It’s been 20 years of movies from the Fast And The Furious franchise. It’s brought us fast cars, action, and, now, space travel!
The tone of the movies has changed. It’s no longer about supped-up cars. The Fast Saga has transformed into a larger story about family.
And I love it.
F9: The Fast Saga continues in this vein. The story throws us a fastball. Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster) have a brother they never mentioned. Jakob Toretto (John Cena) enters into the story and creates a great piece of tension.
Let’s dive into the leadership lessons in F9: The Fast Saga. You’ll enjoy this film as much as you have the others.
Quotes And Leadership Lessons From F9: The Fast Saga
1. Jack Toretto (JD Pardo):
It’s not about being the stronger man. It’s about being the bigger one.
Jack is the patriarch of the Toretto family. Sadly, he dies in a racing accident that may not have been so accidental.
Before his death, Jack shared a wise piece of advice with his son, Dom. It’s not about being stronger. It’s about being a bigger man.
As a leader, it’s not about throwing your strength around. Yes, you do have more power than others in the organization. However, it’s not what leadership is about.
Leading is about being the bigger man (or woman). You have to do the right things. You have to sacrifice for the greater good.
Be the bigger leader.
2. 50 is the new 30:
I was listening to the Robservations podcast hosted by Rob Liefeld. Liefield is the creator of the comic book character Deadpool, among many others.
On his show, Rob dove into the F9: The Fast Saga movie. I loved the line Rob said about 50 is the new 30.
Look at the cast of F9: The Fast Saga. The majority of the cast is nearing 50. Yet this doesn’t hold them back from creating a fantastic movie.
How does this apply to leadership? I believe 50 is the new 30 in leadership as well.
For decades, we have lauded the young, up-and-coming leader like they are the second coming. Doing this, we throw the seasoned leader to the side.
We are going to start to see older leaders become celebrated. They’re going to be sought after for the wisdom, knowledge, and value they bring to an organization.
3. Dominic Toretto:
It’s the price we pay for peace and quiet.
Dom and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) had settled down in a secluded area. They had removed all distractions from their lives.
They were living a peaceful life.
However, things would break. In F9: The Fast Saga, we see that a water heater broke. This was a frustration. Still, they seemed to be happy to be in a peaceful place.
What are you willing to pay for peace and quiet? You have to be willing to pay a price to have time to get away.
Without peace and quiet, your life is noise. It will never be fulfilling. Find peace.
4. We can’t lead like others do:
The rest of the Fast And Furious crew show up on Dom and Letty’s doorstep. The crew includes Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Tej (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges), and Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel).
They inform Dom and Letty that Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) had been attacked in his plane and is missing. Mr. Nobody was transporting dangerous cargo, the villain Cipher (Charlize Theron).
Dom turned down the invitation to track them down. He wanted to continue living his life like Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker unseen).
Letty decided to join in the search for Mr. Nobody and Cipher. She realized they couldn’t live Brian’s life. They had to live a life true to them.
We find ourselves trapped in a leadership life we don’t like. Why? Because we choose to lead like those before us.
Maybe you find yourself leading like a mentor of yours. It could be you choose to lead like your father. Or you might have a friend who has been successfully leading and you choose to lead like him.
Be careful. Leading like others can be a good way to start or a way to get through challenging times. But you bring something special to the table. Lead authentically according to you.
5. We do ineffective things while leading:
The Fast And Furious crew had landed in a foreign country to seek Mr. Nobody. The country’s military force chased them. This led to a wild car chase.
In this scene, they drive through a minefield. Roman’s armored vehicle is hit and it is launched into the air. The vehicle becomes wedged between a crevice.
Then, Roman does the most ineffective thing he could do. He turns the steering wheel.
What Roman did was laughable. We knew he wouldn’t be able to move the car and change its direction by turning the wheel. However, I felt like many leaders are pulling a Roman.
We get ourselves stuck. We try to turn the steering wheel. We know the steering wheel will do nothing to help us. We do this to feel like we’re in control.
Make sure you’re not going through motions. Make sure the actions you’re taking have a reason behind them. Make sure what you’re doing is actually effective.
6. Kenny Linder (Jim Parrack):
What is it with all you Toretto’s? Always playing the hero…
Linder is the race car driver who killed Dom’s father. He posed the question to Dom.
It made me think about leadership. Leaders can feel like they have to play the hero. They have to be the star of the story.
That’s not how great leaders work.
Great leaders can stay in the shadows. Instead of the limelight, leaders help elevate their team to the hero level. They help their team members feel like they’re heroes.
Do what you can to make your team the hero.
7. An early start can burn you out:
Dom and Jakob race to figure out if Jakob could come home. They’re racing in the streets and crest a bridge. Jakob hits the button to engage his NOS.
Dom sees him do this and realizes he has won. He knew Jakob had engaged too early and was going to burn out.
Jakob’s car begins to lurch forward. Dom waits a few more seconds and then presses his button. Jakob’s car sputters and Dom launches past him and wins.
We think the first leader to hit the NOS button of leadership will be the best leader. Many times, this is not the case.
The leader who hits their “NOS” button first gets a slight boost but they often hit it at the wrong time. Their early start burns them out.
Beware of the quick burst and burning out.
8. A leader who doesn’t know how to lead can cause a lot of destruction:
We learn something interesting about Ramsey. She had never learned how to drive.
Ramsey chose to take the wheel because they saw one of the bad guys, Otto (Thue Ersted Rasmussen), getting away. She chose to drive because if she didn’t, Otto would get away.
In her pursuit of Otto, she caused massive destruction. She hit a lot of cars, totaling many of them. Her choice to drive destroyed a lot of property.
Don’t take this lesson from F9: The Fast Saga as an encouragement not to lead. That’s not what it is meant to do.
This lesson is to remind you that untrained, uncontrolled leadership can be extremely dangerous.
If a leader doesn’t know how to lead, they can bring destruction and ruin to an organization. Help train those new leaders up!
9. A leader can attract or repel:
F9: The Fast Saga introduced the use of magnets to enhance the thrill of the fast cars. Dom used these magnets to attract the armored vehicles the bad guys were driving. The magnets pulled the vehicles to his car.
Once the armored vehicles were next to his car, Dom reversed the polarity on the magnets. This repelled the armored vehicles and sent them flying.
Talk about a fun chase sequence!
As leaders, we can attract others. The words we say will bring people closer. Our actions will draw them in. We can build a great team through our words and deeds.
The opposite is true too.
We can use our words to repel others. Our actions can push people away.
We have to lead wisely or we can repel others.
10. Dom Toretto:
Dad wasn’t perfect.
Dom realized his father wasn’t perfect. His dad made mistakes. One of those was the fact he was planning on throwing the race he died in.
Jack was Dom’s idol. It hurt to admit that his dad had faults.
We can have the same letdown that Dom did when we realize the leaders we idolize aren’t perfect. They have their faults. We’ve just overlooked them.
This also applies to us. WE’RE not perfect. We have faults.
11. Your leadership style will change:
This is the first Fast And The Furious movie that didn’t make me feel a specific way. Every previous entry in the film series has made me want to hop in my car, hold the clutch, press the gas, release the clutch, and peel out of the movie theater parking lot. These movies have always made me want to drive fast and furiously.
This entry did not.
Does that make this a bad movie? Not at all. F9: The Fast Saga was still delightful. It was different. It had changed.
Your leadership style is like that. You will change the way you lead over time. You will refine your actions.
Don’t think you’re leading wrong because you no longer lead the way you once did.
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