Whenever I hear about a DC Comics movie, I become nervous. They’ve not had the best track record in translating comic books into movies. Though, they have gotten better over the years.
With recent movies like Suicide Squad, Batman Vs. Superman, and Wonder Woman DC Comics is making a name for itself in the comic book to movie world.
Walking into Justice League, I was excited yet hesitant. Would the movie critics be right? Or would DC Comics pull off the impossible and have a well-done comic book movie?
Thankfully I found out for you. DC Comics did an amazing job bringing the Justice League to life. Seeing Batman (Ben Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa of Baywatch), Flash (Ezra Miller), Cyborg (Ray Fisher), and Superman (Henry Cavill) join forces to defeat the coming threat of Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds) was amazing.
The visuals brought these characters to life. The story was engaging. And the length of the movie was perfect.
Not only did Justice League deliver for a moviegoer, Justice League delivers for the leader looking for leadership lessons from Justice League.
Let’s take a look at the leadership lessons you’ll find in the Justice League movie.
Caution: Justice League spoilers below.
Leadership Lessons And Quotes From Justice League
1. Hope is easy to lose but always close by:
A little boy approached Superman and asked if he would be willing to answer a few questions for the boy’s podcast. Superman, always kind, obliges.
The little boy asks Superman if his symbol stands for hope. Superman replies of course. But, why then, is the symbol not an H?
In his explanation, Superman tells the boy how hope is like car keys. Hope is easy to lose. Yet hope is also close by. Just like the missing car keys.
Teams can lose hope easily. They see dysfunction in the leadership and their hope begins to wane. Or maybe they have seen defeat and don’t feel like they can continue to move forward.
Hope was lost. Still, hope is nearby.
When the team sees a leader taken action to save their organization or giving of himself so others can succeed, hope is nearby. They begin to sense there is a chance things can get better. They begin to believe in better days.
Be a leader who gives hope when hope has been lost.
2. You don’t need fancy gadgets:
Apple iPhones, Samsung Galaxies, the latest MacBook Pro, ConverKit, and on and on the list goes. The latest gadgets to be successful are brought before us time and again.
These gadgets don’t make us successful. They may make things easier but they don’t bring about success.
In Justice League, Batman is fighting a crook. The crook pulls out a gun and begins to shoot at Batman. Batman doesn’t fight back with gadgets. Instead, Batman used his fists. The weapons he had at his easy disposal.
Gadgets didn’t let Batman win. His skills did.
Stop chasing after the latest gadgets. Learn to use what you already have.
3. People believe the wrong thing:
Diana Prince/Wonder Woman had taken up residence in London. There, a terrorist attack was taking place and she flew to the rescue.
One of the terrorists explained the reasoning behind the attack. A bomb leveling 4 city blocks was humanity’s only hope at redemption.
I know, crazy but some people will believe the wrong thing.
Have you seen this in your leadership? I have, especially in the church world.
There are people who believe Jesus Christ isn’t the only way to salvation. There are people who believe fame and fortune will bring them happiness.
These people are both wrong. But they still chase after these things.
As a leader, you will have the chance to influence people to believe in the right things. Exert your influence and help them see where they need to go and what’s truly important.
4. Wonder Woman:
A believer.
Wonder Woman lept into battle to save the hostages the terrorists had taken. She used her Bracelets of Submission to block the terrorist’s gunshots from harming the hostages.
After she saved the hostages, the terrorist asked Wonder Woman what she was. She replied with “A believer.”
Wonder Woman’s belief allowed her to leap into action. She was able to protect those less powerful than herself. Her belief saved lives.
Great leaders are believers. They believe in themselves, in their people, and in others.
5. Aquaman/Arthur Curry:
I help them because no one else does.
Aquaman helped others not for himself but for the sake of those he helped. When no one else stepped up to protect them, he did.
That’s the sign of a great leader. Great leaders do what they do because no one else will and they know they can.
What are you doing that others aren’t?
6. Things change quickly:
Barry Allen (the Flash if you didn’t know) was visiting his father in prison. While signing in, another visitor was heckling Barry.
Barry had superhuman speed. Because of the heckling, Barry took the sharpie marker he was using to sign in and drew on the hecklers face. Before anyone knew what was happening, the man had a sharpie pair of glasses and a goatee.
No one else saw who drew these items or how they appeared. They suddenly appeared to the average person.
In business, things change quickly. New technology is rolled out. New leaders are brought in. And new ideas are conceived.
Be ready for change. Change is coming.
7. Henry Allen (Barry Allen’s father):
I want you to make your own future.
Henry Allen (Billy Crudup) had been convicted for the murder of Barry’s mother. Barry KNOWS his father is innocent and has been pursuing a way to free his father.
His father has accepted his fate. He will take the punishment for a crime he didn’t commit but doesn’t want Barry to spend his life trying to free him. Henry wants Barry to make his own future.
Great leaders are this way. They want their people to become better leaders than they were. They want to see their people making their own futures.
Are you allowing your team members to make their own future?
8. Never stop learning:
While unintentional, Cyborg was continuously learning. He was finding new skills and abilities every day.
One day he learned he could levitate and fly. Another day he how to form weapons. He never stopped learning (even if unintentional).
As a leader striving to become a great leader, you can’t stop learning. You have to push yourself to learn new skills and knowledge on a regular basis.
You can do this through finding leadership lessons in movies, fiction and non-fiction books, seminars and leadership conferences, and other places.
9. Barry Allen/The Flash:
I need friends.
The character that made Justice League for me was Ezra Miller’s The Flash. He was a wise-cracking, inexperienced superhero.
Bruce Wayne approached Barry Allen to join the Justice League. When he need, Barry quickly agreed.
Barry knew he needed friends. The Justice League would be just that.
There are leaders out there who believe they are better off alone. They don’t need friends, they just need the business to succeed.
This incorrect leadership mindset makes for a very lonely existence. Make sure you’re finding people to connect with and forming friendships.
10. We have a hard time seeing our own gifts:
Wonder Woman had a meeting with Cyborg. She tells him how he has gifts and they should be used for good.
Cyborg recoils. He tells Wonder Woman he doesn’t have gifts. They’re more like a curse.
Can you believe Cyborg’s words? He believes superhuman strength, incredibly fast learning, flight, and other gifts were a curse. What I wouldn’t give for some of those!
But this carries over to how we feel about our gifts.
You’re talented. You have insights no one else does. Yet you think you’re not cut out for leadership.
Look at your gifts. See what’s right in front of you. If you can’t see them, ask those around you. They’ll tell you what your gifts are.
11. Batman/Bruce Wayne:
Save one. Save one person.
Barry Allen/The Flash had never been a hero. He’d only pushed a couple of people out of harms way.
Stepping into the big leagues with Wonder Woman, Batman, Aquaman, and others made him feel inadequate. He didn’t know what to do.
Batman gave him sage advice. Save one person… Then you’ll know what to do.
Once The Flash saved one person, he began saving another… then another… and another.
Great leaders don’t start out great. They start out leading one person. Then another. And then another.
12. Wonder Woman:
You overestimated yourself.
Steppenwolf was the main villain in Justice League. He had been beaten back many years ago by a different set of heroes but reappeared to combine the Mother Boxes to bring about chaos on Earth.
One of the heroes to help defeat Steppenwolf all those years ago was an Amazonian. This is why when Steppenwolf sees Wonder Woman, he calls her out for himself. He wanted to defeat her.
Wonder Woman knows Steppenwolf is a foe to be reckoned with but she also knew she could defeat him because he had been defeated before.
Leaders need to be careful not to overestimate their abilities. Running headlong into situations you know nothing about or lack the skill set for is dangerous.
13. Leaders can experience success and failure quickly:
During the first battle with Steppenwolf, Wonder Woman lost her sword. The sword was falling into the abyss and Wonder Woman was making a leap towards it.
She was still unable to grab the sword. That’s when The Flash lept into action.
He raced around the building and gently pushed the sword towards Wonder Woman. This allowed her to get the sword and continue the fight against Steppenwolf.
Shortly after this success, The Flash experienced a failure. He tripped and fell while running at super-speed.
I’ve been there before. Having seen success, I failed to see the failure looming just ahead. Many other leaders have done the same thing.
Be careful when you experience success. A failure may be right around the corner.
14. Great teams still disagree:
In Batman Vs Superman, Superman died. He was still dead in Justice League.
However, as the team came together, Bruce Wayne wanted to bring back Superman. He believed they could with one of the Mother Boxes.
There were members of the Justice League who agreed with the plan. There were also members who disagreed and felt the action would be dangerous.
Disagreements don’t ruin a team. They can actually bring a team together. When people are comfortable enough to voice their concerns, real connection takes place.
Stop trying to make your team agree. Allow room for disagreements.
15. Leadership is a heavy burden:
Wonder Woman had seen the cost of leadership. Carrying the burden of dead soldiers on your shoulders. Seeing friends and family maimed or dead.
This is heavy stuff. And she didn’t want to lead because of the responsibility of leadership.
While your team most likely won’t experience death or maiming, your team will experience hardships. Some of those hardships will befall them because of your leadership.
Know leadership isn’t easy. There is a burden to leadership and you are the one to bear the burden.
16. We are better together:
Batman, Aquaman, Cyborg, Wonder Woman, The Flash, and Superman were all amazing on their own. Yet there was magic when each of these heroes and superheroes came together.
They were able to bring down an ancient evil and save the world.
When you form a great team, you are going to be better together. The individual talents of the team will be multiplied by the talents of the other team members.
Be willing to be better together.
17. Batman/Bruce Wayne:
This isn’t the plan.
Alfred Pennyworth:
This is the team.
Batman had laid out a plan for the Justice League. When he was in trouble, the team broke from the plan and came to his aid.
He lamented this as he desired for the plan to be followed to the tee. Breaking the plan meant things weren’t calculated by him.
However, plans will change because you’re on a team. Teams don’t always follow the plan. And for good reason.
Situations change. And you have to be ready for that.
18. Great leaders find creative solutions:
One of the saddest things in the Justice League movie was seeing the Kent farm foreclosed and the bank repossessing the property. After everything Martha Wayne had gone through, she was also losing her home.
In the final scenes of the Justice League, we see a creative solution to Martha’s problem.
Superman/Clark Kent is talking to Bruce Wayne. He asked Bruce how did he pull this off?
Bruce answered with a creative solution to the problem. He purchased the bank.
Great leaders look for unorthodox solutions to the problems in front of them.
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