“Dear Worker Bee,” an ambitious executive writes in from Bonita Springs, “Recently, I’ve noticed a spate of books on leadership, all using as examples famous figures such as Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, Queen Elizabeth, and Winnie the Pooh.” (Winnie the Pooh?!) “I want to be a leader—which personality would you recommend I look to for guidance?” You mean other than yours truly? Luckily, even the Worker Bee has his influences.

In this executive’s bumble—er, humble—opinion, one need look no further than the star of TV’s Baywatch: that ubiquitous thespian, David Hasselhoff.

What Did K.I.T.T. Stand For, Anyway?

We’ll start off our examination with a lesson culled from Hasselhoff’s breakout, star-making vehicle (pardon the expression), Knight Rider. In this show about a vaguely effeminate talking car and the man who drove him (it?), The Hass showed that it was possible to be an effective leader without necessarily pandering to your superior. Not to mention the fact that it’s possible to lead even if you’re not the individual having the most authority. (The old English guy was the man in charge, and maybe that brunette woman had more control, technically.) But, during every episode, about forty-five minutes into the show, The Hass would figure out exactly where his evil twin with the moustache was, or where the bomb was going to go off, or where the evil version of K.I.T.T. (strangely named K.A.R.R.) had driven off to. At that point, he’d hop right into action, simply muttering, “I’ll explain later.” Actually, this is a terrible leadership lesson. I don’t know, maybe it involves trust or something. Let’s move on.

Watch The Bay, Not The Bust

Okay, here’s a better one. On his later, even bigger smash series Baywatch, The Hass was a lifeguard surrounded by beautiful women. Swimming and rescue skills aside, these were not Ph.D. candidates in bikinis—so there was not always a lot going on upstairs, mentally, in the area of speech, I mean, from these well-proportioned chickies. Yet did The Hass, as their lifeguard leader, ever look anywhere below their face while they were talking to him? No. He respected these broads too much to stare at their physical plentitude, even if the only thing to see in their expression was the empty reflection of the sea. And he didn’t call them broads or chickies, either. He listened to his team, both men and women, and heard what they had to say. Even if it was something stupid, like, “Are we really in Hawaii?”

I Love the Night Life, I Love to Boogie

Let’s now take a look at one of the less successful moments in The Hass’s career. While Baywatch proper was still going on, he ambitiously launched a spin-off series called Baywatch Nights, in which his character moonlighted as a detective investigating instances of the paranormal, such as women whose proportions wouldn’t be physically possible without extensive plastic surgery, for instance. As the executive producer of Baywatch, he not only realized that having ambition and taking chances is good, even if you’re unsure of how successful your attempt will be, but also, through his character, that a true leader must embrace different roles throughout his or her career. For example, if you’re a lifeguard, you might have to run a detective agency.

He’s Very Big In Germany

Have I mentioned that The Hass is huge in Europe? He really is. But even if you don’t like him as much as the Worker Bee does, you can still look to other media personalities for executive leadership guidance, like Charlton Heston, or Yoda. The important thing is to have a role model, even if he doesn’t have great hair or a rifle collection.