Reel Leaders: Wicked, Part 1

Welcome back to Reel Leaders — the podcast that brings leadership lessons to life by exploring the characters who captivate us on screen.

In this episode, hosts Dan Glaser and April Hennessey dive into Wicked: Part One (2024), unpacking what Elphaba and Galinda can teach us about leadership, allyship, courage, and challenging broken systems.

From Galinda’s charismatic, incremental approach to change to Elphaba’s bold, principled refusal to play by unjust rules, Dan and April explore how two leaders can emerge from completely different circumstances — and still shape each other in powerful ways. They discuss how privilege affects perspective, how small acts of kindness can spark unlikely alliances, and why some leaders work within the system while others must defy it.

So grab your popcorn — or your broomstick — and join us as we explore what Wicked’s iconic witches reveal about real-world leadership.