Ho, ho, oh no! That’s the premise behind Red One. Red One takes place just before Christmas. The North Pole is bustling with energy and excitement. Then, the unthinkable happens.
Santa Claus/Nick (J.K. Simmons) is kidnapped!
Christmas will be ruined if Nick doesn’t take back the sleigh and deliver all the presents. He’s in luck. His right-hand man, Callum Drift (Dwayne Johnson), is on the case. He’s going to find Nick one way or the other.
Callum’s luck runs out as the head of the Mythological Oversight and Restoration Authority, aka M.O.R.A., Zoe Harlow (Lucy Liu) knows her options are limited. If Nick isn’t back, kids and parents worldwide will be disappointed. She seeks the one man who can track the bad guys who did this: Jack O’Malley (Chris Evans). He’s a Level 4 Naughty Lister. He’s a bad guy who’s going to help.
The laughs keep coming throughout the film as Jack and Cal bicker, fight, and find Saint Nick. It’s a Christmas movie that may become a classic.
With that, you know what’s about to happen. We’re going to dive into the leadership lessons in Red One. Let’s do this!
Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Red One
1. You can’t please everyone:
There’s a scene early in the film at a mall. It’s Christmas time. People are supposed to be happy, excited, cheerful.
What’s the scene like?
Two guys are fighting over a video game system. Couples are arguing. People are frustrated.
The season is supposed to be a happy time. Yet it’s not. Even Christmas can’t please everyone.
Neither can you. You’re going to upset your team members. Your choices will hurt some, help others, and leave others wondering.
Be ready to disappoint. It’s part of leading.
2. You’re not that important in the grand scheme of things:
Santa went to the mall to talk to the kids. It was good for his soul.
As he’s talking to some young boys, an influencer jumps in front of the kids. He is trying to get Santa to wear his shirt.
Cal steps in. He tells the influencer to go to the back of the line. The influencer pleas and tries to get Santa on camera.
It doesn’t work. Cal didn’t care how important the influencer was. He wasn’t any more special than the next person.
Sometimes, we think that because we lead an organization, we’re more special than others. We’re wrong when we think this way.
You’re no more special or important than those you lead. You may have more technical skills, wisdom, or business insight but that doesn’t make you more important and that you matter more.
Know that everyone matters.
3. Santa Claus/Nick:
The mall at Christmas time… It’s like oxygen to me.
Santa and Cal had left the mall and went to a military installation housing Santa’s reindeer. He meets a military general, and they chit-chat.
One thing that stuck out to me was the line above. Nick tells the general that Christmas time makes him feel alive. It gives him energy.
What about you? Does leading give you energy? Is it like breathing oxygen?
It won’t always feel that way but I believe it should feel life-giving more than life-taking.
Find the joy in leading.
4. Santa Claus/Nick:
We choose every day who we want to be
Cal was having a hard time seeing the anger, frustration, and sadness in the world. He’d lost his childlike wonder for those around him.
So much so that Cal hands in his resignation to Nick.
Nick tells Cal an important truth. Every day, you get to choose who you want to be.
Ohhhh… That’s a good one to stick in your leadership pocket.
You, your team, and your vendors all get to choose who they want to be every day. What you chose yesterday doesn’t reflect the choices you’re going to make today as to who you are.
Know that if you make a mistake, you don’t have to live in the mistake. You get the choice today, tomorrow, and the next day to be someone new. Someone who makes better decisions, loves others well, and leads well.
Choose every day to be a great leader.
5. We can chase the wrong thing:
When Nick was kidnapped, Cal saw a fleeing snowcat. He believed this was the vehicle Nick was in.
Cal began to pursue the vehicle. He eventually catches it, only to discover that the vehicle is empty.
Oh no!
Then, Cal sees something flying in the sky. That must be what took Nick, right? That’s what Cal thought.
Yet, Cal was wrong again as he pursued something that wasn’t the right thing.
In reality, the witch Gryla (Kiernan Shipka) had taken Nick below the North Pole. They never left!
We can get so narrow-focused that we begin to chase the wrong things. We see what we believe to be an issue and laser in on it.
In doing so, we miss the true threats to our business, potential clients, and great employees. We have to focus and chase the right things.
6. Leaders have to stop being vague:
Cal and Jack went to a toy store. Cal leads Jack to the back of the store. There, he opens a supply closet door, and a portal opens to a new place.
After the pair step through, Jack asks what happened. Cal answers, “Toy store.”
What did that even mean? Jack didn’t know. He didn’t understand.
Cal’s vague answer left him wondering.
We fall into the vague-trap as leaders. We know more answers than those we’re talking to. We must provide enough information so they know what we’re asking, talking about, or feeling.
Stop leaving your team members with vague messages. Fill them in, give them the goods, make them a part of the team.
7. Know your skills:
Cal was great at protecting others. He’d protected Nick for hundreds of years. Jack was also good at something. He knew he was good at reading and seeing the worst in people.
To show his skill, he began to point out to Cal what others were doing. What they were doing wasn’t nice.
What’s your skill? What sets you apart from other leaders?
Begin looking at yourself. Look at your skills and talents. Hone those skills.
The more you do, the more you’ll be in demand.
8. Limit your distractions:
Cal and Jack were desperate. They had to find information on where Nick had been taken. They went to someone they never thought they would…
Krampus (Kristofer Hivju).
Krampus is Nick’s brother. They disagreed with having a list of naughty and nice kids. Nick didn’t want a list. Krampus did. The creation of the naughty list caused a rift between the two.
When Cal and Jack arrived, hellhounds guard Krampus’ place. The duo had to decide quickly what to do.
Cal pulled out a chicken toy. He used his ray gun that could make toys into real objects on the toy chicken. We saw this earlier in the movie when Cal zapped a Matchbox car and it became drivable.
The chicken was used to distract the hellhounds. With the chicken, the two were able to sneak past the guardhounds.
We’re all distractable. Think about what distracts you.
It could be the golf course, children, or your pet. There are distractions calling for your attention.
Learn to limit your distractions. You might have to create times when you can golf, speak to your kids during the workday, or have your pet in the office.
Distractions will kill your productivity.
9. Cal:
I misjudged you.
Cal was not welcome in Krampus’ home. Since Cal was part of M.O.R.A., Krampus had forbidden anyone from the organization to be there including him!
This meant trouble was brewing. Cal and Jack were taken captive. Jack was able to get away. This is when Cal told him to run.
But Jack didn’t run. He chose to stay, to try to help Cal.
Cal saw this action as a change of heart for Jack. Jack wasn’t what he thought he was.
We judge people on moments in time. We see something bad happen and place that label on the person.
I know why we do it. We don’t want to get hurt, have our organization damaged, or more.
What we’re doing, though, limits the person we’re judging. We have to learn how to judge, and then rejudge. When we’re able to reassess our judgments of others, we give them another chance to prove who they really are.
10. Great leaders have faith in their team members:
Remember Cal resigned from Nick’s crew because he couldn’t see the good in others? He felt it was the end of the line of his career.
Nick knew better. He knew this was only a moment in time when Cal was having doubts and issues.
As Nick, Cal, Jack, and Jack’s son Dylan (Wesley Kimmel) are on Nick’s sleigh, Cal sees something. Jack had become a young boy again (Wyatt Hunt). He began to see the goodness in Jack.
Nick never doubted. He had faith that Cal would come back around.
Do you believe the best in your team? Or do you see them as challenges to overcome?
Your team needs you to believe in them, to have faith in them.
Look for the best in your team. Understand there will be times when they will doubt, mess up, and have to change. However, there’s good in them.
Look for that good. Have faith that they will be the team members you need.
