How to Lead Like Jason Vorhees

Since 1980, Jason Vorhees has led the pack in not only movie serial killers, but great motivators. No matter the circumstances, Jason is always able to get a group of unorganized and distracted camp counselors or wayward souls to communicate, bond, and face their fears. This Friday the 13th, learn from the best about how to lead.

Be Obsessed with Your Purpose

You can kill a person, but you can’t kill a purpose. Jason rises from the dead, from the lake, from being frozen all for one simple purpose: to kill. When you lead from a place of purpose, you bring more energy, optimism, and curiosity to how you interact with your team.

Jason’s sole drive to kill pushes his victims to try and survive. Whatever your purpose is, make it known to your team and make sure your decisions and behaviors align with it. Your team can’t meet your purpose if they aren’t clear on it.

Learn more about hiring employees.

Motivate Your Team

Nothing motivates a person like fighting off a force that refuses to die. But in substitution of wielding a machete during company parties, start by listening and asking for feedback from your team about what motivates them and what doesn’t.

Other ways of motivating employees include:

• Showing recognition for work and team efforts
• Modeling respect and a strong work ethic
• Creating an atmosphere of terror fun
• Encouraging growth on the team and beyond

Check out our blog post on motivating employees of different generations.

Get Your Employees to Stay Forever

Year after year after year, Camp Crystal Lake (Camp Blood) attempts to open its doors to happy campers. Even though no campers ever make it to the serene body-infested waters, a new fresh batch of counselors always returns—and most never leave. Jason’s reputation as a terrifying killer doesn’t scare these employees away. Instead, it tempts them and lures them in.

The history of blood and murder lures new counselors and edge lords to the camp, but in the real world, that will get you arrested. Instead, focus on creating a healthy and respectful atmosphere where your employees want to return to work and enjoy being there. Like your purpose, your culture is tied into what your business is about and how you want to lead.

Check out our post on healthy office morale.

Create a Company Culture to Die For

Whether you like it or not, your company has a culture that’s created from the combination of your leadership and your employees’ engagement. Negative leadership practices will cause an unhealthy work culture to set in that will lead to unmotivated and unsatisfied employees. People stay at Camp Blood forever because they’re dead, but your employees should stick around because they’re happy.

No matter your industry, common signs of a healthy work culture are:

• Clear job objectives, roles, and expectations for performance
• Opportunities for growth on team
• Social activities outside the workplace
• Freedom to offer feedback
• Transparent and direct communication

Signs your company culture is unhealthy:

• Lack of respect and job satisfaction
• High body count numbers
• Confusion around tasks and roles
• Killer stalking the premises

What is company culture?

Company culture encompasses your business’s practices and behaviors from how you lead to how your employees work. For example, Jason’s business is murder and his culture is fear. Company culture even includes how your customers interact with your business, services, and products.

Learn more about cultivating your company’s culture.