Quotes And Leadership Lessons From The Hurricane Heist

Sometimes you just want to go to a mindless movie. One where you can sit back, relax, and laugh with your wife. That’s what Pam and I thought when we saw the previews for The Hurricane Heist.

Cheesy. Fun. Stupid.

Maggie Grace and the leadership lessons from the hurricane heist

When you have a movie based on the idea of a group of criminals robbing the U.S. Treasury during a category 5 hurricane, what more can you expect? The Hurricane Heist is exactly that.

And while it provides all of those things while being extremely cheesy, you can also take away leadership lessons from The Hurricane Heist. Let’s take a look at those leadership lessons in today’s article.

Caution: Spoilers for The Hurricane Heist below

Quotes And Leadership Lessons From The Hurricane Heist

1. Sometimes you’ve got to carry the ones you lead:

As The Hurricane Heist opens, you see a father with his two sons frantically driving his truck to escape Hurricane Andrew. Unfortunately, his truck goes off the road and gets stuck.

The boys and their father abandon the vehicle and make a run for a nearby house. Because the boys weren’t running fast enough, the father picked up the boys in his arms and carried them into the house.

He knew they wouldn’t be able to get to the house in time if he let the boys go at their own pace. He had to do something.

Sometimes, as leaders, you’re going to have someone struggling on your team. They’re going to miss a deadline or make a bad call.

During these times, you’re going to have a choice to make: Do you fire them or do you help them by carrying some of their load?

Great leaders know sometimes people need help. And, as a leader, it’s their responsibility to help carry them to the finish line.

2. Will:

Trust me, I don’t want to stay out here any longer than I need to.

Will (Tobey Kebbell) was one of the two young boys in the opening scene and one of the heroes in The Hurricane Heist. Years later, another hurricane is approaching Gulfport, Alabama.

He’s ready to leave the city but has one more important task to complete. Once the task is done, he’s ready to get out of there.

There are leaders who are never finished with their work. They believe they have to be on the job 24/7 or they’re not a good leader.

This constant pressure to be in the office, at work is dangerous for a leader. They’re sacrificing life for what looks like productivity.

When the job is done, get out of the office. Go spend time with your family or friends.

3. Great leaders look for alternatives:

Casey (Maggie Grace from Taken and Lost) and Connor Perkins (Ralph Ineson) are driving a semi loaded with money to be shredded at one of the U.S. Treasury’s Mints. Their drive is interrupted by standstill traffic.

Connor hems and haws. He doesn’t take action as they’re stuck in traffic.

Casey sees an opportunity. She tells Connor to move and takes over the driving duties. She pulls forward, hitting a stopped car, backs up, and then swings right and drives through the tobacco crops.

Casey wasn’t stopped due to the traffic not moving. She looked for an alternative and took action.

When you see a problem, don’t let the problem stop you. Look for an alternative.

Could you call in an expert consultant to see what to do next? Would hiring another helping hand be the right move to make?

Look for the alternatives in the bad situation you’re in. You can find a way to get through it.

4. Will:

They’re underestimating you.

Will talked members of the meteorological team studying the coming hurricane. They brushed off the storm but Will had a gut feeling. This coming hurricane was going to be brutal.

So he began talking to the storm. He told her she was going to be nasty and people were underestimating her power.

Be ready for people to underestimate you. Or for you to underestimate others. People often underestimate people and situations that have greater power than they realize.

When you discover you’ve underestimated someone or a situation, own up to it. And make amends.

5. Great leaders respond to the call:

The generator at the U.S. Treasury Mint had failed. That wasn’t a good thing, especially during the hurricane.

Casey went on a mission to track down the only generator repairman in the city. This man was Breeze (Ryan Kwanten). Breeze was also Will’s brother.

After Casey approached Breeze about repairing the generator, he grabbed his tools and left to do the job. He responded to the call.

Leaders need to be ready to respond to the call. Are you prepared?

6. Leaders can fall:

Dixon (Ben Cross) was the sheriff in Gulfport. Yet he took a turn to the dark side because of what he’d seen.

Over the years, Dixon watched as semis brought in money to be shredded at the treasury. All this money, all this shredding… Would anyone miss the money if it wasn’t shredded?

The idea popped into Dixon’s mind to rob the treasury.

All it takes to get off the rails as a leader is an improper thought that you entertain. From the brief glimpse at the pretty secretary behind the desk or taking home office supplies because no one will miss them, leaders fall because little thoughts and actions become big problems.

Be aware of what you’re doing and thinking. Are they the right thing or the wrong thing? Know leaders can fall.

7. Will:

I need you to trust me.

Will and Casey are driving in Will’s fortified weather-chasing vehicle while being pursued by the bad guys. Will had an idea: Plant the vehicle’s spikes and let the bad guys smash into the back of his vehicle.

By planting the spikes and being hit, the car took most of the damage. Yet it also transferred the energy to the occupants and could have hurt them. He had to have Casey’s trust as he implemented this maneuver.

Great leaders know they can’t take brash actions without the trust of their team. By having the trust of your people, you’ll have more leeway when things get rocky.

Earn the trust of your team. Learn to work with them and for them.

8. Leaders can become bad leaders:

The man Casey had worked with, Connor, turned out to be a very bad man. He was plotting to steal the money during the hurricane as well.

Connor became a disgruntled U.S. Treasury employee and wanted more. So he chose a path that led him down a dark road.

Leaders can be tempted to go down the wrong path. The path of bad leadership.

Examine your motives. Figure out why you’re leading. Then if you see yourself getting off-track, correct your course.

9. Leadership can be personal:

Will chose to become a storm chaser because of his personal experience with storms. He’d lost his father because of a hurricane and his relationship with his brother was damaged because of the same storm.

It was personal to Will and he wanted to learn more about storms. How they’re formed, how they impact lives, and what he could do to help mitigate the damage caused by storms.

Leadership can, and often is, a personal thing. You were impacted by a great leader and you wanted to do the same thing. Or maybe you say bad leadership in action and wanted to do something to prevent another bad leader from rising up.

Whatever your reason for leading, it’s personal.

10. Look for opportunities:

The criminals in The Hurricane Heist were looking for an opportunity. They saw the opportunity in the coming hurricane. The hurricane would clear out Gulfport and allow them to easily access the U.S. Treasury Mint.

While this leadership lesson comes from the bad guys in The Hurricane Heist, it’s a valuable lesson. Leaders need to be on the lookout for opportunities and to take action when opportunities present themselves.

When’s the last time you looked for a new opportunity? Go out and look today.

11. Get excited about wins:

After the criminals took over the treasury building, Casey and Will discovered the criminals must have a hardline connection to the internet. They went out and looked for the cell tower that was still broadcasting.

Will began to climb the tower while carrying the tow chain from his vehicle. He attached the chain to the cell phone tower and had Casey pull the cell phone tower down.

After their success, Casey cheered. He was excited they had made an impact.

Do you get excited about your wins? Your wins could be an increase in sales, more visitors to your website, or more people in the pews at your church.

Get excited about your wins. It’ll not only motivate you but your team members.

12. Casey:

No need to thank me. We’re on the same team.

Moreno (Christian Contreras) thanked Casey for what she’d down. Casey knew she was doing her job and didn’t need to be thanked.

The work you do as a leader isn’t to receive praise and accolades. You lead because it’s the right thing to do.

Don’t expect to be thanked profusely because of what you’ve done as a leader. Lead because it’s what you’re there to do.

13. What you need might be in front of you the whole time:

The bad guys were trying to figure out the passcode to the treasury vault. They tried to hack it and then tried to track down Casey to get the passcode.

However, the passcode was with them the whole time. Casey had left her tablet at the treasury but the bad guys didn’t know this.

You may think you need more team members or better technology, yet what you need may be right in front of you and you just don’t know it. Look for ways to tap into your team members’ talents and skills.

You may be surprised at how skilled they are and the things you need may be right there.

14. Leaders go even when they’re not ready:

As the bad guys are escaping the treasury with all of the cash, Breeze and Will chase after them. They drive up on one of the semis loaded with cash and Will prepares to board the truck.

Breeze asks Will if he’s ready for this. Will answers truthfully and says “No.” Yet he acts anyways.

You can be scared about the next move in your leadership. You may not know if you’re making the right or wrong choice yet you have to act.

Leaders make decisions even if they’re not completely ready. They know they have to make a decision when the time comes.

Be ready to go. Be ready to make the tough decisions even if you’re not 100% sure it’s the right choice. Then correct along the way.

15. Breeze:

You gotta take your victories where you can find them:

Breeze got excited and rejoiced when he and Will made it onto the semi truck. This was a victory, however small because they both survived the jump.

Celebratable victories don’t have to be big. They can be small or simple.

Take the victories as they come and rejoice.

Question: Have you seen The Hurricane Heist? If you have, what did you take away any leadership lessons from The Hurricane Heist? If you haven’t, what was your favorite leadership lesson from The Hurricane Heist that I shared? Let me know in the comments below.

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