attacked, but when. “We prepared for it,” Phillips said. “Onboard, you don’t want to become
complacent, also known as fat, dumb and happy. I had a security drill that lasted about 10
minutes, but the meeting after the drill lasted three times as long. We made sure there was a
backup safety room, doors were locked, and everyone knew the safe word.”

Phillips said somehow, when faced with adversity, “we found the strength to do what we needed
to do.” He said one of the reasons he is here today was because of a dedicated crew, which took
control of the ship when things got worse.

Phillips said the reason he allowed himself to be transferred to a life raft by the Somali pirates
was simple; it was his “responsibility to protect my crew, protect my ship.” He said the plan was
to exchange himself for the leader of the Somali pirates, who had been captured by some of his
ship’s crew.

After his 40-minute speech, Phillips fielded several pirate-related questions.

“It’s the second oldest profession we deal with,” he said dryly. “We have always faced piracy
and we always will. The Maersk Alabama has been attacked seven times, always in that area …
near Somalia.”

The four-day annual Information Systems Audit and Control Association conference brought
together 750 attendees to a variety of industry topics, including managing key organizational risk
from social media; assessing and managing information risk in an outsourced environment; and
responding to cyber attacks.

“There is a lot of fear mongering in the industry now,” Google apps product strategist James
Snow said. “That isn’t unusual with a new product.”

Snow hosted an hour-long seminar titled “Is Cloud Computing the End of Security and Privacy
As We Know It?” His immediate answer was no.

He said most data resides on unsecured endpoints like laptops. Snow said if the data aren’t
“managed centrally, it is not secure,” noting that companies spend more than $2 billion on
patches annually.

Snow said what “we’ve learned from Edward Snowden is nothing is safe anymore.” Snowden, a
former computer specialist with the CIA and the National Security Agency, disclosed top-secret
U.S., Israeli and British government surveillance programs to the media.

Snow said Internet “security is an arms race … it is us against the government, and the
government against private business.”