🎄 What HR Lessons Can We Learn from…Diehard's John McClane 🎄

Earlier this week, we once again dipped into the festive film archives and ran a poll asking you to choose which Christmas film character would make the best HR Director.

And the winner was (finally!)… John McClane. 🔫🎄

Yes. That John McClane. NYPD detective. Reluctant Christmas office party attendee. Barefoot hero of Nakatomi Plaza.

It seems our community has sense and decided that when things hit the fan, you want the person who stays calm under pressure, challenges poor leadership decisions, and isn’t afraid to take on impossible situations with limited resources.

So what on earth can HR leaders glean from a sweaty man in a vest crawling through air ducts? Quite a lot, actually. Let’s unwrap it 😉.

1. Staying Calm When Everything Is on Fire

John McClane arrives at a Christmas party hoping to reconnect with his wife. Within minutes, the building is taken over by terrorists and everything goes spectacularly wrong.

Sound familiar? (use your imagination)

Restructures. Funding pressures. Grievances. A “quick operational fix” that actually needs strategic thinking.

What McClane demonstrates is the importance of clear priorities under pressure. He doesn’t try to fix everything at once. He focuses on the biggest risks first and makes decisions based on impact, not noise.

Strategic HR works in exactly the same way. It’s not about reacting to every issue in isolation, but about understanding what matters most to the organisation and aligning people decisions to long-term goals, even in moments of crisis.

Effective HR leadership is not about always preventing crises entirely (good luck with that), but about responding with clarity, pragmatism and composure when they arrive.

2. Challenging Authority (When Authority Is Wrong)

Hans Gruber may be calm, articulate and well-dressed, but he is also, crucially, wrong.

One of McClane’s defining traits is his willingness to challenge authority when it’s misguided, unsafe or self-serving. He doesn’t defer just because someone is senior, louder, more confident or heavily armed with automatic weapons.

HR leaders often find themselves in the same position. You’re the one saying:

• “That approach puts us at legal risk.”

• “This decision contradicts our values.”

• “Just because we’ve always done it this way doesn’t mean we should.”

Good HR isn’t about being popular. It’s about being brave enough to speak up when something isn’t right, even if it makes the room uncomfortable (OK this one is a little bit of a stretch).

3. Understanding the Human Story Behind the Problem

For all the explosions, Die Hard is actually a (CHRISTMAS!) story about relationships. McClane’s motivation isn’t glory, it’s connection. He wants to fix what’s broken with Holly. He wants people to get out alive.

Strong HR leaders understand that most workplace issues are not really about policy breaches or performance metrics. They’re about fear, identity, pressure, pride, or feeling unheard.

When HR takes the time to understand the human story beneath the surface, solutions become more sustainable and far less adversarial.

4. Improvisation Beats Perfection

John McClane does not have a perfect plan. He has:

• Limited information

• No shoes

• A radio that only sometimes works

And yet, he adapts.

This is an important skill. Strategic HR is not rigid. It adapts to context, scales with organisational need, and evolves as circumstances change - while staying anchored to values, outcomes and long-term impact.

Flexibility without strategy is chaos. Strategy without flexibility is irrelevant. The sweet spot is knowing when to adapt without losing direction.

5. Lone Heroes Burn Out (Even John McClane)

Despite the one-man-army vibe, McClane doesn’t do it alone. He relies on Sergeant Al Powell, the radio operator, and people inside the building. When support finally kicks in, things shift.

HR can sometimes fall into the trap of being the organisational shock absorber, carrying everything quietly and alone. But sustainable HR leadership is collaborative. It involves:

• Sharing responsibility

• Building capable managers

• Knowing when to ask for help

• Systems Thinking
  

Even action heroes (HR Managers) need backup.

6. Values Matter Most Under Pressure

It’s easy to talk about values when things are calm. It’s much harder when everything is on the line.

Under pressure, McClane consistently prioritises human life, fairness, and doing the right thing, even when it costs him personally. That’s values-led leadership in action.

For HR, moments of crisis are when values are truly tested. Redundancies. Disciplinary decisions. Pay disputes. If your values disappear when it gets hard, they were never really embedded.

7. Growth Isn’t Linear (or Tidy)

McClane is flawed. Stubborn. Emotional. Sometimes wrong. And yet, he learns.

HR leaders don’t need to be perfect. They need to be reflective, accountable, and willing to evolve. Growth rarely looks neat, especially in people work. That’s normal.

So yes, John McClane might not be the obvious choice for HR Director. But in a world of complex challenges, limited resources and high stakes, there’s something reassuring about a leader who shows up, tells the truth, adapts fast and keeps people at the centre. *It should be noted, for the avoidance of doubt, that Atkinson HR does not endorse: barefoot working as a core health and safety strategy (even on deep-pile carpet); resolving workplace conflict via air vents; inappropriate behaviour at the office Christmas party, including but not limited to punching senior leaders; or the use of firearms, explosives, or improvised hostage negotiations in the workplace. While John McClane’s resilience, determination and ability to stay calm under pressure are undeniably impressive, we would gently suggest that most organisational challenges are better addressed through thoughtful leadership, clear people strategy and well-designed HR practices.

Yippee-ki-yay, HR people.

Merry Christmas. 🎄

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