Welcome to the world of Minecraft. You must live under a rock if you haven’t heard of the hit video game experience. It’s a sandbox game where you can do what you want to do.
Do you want to try to survive the night? Then give the survival aspect a go. Want to build awesome things? Then use the boxes and tools available to build a massive city.
It’s a game that young and old dive into. It’s one people don’t stop talking about. And now it’s a movie starring Jack Black as Steve.
I don’t know much about Minecraft, but I went into the movie knowing you, someone you know, or someone you love plays the game and will be interested in the leadership lessons found in Minecraft. I hope this hits home and helps you better connect with an employee, loved one, or even yourself.
Quotes And Leadership Lessons From A Minecraft Movie
1. You may have to revisit your passions at a later date:
Steve (Jack Black and Bram Scott-Breheny as Young Steve) yearned for the mines. It was his dream, his passion, to go dig in the mines. It’s all he wanted to do.
However, the mines weren’t a place for kids. There was a Miner (Craig Mckinney) guarding the entrance to the cave. He made sure no kid entered.
When Young Steve tried, he was rejected. The rejection of his passion made Steve grow up. He went about his life, got a regular job, and then remembered his passion. He wanted to be a miner!
So, he returned to the mine, snuck past the Miner, and began to mine. He loved it!
Our passions drive us. They help us understand who we are, what we want to do, and how we want to change the world.
We should follow our passions immediately, right? Wrong.
Sometimes, we need to grow and we can’t follow our passions. Or you may have to be fiscally responsible. Or you might not have the wisdom or knowledge to do what you desire.
Take the time to hone your skills. Work through the kinks. And then revisit your passion. You’ll be better suited to take on the requirements of your passion at that time.
2. Steve:
The more I built, the better I got.
After Steve broke into the mine, he discovered the Orb of Dominance and the Earth Crystal. When he combined the two, he opened a portal to the Overworld.
The Overworld was an alternate dimension. In this dimension, things were made of cubes. The cubes could be moved, shifted, and altered to build things.
Steve found that the more he built with the cubes, the better he got. He found that he became better at building.
Guess what? The more you lead, the better you become at leading.
Don’t be discouraged if you’re not the best leader when first elevated to a leadership position. No one is. We all struggle through a learning process.
However, the more we lead, the more we learn. The more we’re able to grow our leadership abilities.
Lead more to get better at leading.
3. Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison (Jason Momoa):
I need a win, man.
Garrett was a former video game sensation. He had won video game championships in the 1980s. But there’s a problem. It’s now the 2020s.
He’s living off of what he had done. He’s trying to make people remember his glory days.
And BAM BAM BAM he’s hit with one thing after another. He received an eviction notice. He goes to a storage action where he hears there’s an Atari Cosmos in one of the units.
He bids until he’s the winner. Going into the unit, he’s excited. He opens the box of the Atari video game system only to find it stuffed with junk (and the Orb of Dominance and the Earth Crystal, though he doesn’t know what they are).
He’s frustrated at his friend, Daryl (Jemaine Clement), who had told him what was in the storage unit. He tells Daryl all he needs is a break.
He didn’t realize that he had his break with this storage unit purchase. He got something far more valuable than the Atarai Cosmos. He had access to another world.
There are a couple of leadership lessons in this quote/scene. We’ll break it down into two.
The first is that we can desire a big break. We can even go after that big break.
Only to be let down. We don’t get what we want. What we’re hunting isn’t there. Oof! It hurts. It really does. I can empathize with you over it.
However, you can’t keep hoping for wins. You have to work for the win.
The second leadership lesson here is that sometimes our big break is right before us and we don’t see it. Garrett didn’t understand the power or value of the Orb of Dominance and the Earth Crystal. He didn’t understand how it could or would change his life. Instead, he became frustrated.
It wasn’t until later that Garrett learned about the power of the Orb of Dominance and the Earth Crystal. When he did, his life changed. Your life will change too when you realize what’s in front of you.
4. Oversharing can be a problem:
Vice Principal Marlene (Jennifer Coolidge) was talking to Henry (Sebastian Hansen). Henry was a student of hers who had recently moved to the school district. The things Vice Principal Marlene told him were inappropriate.
She sat there complaining about her ex-husband. She told Henry how teacher Mr. Gunchie (Hiram Garcia) had left her. His leaving put a financial strain on her. On and on she went about her personal details.
Imagine being young Henry. He probably felt extremely uncomfortable hearing the woes of Vice Principal Marlene. He probably wanted out of there… stat.
There’s a balance between sharing appropriate information and oversharing with your people. It’s a balance you will have to find but it’s one you will have to master.
Be cautious not to overshare with the people you lead. There are details of your life they don’t need to know. There’s also details of your life they do need to know.
Find the balance, know the difference.
5. Steve:
Anything you can dream about here, you can build.
Henry, his sister Natalie (Emma Myers), Realtor Dawn (Danielle Brooks), and Garrett are sucked into the Overworld. They’re stalked by creepy things when it suddenly turns to night. Steve shows up at the nick of time to help them survive.
Upon their introduction, Steve begins helping the team understand the Overworld. One of the things he tells Henry is that he can build anything he could dream about.
That’s a huge thing for a little kid. Imagine being told there are no rules, no boundaries, and anything is possible. That’s what Steve just told Henry.
And it’s mostly true for us.
The ideas and dreams that we have are a lot more accessible and possible than we think. We’re able to do far more than we imagine.
Stop putting limits on what you can do. Keep testing, keep trying, keep doing until you find the extent of what you can do. You may discover you can do almost anything you put your mind to.
6. Steve:
Your brother has a gift. You should let him explore it.
Steve saw something special in Henry. With very little training, Henry had built some pretty complicated structures in the Overworld. He was advancing far more quickly than Steve had. And Steve saw this.
He let Natalie know as she became concerned for Henry’s safety. She’d promised to watch over her brother after their mother passed away. The death caused her to become overprotective of Henry.
Steve knew this. And encouraged her to let her brother explore what he could do.
Stop being that overprotective leader. You may think you’re protecting your people.
However, you’re more than likely holding them back by not letting them explore what they can do.
Help your people explore their gifts. Give them the tools, freedom, and range to try new things. You’ll discover your team members doing great things when you do.
7. People who have had their creativity stifled won’t try:
Malgosha (Rachel House) was the bad guy in A Minecraft Movie. She was an evil pig who wanted to take over the Overworld.
Her backstory was tragic.
She had been on Nether’s Got Talent (think America’s Got Talent but for the Netherworld of the movie). How did she perform? She danced her heart out. And she was good.
However, her talent was beyond the comprehension of those around her. She was laughed off the stage. Worse, her dad told her she was an embarrassment.
Guess what happened next? She pushed all that creativity down. She kept it hidden. She would no longer be creative.
Her world lost a great creative talent.
Dang, that sucks. Right?!?
What’s worse? It happens in real life. Our lives.
When people have their aspirations or creativity stifled, they give up. They curl up and choose not to move forward because it hurts.
Their actions aren’t right, but neither were those who criticized them.
Know that you may have great creative talent hidden on your team due to past trauma. Seek to find out if there is. If there is, pull it out of them. Remind them of their skills, talents, and passions.
You can create the next rock star at your work.
8. You can overcome your fears:
During the movie, the Earth Crystal shattered. Steve knew there was a place they could get a replacement but it would be dangerous. Henry still agreed to go. They must have this piece to get back home.
Henry was told the Earth Crystal would be in a room with the Enderman. The Enderman would instill fear into those who looked it in the eyes. Henry was not to look the Enderman in the eyes!
Guess what happens? Henry does look the Enderman in the eyes. He begins to see his friends talk down to him. They all tell him he’s not good enough.
Ugh…
Yet Henry was able to overcome these fears that were presenting themselves. He knew his friends better than that. He knew they wouldn’t say those hurtful things to him.
We’re all going to have fears as we lead. It may be that the people we lead won’t like us. Or it may be that we’re going to sink the company.
Our fears are real. The reality they portray is not.
We have to realize what’s real and what’s not. When we do, we overcome our fears.
9. Garrett:
Between you and me, I used Steve’s water bucket method.
Garrett had been separated from the group. They thought he’d been killed when the bridge he was on exploded.
Moviegoers didn’t know that he wasn’t until he showed up late in the movie. He was alive and well.
How did he survive? He had watched Steve use a bucket of water to create a safe landing zone earlier in the film. Garrett did the same thing to survive the fall from the exploded bridge.
Garrett followed the example of someone else. He did what he saw done.
Man… What a great lesson.
We can improve our leadership skills by watching others lead. Especially watching great leaders.
As we watch them, we can see areas where we need to improve. We can find small or major tweaks to how we lead.
If we watch with an intent to grow, we can learn from the leaders around us. Don’t be afraid to grow from others.
10. Steve:
It is harder to create than to destroy.
Steve and the crew defeat Malgosha. As Malgosha is “dying,” she tells Steve he’ll never be happy. He’s always going to be longing for something.
Through this experience, Steve learned an important lesson. Destroying things was easy. Creating things was hard. And he’d have to be okay with that.
Want to know a secret? It’s easy to destroy people. The words you say can easily tear them down. It can make them feel worthless.
That’s easy, easy, easy.
What’s hard? Creating new leaders. Building them up. Helping them see and understand their value.
At the Gateway Church, we have a saying. It’s:
We do hard things.
Let’s make that the mantra of leadership. We do hard things. Hard things include building up and creating new leaders.
11. Boundaries can be good:
Steve stayed in the Overworld because he didn’t have boundaries on what he could create. He tried to convince Henry to stay as well. Yet, Henry chose to leave. He wanted to get back to the real world and build things there.
With boundaries.
This confused Steve for a bit. Isn’t it great to have no boundaries? He thought so. But he decided to go back to the real world, too. The boundaries may limit what he can do but also give him guidelines for what he could or should do.
Boundaries aren’t necessarily bad. They can be the guidelines or guardrails for what you need to do next.
Let boundaries be a guide for you rather than a hindrance. The boundaries in your life can also protect you from danger.
Don’t discount boundaries.
