Fictional Character Analysis: Nathan Ford

Meet Nathan Ford from the five-seasoned series, Leverage. He’s considered the leader and mastermind of a team of specialized units. Originally he was an expert insurance investigator until his employing company, I.Y.S. Insurance, refused to pay for his eight-year-old’s son treatment. Years after his son’s death and his world fell apart, Nathan became a part of a team that decides to right injustices in the world.

Throughout each season, there’s a main antagonist or goal to take care of. The first season focuses on Nathan and his entire team playing in the role of modern day Robin Hoods, to assist victimized clients. In season two, the group goes up against Nathan’s former co-worker from the insurance company, and they constantly outsmart his maneuvers. In season three, Nathan is blackmailed into taking down an infamous and untouchable criminal figure. In season four, the team is up against a wealthy businessman that uses the team’s actions to win at the stock market. In the final season, Nathan devises a secret plan that isn’t revealed to anybody else until much later in the season.

Nathan Ford

Basic Information
Name: Nathan Ford
Series: Leverage
Age: 50
Height: 5’11” (180 cm)
Occupation: Leverage Consulting and Associates Mastermind
I.Y.S. Insurance Investigator (formerly)

Personality
Nathan is a genius when it comes to planning and strategizing tactics for heists, cons, and plays. He’s a generally serious character and doesn’t take negative changes too lightly. His mind is sharp and he’s observant to his surroundings as well as thinking several steps ahead of the game. When it comes to other members of his team, he acts more like a father figure, except when it comes to Sophie, his gradual love interest.

Unfortunately, Nathan has a darker side when his son’s death and alcohol are involved. He continually struggles with his son’s tragic death. During a season or so, Nathan relied on alcohol to numb his pains, and he nearly compromised several cons and risked his team. Sometimes Nathan displays some control issues and he has an inability to emote personal feelings, however he gradually becomes better with these issues as the show progresses.

One Good Quote
“You know, guys, sometimes it’s easy to forget why it is you stopped working alone and became a team.”

For those new to the show, Leverage, here’s the ending part of the first episode ever. It displays how the group ultimately came together under Nathan’s leadership after they got their revenge on a traitorous client. It appears as though every member is going to split and go their separate ways, but after working so well together under Nathan’s leadership, they decide to band together and play Robin Hood. A powerful and magnetic leader can attract a team and inspire them to work amazingly.

I previously mentioned some of Nathan’s weaknesses. During several episodes, his alcoholism becomes a major part of his thinking and attitude. His team reluctantly follows his commands, despite their concerns for his sway planning and Nathan’s well-being. This clip shows how far Nathan’s problem stretches the willingness and faith of his team.

Why Follow Nathan (What I Can Take Away)

• Nathan is incredibly quick-thinking, and he always seems to have several backup plans. Change doesn’t stop him, and he can adapt quickly.
• It seems as though Nathan puts his team members first before his own well-being.
• Because he’s not incredibly perfect, it shows others that it’s okay to have faults.
• Despite using illegal or misleading methods, Nathan never condones helping the greedy or selfish—his values involve helping the weak or helpless.

Motivational Music Track 2

Title: I’m Every Woman
Artist: Chaka Khan
Year: 1978

Official Chaka Khan Music Video

Official Whitney Houston Music Video

Why this is Enjoyable
This is Chaka Khan’s first hit from her platinum debut solo album, but I didn’t learn about it until after I watched the film, “Bridget Jones’ Diary,” in which this song was played during an inspirational part of the film. This song has been remixed and sung by other talents, including Whitney Houston, Taylor Swift, and Sinead O’Connor. Clearly this song isn’t just a wonder for me. It’s a great empowerment tool (more so for ladies than men, but don’t let the main line cause you to hesitate), because this song describes that when a man is down and out, a woman can pick up everything and get it all done.

Selected Lyrics

• “Anything you want done, baby
  I’ll do it naturally”

While this line may not seem to carry a leadership quality, I think it can be interpreted for an individual that has the self-reliance to accomplish anything in his or her path. The fact that the line addresses a recipient as “baby” also shows so much confidence and ease from the speaker, in my opinion.

• “Mix a special brew
  Put fire inside of you”

All it takes from Chaka Khan is a extraordinary potion (or in this case, her song), and as a result, anybody who hears it is instantly motivated and ready to get going. Again, this is another line meant to boost self-assurance and cause motivation.

• “And don’t bother to compare
  ‘Cause I’ve got it”

Here’s a great example of a line representing confidence. When somebody’s truly confident (without being overly egotistical), sometimes there’s just no comparison. When you’ve got a person that can get anything done and create motivation among others, there truly is no comparison. That’s why it’s great to embrace this song, Chaka Khan, and every woman.

Leadership Summary
I’ve got everything, and I can do anything. I know when you need me, and I’ve got plenty of skills and abilities to offer. There’s no other comparison.

It’s My Ship (Part 2)

The introduction and first chapter of “It’s Your Ship” gave a great beginning to defining the parameters that Michael Abrashoff followed while commanding the USS Benfold. This entry follows the next two chapters, “Lead by Example” and “Listen Aggressively.”

Like my previous post, I’ve been taking down more notes, and two types that I’ve derived from each chapter. My first section of notes involves remarks that are actually related to the chapter’s key point. My second type of notes involves observations that really stuck out to me, and they are additional pieces of information I plan to incorporate in my form of leadership.

Lead By Example
The second chapter dealt with how to listen to others—acquaintances, team mates, co-workers, etc. In my work experience, I have noticed managers or owners that fail in this step, and because of that, I’ve always been terribly disappointed with them. This point seems like common sense to me, but there are some leaders that don’t get this for one reason or another. The following includes a list of why “leading by example” is an important part to great leadership:

• real leadership must be done by example, because people look for the leader’s signals and that leader has an enormous influence over them
• the one signal a leader needs to steadily send to his or her people is how important those people are to the leader
• mediocre leaders don’t even go through the trouble to know their people
• leaders know how to be held accountable
• never forget the leader’s effect on people

I have a larger batch of additional notes that I consider absolutely vital for any developing leader or a leader that requires a good check-up.

• it helps when the motives are pure and the leader makes sure to come across that way
• when in doubt, do the Washington Post test—would you be proud if your actions were on the front page?
• it’s far more useful to focus on making sure the accident never happens again, rather than finding someone to blame
• it’s funny how often the problem is the leader
• obey even when you disagree
• if one can’t be cheerful and positive, then the key is to minimize the damage he or she may impose
• the more an individual understands their “dark side,” the better one can manage it
• consider asking the following factors in regards to communication with others: articulating the goal, giving enough time/resources,  giving enough training

Listen Aggressively
The third chapter focuses on listening. This is a factor in which I fail tremendously most of the time. I could blame it on my tendency to want to do several things at once. I could blame it on my failure to completely absorb all spoken information before conducting a response in my mind. The bottom line is that I am a terrible listener. However, a couple of my notes from the reading have really put listening in perspective for me:

• treat every encounter with every person as the most important thing at that moment
• pick up every good idea that the team has to improve the organization’s operation
• if leaders back their words with action, their words create a self-fulfilling prophecy

It’s difficult to really give pointers to help with better listening. However, Michael Abrashoff put it very sweet and succinct. In this chapter, I also took more notes that weren’t necessarily related to listening, but they’re still important all the same:

• team members have hopes, dreams, loved ones, and they want to believe that what they’re doing is important
• team members want to be treated with respect
• try to match members’ personal/professional goals with a task that needs to be done
• take performance over seniority
• confidence is infectious