What Makes a Great Leader?

Lesson Summary:

This complete, ready-to-use C1–C2 ESL video lesson plan is built around the theme of leadership in modern organisations. Designed for mature teens and adults, the lesson helps learners explore what makes a great leader, how leadership is changing and why innovation depends on culture, collaboration and trust. Students develop advanced vocabulary, viewing and listening comprehension, critical thinking, speaking, writing and visual representing skills through discussion, video work, article analysis, roleplay and multimodal homework tasks.

Learning Objectives:

• To introduce students to the concept of leadership in modern organisations
• To expand vocabulary related to leadership, innovation, collaboration and organisational change
• To develop viewing, listening and reading comprehension skills
• To develop writing skills through reflective and analytical tasks using new vocabulary
• To improve speaking skills through discussion, roleplay and the use of new vocabulary
• To improve visual representing skills through multimodal composition homework tasks

Lesson Activities:

• Discuss quotations about leadership
• Talk about admired leaders and leadership qualities
• Predict the content of a short video
• Watch a video titled What Makes a Great Leader?
• Complete video comprehension and analysis tasks
• Perform a roleplay about leadership and innovation
• Read an article titled Why Great Leaders Build Cultures, Not Just Strategies
• Complete article comprehension, discussion and writing tasks

Learner Type:

Advanced (C1) to Proficient (C2) mature teens and adults

Language Focus:

• Leadership and organisational culture
• Innovation and collaboration
• Change management and modern organisations
• Critical thinking and analytical discussion
• Vocabulary for influence, trust, vision and strategy

Watch the short video.

Transform Your English Classroom with This Film English Multimodal Lesson

This ESL lesson plan is built around a carefully selected short video and designed using the exclusive Multimodal Approach– an innovative methodology that integrates traditional language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) with viewing – the active process of analysing and interpreting multimodal texts – and representing – creating multimodal texts. This pedagogically rich approach mirrors how communication works in the real world, through a combination of language, image, sound, gesture and spatial design, making the lesson more engaging, relevant and effective.

This ESL video lesson plan plan consists of a complete, ready-to-use package that includes:

• A thought-provoking short video
• A detailed teacher’s guide with step-by-step instructions
• A pre-viewing vocabulary glossary to scaffold understanding
• Comprehension, discussion and critical thinking questions
• Creative post-viewing tasks such as roleplays, writing prompts and reflective activities
• A thematically linked reading text to reinforce language and deepen understanding
• A final task encouraging learners to create their own multimodal compositions (e.g. vlogs, posters, infographics or social media posts)

Benefits for Teachers:

• Save hours of preparation with a fully developed, flexible lesson plan
• Engage students through compelling stories and real-world themes such as emotional intelligence, character, values, empathy, personal development, identity, relationships, global issues and social issues
• Build classroom routines that integrate multimodal literacy naturally and progressively
• Foster more inclusive and differentiated learning by using varied modes of input
• Promote social-emotional learning (SEL)
• Rely on a trusted methodology backed by educational research and grounded in the theories of Vygotsky, Kress, Mayer and Krashen

Benefits for Learners:

• Develop communicative competence and confidence through integrated skill-building
• Expand vocabulary and improve listening and reading comprehension through repeated, meaningful exposure
• Think critically and creatively while exploring powerful social and emotional themes
• Create authentic, personalised multimodal projects that reflect their own voice and ideas
• Strengthen emotional intelligence and intercultural awareness through affective engagement with multimodal texts

Whether you’re teaching in a secondary school, university or adult education context, Film English lesson plans offer a dynamic, research-informed pathway to meaningful language learning. Join thousands of teachers worldwide who are transforming their classrooms with the Multimodal Approach and helping their students learn English—and live through English—more fully.