Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Spider-Man: Far From Home

A Reel Leadership Article

Tom Holland returns to the fun role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Spider-Man: Far From Home picks up shortly after the recent Avengers: Endgame movie.

Peter Parker is still reeling from the aftermath of Endgame. His friend and mentor, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Junior), is dead. He’s trying to figure out his place in the world he recently returned to. And he has a big legacy to live up to.

Tom Holland as Spider-Man and Jake Gyllenhall as Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far From Home

Not only that, Peter has a love interest, a classmate named MJ (Zendaya). His class is going on an overseas trip (hence the Far From Home subtitle) and he has a big plan. He’s going to ask MJ out.

All of Peter’s plans go in the trash when something crazy happens. A water elemental who looks a lot like Hydro-Man, a Spider-Man villain who controls water, attacks London while Peter and his class are there.

A new “hero”, Mysterio/Quentin Beck (Jake Gyllenhaal) helps Peter defeat this villain. He continues to fight alongside Peter until it’s revealed he is something else…

If you enjoyed Spider-Man: Homecoming, Far From Home continues the web-slinging fun of the first, full outing of Tom Holland as Spider-Man. Not only that, there are plenty of Reel Leadership lessons in Spider-Man: Far From Home. We’re going to look at those today and discover how you can become a better leader through the new Spider-Man movie.

Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Spider-Man: Far From Home

1. Pay tribute to previous leaders:

One of the opening scenes in Far From Home was a tribute video to the fallen heroes of the Avengers. You see a video montage of Iron Man/Tony Stark, Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and the Vision (Paul Bettany).

Tribute was given to those who had come before. To those who had served. To those who had fallen.

There are plenty of great leaders who have come before you. These leaders have poured into your life and helped you become the leader you are today.

Pay tribute to these men and women who have given you the chance to become a great leader. They deserve your respect and honor.

2. Peter Parker:

I have a plan.

Peter was talking to his friend Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) about their upcoming summer trip. He laid out all of his plans.

The plan? To ask MJ out during the trip through an elaborate series of events and trips they would have together.

Peter had everything planned out. He was ready to get going!

Plans are essential to the success of a leader. A leader must have an idea of where they’re going and how they’re going to get there.

Plans help a leader know this. It lays the groundwork to success.

Create a plan of action today. Start using it to move toward success.

3. Leaders need to clear their heads:

Aunt May Parker (Marisa Tomei) was raising money for a local organization. She had Peter next to her as Spider-Man. This was to gain more attention for the fundraiser.

After Aunt May finished speaking, Spider-Man was to take questions from the audience. The questions all began to revolve around Tony Stark and how was Spider-Man going to take over for him.

All of the questions began to overwhelm Peter. He had to get out of there and clear his head. He went to the top of a building and just sat there.

By getting out of the stressful situation, he was able to take a moment for himself and clear his mind.

Leadership is stressful. We all know that.

What we don’t always know is that we can take a few moments to get away and clear our heads. In fact, we need to do this.

We can’t continue to live under constant stress and think we’re not going to break. Taking time to clear your head and get back in the game is essential to continuing to lead well.

Don’t be ashamed to take some time for yourself. You and your team will be better for it.

4. Peter Parker:

That’s your plan.

Ned pushed back on Peter’s plan to ask MJ out. Ned had a plan of his own.

He wanted to be the American Bachelors in London. Being two American guys in London would get them all the girls they could dream of. Or so he thought.

Peter pushed back on Ned’s pushback. Peter told Ned that was your plan. It wasn’t Peter’s. The two friends had different ideas for their vacation.

In an organization, you’re going to have multiple opinions and ideas thrown around. The differing ideas will include plans for the organization.

You have to be ready to pushback when other people try to push their agenda or plan over yours. You need to know why yours is the right path to take.

When you know why your plan is the one, you will be confident in defending it. Don’t back down from what you know is right.

5. Plans change:

Ned’s plans quickly change. His seat is reassigned when he tells the teacher, Mr. Harrington (Martin Starr), Peter has allergies. Mr. Harrington moves Ned next to a young girl named Betty Brant (Angourie Rice).

The two quickly hit it off. They become boyfriend and girlfriend.

Out goes Ned’s plans of American bachelors.

Plans are great. You need to have them to have an idea of how to get where you want to go. However, you also have to be ready for your plans to change.

New information comes up and you have to shift your strategy. Someone quits and your star player is gone. Or you learn the organization is going under.

It’s time for an audible. You can handle it. Why? Because you know plans change.

6. Great leaders go even when they’re not sure what to do:

When the water elemental attacked, Ned asked Peter what he was going to do. Peter didn’t know. But he did know something.

He would get to work helping people. He began getting people out of danger. Then he began to attack the immediate threat.

While he didn’t know what to do from the start, he swung into action. He moved until he knew what to do.

In the previous Reel Leadership lesson from Spider-Man: Far From Home, it was mentioned plans change. They do, all of the time.

This can throw you a curveball. You may not know the next step to take. That’s okay.

What you can do is to take the next step. You begin doing what you know to do.

7. Interruptions are a part of leadership:

Peter Parker had ghosted Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). He wasn’t responding to his phone calls and had even sent the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D. to voicemail! The nerve of that Peter Parker.

Nick Fury tracked Peter to his hotel room. While talking to Peter, Ned walks in. Nick tranquilizes Ned.

Then Mr. Harrington enters the room. Peter is able to get Mr. Harrington to leave before Fury does anything to him.

Finally, Betty knocks on the door looking for Ned. Peter gets Betty to go away.

Fury’s talk had many interruptions. Does this remind you of anything?

It probably reminds you of a lot of your day-to-day leadership. Interruptions are always coming at you.

They can be annoying. They can be major or minor. Most of all, they take time away from the important things you need to do.

But you’re a leader. You signed up for interruptions. Let them come and handle them as they do.

8. There are people you don’t have to hide from:

Nick Fury brought Peter to a hidden base. There were multiple people there including Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), Dimitri (Numan Acar), and Quentin Beck.

Fury told Peter he didn’t need to be in his costume. He was among people he could trust.

It’s easy to feel like you have to hide as a leader. You may believe you have to put on a serious face for those you lead. And you may have to.

However, there are people you don’t have to hide your true self from. You can be open and honest with certain people.

You will have to seek these people out. They can be close friends or family members. They may come from the business community. Or they may come from your faith community.

You will have to take your mask off at some point. Find people you can trust and be you with.

9. Your words can have unintended consequences:

Tony Stark gave Peter one last gift. The gift was a pair of glasses with the EDITH (Even Dead I’m The Hero) augmented reality software Stark Technologies created.

Peter was wearing them when he told EDITH that Brad Davis (Remy Hii) was a target. EDITH then launched a drone attack on Peter’s fellow classmate.

Uh oh! Unintended consequences galore!

Your words have power. People will hear them and act on them. They will carry out what you say.

This is why you have to be careful with what you say. Your words can have unintended consequences.

You may say one thing and mean another. Only to have someone immediately go to work on what you said.

Make sure you say what you mean and what you want to be done. If you’re not careful, your words will have unintended consequences.

10. Quentin Beck/Mysterio:

You see things. You do things. People look up to you.

Peter’s role as Spider-Man puts him on a different level than the average neighbor. Because he’s a superhero, he gets to see things and do things others don’t. This also makes people look up to him.

Quentin reminded Peter of this during one of their chats. He let Peter know that he’s special.

Leaders are a lot like Spider-Man. They get to see things. They get to do things. And people look up to them.

Make sure you’re seeing the right things. Make sure you’re doing the right things. And make sure people have a reason to look up to you.

11. Peter Parker:

It’s really nice to have someone to talk superheroey stuff with.

Quentin became like a surrogate Tony Stark to Peter. Peter felt like he could share things with Quentin and everything would be okay.

Their relationship made Peter feel almost normal. He had someone he could look up to and get advice from.

Leaders need someone they can share leadershipy stuff with. Bearing the burden of leadership alone isn’t a good thing.

Find someone you can confide in.

12. Leadership requires you to sacrifice:

The plans for Peter’s class trip continued to change. One of the changes had the class going to an opera.

There, Peter had the chance to sit next to MJ. In fact, MJ even asked Peter to sit next to her.

Oh, how he wanted to. It was the perfect opportunity. However, duty called. He’d been tasked with watching out for the fire elemental to make his appearance.

Peter had to skip out. He had work to do. He had to sacrifice his desires for the greater good.

Leaders don’t get to dictate their own lives. Instead, they get to lay down their lives for the greater good.

They have to be willing to go above and beyond what the normal team member would do. They have to be the one people can count on.

Know that being a leader will interrupt your life. You will have to miss important events and things you want to do.

13. Find a solution:

Betty told Ned she would be willing to kiss him after the fire elemental attacked them on the Ferris wheel. There was a problem. Betty believed she threw up a little in her mouth.

Ned, ever the thoughtful one, offered a solution. He told Betty he had a breath mint.

This would solve the problem!

While humorous, Ned was a quick thinker. He found a solution to a problem he wanted to be solved. Then he offered the solution to the one with the problem.

Are you a quicker think like Ned? Can you find a solution when the problem is presented?

You’re going to be tasked with looking for solutions. You can do it.

If you struggle to find solutions, let me offer you a tip. Begin looking for small solutions in your everyday life. Find solutions to everything as you go about your day.

Before long, you will see you are a problem solver. You can then bring this into your leadership and offer better solutions.

14. Nick Fury:

You’ve got to choose to step up.

Peter had a choice. He could be a student or he could be a hero. He had to choose.

Nick Fury let him know this. He didn’t hold back the truth. He let Peter know there is a choice to be made.

You have a choice as well. You can choose to be a leader or you can choose to be something else.

I know what choice I want to make. What choice are you going to make?

15. You have to be careful who you trust:

Peter handed over EDITH to Quentin. He had begun to trust Quentin and believed Quentin would be the best choice to succeed Tony Stark.

Only after Peter hands over the EDITH glasses does he realize he’s made a mistake. Quentin isn’t the hero he has made himself out to be. In fact, Quentin is the villain of Far From Home.

There are people you will think you can trust. And there will be people you can trust. There will also people you can’t trust.

Knowing which is which will be the key to succeeding. Figure out who you can trust. Trust them.

16. Quentin Beck:

It’s easy to fool people when they’re already fooling themselves.

Beck had impersonated Nick Fury. Peter believed the impersonation. He fell for another one of Beck’s deceptions.

But why did Peter fall for it? Beck told Peter it was because he was already fooling himself.

We can easily fall into a deadly leadership trap. We can fall into self-deception.

By fooling ourselves, we may believe we’re going to be able to get more things done. Or maybe we can grow into the leadership position we’ve always dreamed of.

You have to be careful when fooling yourself. You can get so caught up in it that others are able to fool you as well.

17. It’s okay to ask for help:

Peter had to call Happy Hogan (John Favreau) for help. He was the only one Peter felt he could trust at this point in the movie.

He called Happy. When Happy answered, Peter asked for help. He also admitted to making a mistake.

Great leaders know they can’t lead alone. They know they will need help.

Asking for that help? That can be the tricky part.

Don’t be scared to ask for help. Everyone needs it. And you only get help by asking someone for it.

18. Peter Parker:

I’m not Iron Man.

Peter admitted what he knew all along. He wasn’t Iron Man.

You may be trying to live up to someone else’s image or to someone else’s dream for your life. You’ve got to stop this.

You’re not Michael Hyatt or Dan Miller or Joseph Lalonde or Brian Dodd. You are YOU.

Be happy with who you are. Lead with who you are. That’s the only way to be authentic.

19. Great leaders can be a mess:

During Peter’s talk with Happy, he learned something. Peter learned Tony Stark didn’t have it all together. In fact, Tony Stark was a mess.

Tony Stark wasn’t the perfect leader he portrayed. He had issues. He had doubts. Moreover, he was a mess.

You may see bloggers and other leaders who appear to have it all together. They don’t. If they claim to do, they’re lying.

I’ll be the first to admit, I’m a mess at times. I struggle with self-doubt. I’m scared to speak in front of others. I wonder if my words even mean anything.

I’m a mess.

I’m also okay. Me being a mess doesn’t stop me from doing what needs to be done. Being a mess shouldn’t stop you from leading well either.

Make peace with your mess.

Question: If you’ve watched Spider-Man: Far From Home, what leadership lessons did you take away from the movie? If you haven’t seen the movie, what Reel Leadership lessons from Spider-Man: Far From Home that I shared resonated with you? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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