On U.S. Route 163 at Mile Marker 13, near the Arizona-Utah border, Forrest Gump (played by actor Tom Hanks) ended his ultra-marathon of more than 15,000 miles.
With the majestic Monument Valley as the backdrop, this spot has become one of the most iconic and frequently photographed vantage points for a reason.
People like to replicate cinematic history. Towering sandstone buttes, crimson mesas, and spectacular views of the American southwest don’t hurt the desire to capture the moment. But it is at exactly Mile Marker 13 where we can get a glimpse into how powerful symbolism is for igniting the imagination. Leaders can learn an important insight from Forrest Gump Point.
Symbolic events, experiences, and messages provide a rich and nuanced way to communicate complex ideas and emotions. When they convey powerful feelings, they invite people to bring their own interpretations about what is important and essential in life or in the workplace. Symbols work by crystalizing an idea or an emotion by presenting an image that represents something else.
In the case of Forrest Gump Point, it is not the idea that a famous movie portrayed a scene with a favored actor that compels people to stop and photograph at that spot.
Instead, it is what the act of running 15,000 miles to avoid the heartache of an unreciprocated love represents. Or the final conclusion of a painful and arduous task. For the many people who stop at Forrest Gump Point, the meaning derived from the experience is highly varied, but also the same.
For those who view Mile Marker 13 as a symbol, the place projects a specific meaning about what matters to them. While this meaning may vary depending on the person, in each and every case, the experience symbolizes something important as to how they view the world.
Any time a leader offers a symbol to represent something else, they are sending a loud and clear message that meaning should be derived by those experiencing it.
Everyday organizational symbols include celebrations, logos, brand colors, corporate seals, mascots, physical architecture, manifestos, vision and values statements, slogans and taglines, and letterhead and email designs. Of course, artwork, furniture, and office design are also symbols used to convey complex meaning between people.
So, the next time you look at an enterprise logo or a corporate mission statement, look beyond the words and images and ask what meanings people may be deriving from them. They carry ideas more eloquently than any presentation or town hall speech.
No need to run 15,000 fictional miles to ignite the imagination. If a symbol does its job, someone else does the running.
A Daily Dispatch from the Front Lines of Leadership.
