Moviegoers were treated to a new movie about the god of thunder. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) returned to the cinema to rock audiences.
Thor: Love And Thunder had a similar feel to his last featured movie, Thor: Ragnarok, yet Love And Thunder felt somewhat flat. The jokes didn’t land. The action was nice but nothing special. The brilliant piece of Thor: Love And Thunder was Christian Bale as the villain, Gorr The God Butcher.
Thor: Love And Thunder tells the tale of Gorr The God Butcher, a creature out to destroy all the gods in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He ravages countless planets during his reign of destruction.
Eventually, Thor hears a distress call from Lady Sif (Jaimie Alexander). He leaves the Guardians Of The Galaxy, yes THOSE guardians. Thor had been hanging out with Peter Quill/Starlord (Chris Pratt), Drax (Dave Bautista), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), and Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel). The Guardians Of The Galaxy chose to help with the other distress calls.
While Thor: Love And Thunder is not the best Thor movie, the movie is adequate in providing a brief period of action and excitement. More than the fun the movie brings, Thor: Love And Thunder offers plenty of leadership lessons. Let’s look at those leadership lessons in today’s Reel Leadership article.
Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Thor: Love And Thunder
1. Your people need your provision:
Gorr became The God Butcher because he had cried out to his god for sustenance. The god provided nothing.
Due to his god’s inaction, Gorr’s daughter (India Rose Hemsworth, yes, Chris Hemsworth’s daughter) dies in the arid desert. Her death causes Gorr to go on a rampage killing all the gods he could find.
Imagine if his god had taken action. Gorr would have continued to serve faithfully. Instead, Gorr chooses a path of vengeance.
Do you have team members asking for your assistance? What is your response?
You best not sit on your laurels while your team members need something. Seek to give them the tools, resources, and assistance they need.
2. Leaders will face losses:
Korg (Taika Waititi) tells the story of Thor. In the story, Korg shares how Thor has lost a lot.
Thor lost his mother Frigga (Chanique Greyling), father Odin (Anthony Hopkins), Heimdall (Idris Elba), Loki (Tom Hiddleston), and others. The loss in Thor’s life was significant.
While I hope you won’t face the number of losses Thor did in your relationships, leaders do face losses. Leaders have to be prepared to lose people and organizations.
Things you may lose while leading:
- Coworkers
- Mentors
- Organizational position
- Business ventures
- And more
Losses aren’t a leadership killer. They’re a part of leading.
Be prepared to lose. But also be ready to win.
3. Leadership is not a solo endeavor:
Thor lept into battle while working with the Guardians Of The Galaxy. He destroyed the threat facing King Yakan (Stephen Curry) handily.
After the battle, Thor turns to the “combatants” and tells them great job. He shared how the battle was a team effort.
In reality, Thor did everything but tried to share the credit.
You can’t share credit with others when you do all the work. Don’t be the hero. Be the leader.
You will help your people do the work. You may even hop in occasionally to do some heavy lifting.
The work you do is not a solo endeavor. Make sure you’re allowing your team to work with you.
4. Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings):
Slow down.
During Jane’s chemotherapy treatments, Darcy sat with Jane Foster (Natalie Portman). Jane tried to squeeze the chemo fluid into the IV faster.
Why did Jane do this? Jane wanted to get back to work. She had things to do in the lab.
Darcy noticed and admonished Jane. She told Jane to slow down.
I’m telling you to slow down.
Leaders cannot go full throttle all of the time. There is a time to rest.
One of the ten commandments in the Bible is to honor the Sabbath. Sabbath is a time to slow down and rest.
I recently read a great quote on how the Sabbath is to help us realize that no matter how much work we do, there will always be more. Yet, we still need to pause.
Slow down, pause today. Find a way to rest.
5. Peter Quill/Starlord:
After thousands of years of living, you don’t seem to know who you are.
Peter saw something interesting with Thor. Despite all the time he’s lived, Thor didn’t know who he was.
He’d lost himself.
Thor, not knowing who he truly was, caused him to pursue worthless pursuits. He chose to chase after everything under the sun.
We’ve all seen leaders like Thor. Maybe they’ve led for a while or maybe they’re new leaders. Whatever the case, these leaders don’t know who they are.
They struggle to find proper footing to lead well. They are cruel, ineffective, and their actions are futile.
Seek to understand yourself. Once you discover who you are, you can lead with a confidence unknown before.
6. Leaders will often have similar strengths to their mentors:
Heimdall had a son, Astrid (Kieron L. Dyer). Astrid liked to go by the name Axl, as in one of the members of the band Guns N’ Roses.
Heimdall had the power to project a vision of himself to anyone he wished. Axl carries on his father’s legacy with the same power.
After the New Asgardian children had been kidnapped by Gorr The God Butcher, Axl reached out to Thor through a vision.
It was a great throwback to Heimdall’s time in the Thor world.
You will find yourself acting similarly to the mentors you surround yourself with. Your strengths will be strengthened by their strengths.
Be confident in knowing that if you want to strengthen certain aspects of your leadership skills, you can find a mentor to help you.
The more you’re around your mentor, the more you’ll become like them. Find a mentor who can increase your strengths.
7. Elaine Foster (Chloe Gouneau):
Never stop fighting.
Jane Foster is dying of cancer in Thor: Love And Thunder. The viewers discover her mother also passed from cancer.
Elaine told her daughter to never stop fighting. She knew Jane would have to keep fighting.
Leaders, never stop fighting.
You’re going to face situations that seem impossible to overcome. They’re not. You only have to keep fighting.
8. Things change when you become a leader:
We discover Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) has become the King of New Asgard. While she enjoyed the role, something was missing.
She pined for the days when she wasn’t king. Now she has to attend meetings and all the boring things.
Prior to becoming king, she faced action. She was in the heat of battle.
Yeah, things change.
Becoming a leader changes things. You will find yourself doing a lot less of the manual labor or hands-on type of work.
Instead, there will be meetings, decisions, and time to think.
Things change. Be prepared.
9. Thor:
You made me worthy.
When Thor first met Jane Foster, Thor was unworthy to wield the hammer Mjølnir. Thor had been irresponsible and child-like.
His relationship with Jane (who becomes the Mighty Thor in this movie) changes him. Thor sees something to live for. Something to grow up for.
This may seem like a stretch but I believe our people make us worthy of leading. They speak to us and we have to respond.
If we respond in the right way, we become worthy of their followership.
Don’t neglect the people. They’re the reason you’re worthy of leading.
10. Leaders share their power:
To defeat Gorr The Butcher, Thor had to rescue the New Asgardian children Gorr held captive. Thor did this in a way only a leader can.
Thor dispersed parts of his power to the children. The children became empowered to fight like Thor. They all had the power of thunder.
Great leaders don’t keep their power for themselves. Instead, they give power to the people they lead.
Are you giving away your power? Are you enabling your people to become better?
Remember, you’re not to keep your power. You’re to share your power.