The 5th Wave is the first book in Robert Yancy’s blockbuster book series. The 5th Wave is the story of an alien invasion of earth and its impact on a young girl’s, Cassie, life.
Her parents were killed during the 3rd and 4th waves of the attack. Her brother is missing and she’s made it her mission to rescue him.
Promotional poster from The 5th Wave
Hollywood has now made The 5th Wave into a major motion picture that released this past weekend.
You know I had to see it. And, if you know that, you know that I have to share the leadership lessons in The 5th Wave.
Leadership Lessons And Quotes From The 5th Wave
1. You will make the wrong call: From the start, we see the impact the alien invasion has had on the world. We also see Cassie Sullivan, played by Chloë Grace Moretz, make the wrong call.
As she’s searching for food and drink, she comes across someone calling for help. She approaches him and shoots him when she thinks he’s pulling a gun.
He wasn’t. He was taking his hand out of his shirt. She made the wrong call.
The same will happen to you. You will make a bad call here and there. Hopefully these calls won’t result in the loss of life as Cassie’s did.
When faced with the realization that your actions were wrong, own up to them. Then move on.
2. We take things for granted: In the first waves of the attack, the aliens knocked out power, the ability to easily travel, and other activities people take for granted.
Look at your life and career. Are there things you’re taking for granted?
What are they? How can you begin to appreciate what you have?
It’s time to stop taking what we have for granted.
3. Everyone has problems: Much like the good things we have in life, we also forget that everyone has problems. In The 5th Wave, we know Ohio had problems with the river flooding.
On the coastal cities, they had a similar but bigger problem. The oceans waves were large and destroyed everything. They had problems too…
When you face problems, stop thinking you’re alone. You’re not.
Others are facing problem too. They might not be the same as yours. They could be bigger than yours.
But everyone has problems.
4. Oliver Sullivan:
Better question is what do they need
Cassie asks her dad what do the aliens want. He responds that there is a better question: What do they need?
The question Cassie asked skimmed the surface of the problem. Her dad’s question drills down to a key point. Need.
Are the questions you’re asking to the point and in the right direction? Decide to ask better questions.
5. Knowing your reason makes it easier to continue: In Cassie’s search for her brother Sammy, played by Zackary Arthur, she was wounded by a gunshot. To get away, she was able to hide under a broken down vehicle.
But she knew she couldn’t stay there. She had a mission. She had to move on.
Knowing that her brother was waiting for her, she pushed herself out from underneath the vehicle and began to run.
Leading can wear us down. We will have times where we feel like we can’t continue.
Truth is, you can. That’s why it’s important you remember your why.
6. Ringer:
We didn’t get rescued. We got drafted.
The children of the survivors thought they were rescued. They military brought them to a base and began to train them.
They thought they were safe. Little did they know that they weren’t being rescued. They were being drafted into a fight they knew nothing about.
The same thing that happened to these children can happen to us.
We’re brought into an organization and we think things are great. We think they really want us there.
Then BOOM! We realize we’re expendable to the organization.
Be on the lookout for organizations that are looking to take advantage of you. They’re out there and they’ll take advantage of you if you let them.
7. You don’t have to lead alone: After Cassie was shot, she was rescued by Evan Walker. Or so we think.
Once she was better, she decided she would go to save her brother. Evan would have nothing of the like.
He knew she needed help. He was willing to go with her.
There are many people telling leaders they can go at it alone. You shouldn’t. Actually, you can’t do leadership alone.
Find confidants. Find people to walk along side you. Find people to hold you accountable.
Being a leader requires this.
8. Evan Walker:
You don’t have to be tough all the time.
Another leadership mistake is thinking that you have to be tough all the time.
We’re not made to always be on. We can’t be strong all the time. That’s okay.
This is why we need others. They’ll lift us up in our difficult times. They’ll carry the load when we can’t.
9. Not everyone is ready for action: The military trained the children they’d “rescued” to go to war. They placed Zombie and Ringer’s unit into a firefight.
The only problem was that not every team member was ready for combat.
We saw Teacup sobbing and scared. Unable to move.
She was ineffective because she wasn’t ready.
We’ve got to be aware of who’s ready to get things done and who’s not. Pay attention to the attitudes and behaviors of those you’re leading.
You can tell who’s got it and who doesn’t.
10. There are leaders who lie: SPOILER ALERT
We begin to find out that the military leaders aren’t who they say they are. Rather, they are the invading force.
This symbol of leadership was dishonest and corrupt.
You will face leaders and organizations that are corrupt. They lie to hold power and gain control.
Don’t be deceived.
11. Ben Parish/Zombie:
Let’s worry about that tomorrow
Ben, Nick Robinson of Melissa and Joey fame, was the leader of one of the military teams. They were the team that realized things weren’t as they seemed.
At the end of the movie, they were able to break free and escape.
While they were safe for the moment, they knew they would have to fight again. Some wanted to go right back into the fight. Ben had another idea.
It was time to rest and recover after the arduous fight they just experienced. They needed to mend,
You may feel like you always have to fight. You may also think your mind has to be on business all the time.
It doesn’t.
Business can wait. Spend time on the important things as well.
Get together with friends. Go on a date night with your wife.
Worry about work tomorrow.
Question: Have you seen The Fifth Wave? If so, what leadership lessons did you take away from it? If not, what leadership lesson did you like best from the above list? Let’s talk about this in the comment section below.
Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.