4 Leadership Lessons from Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation
This is a guest post by Don Sanders. He is the Discipleship Pastor at Harvester Christian Church (St. Charles, Missouri) and an adjunct professor at St. Louis Christian College. He is also my brother, and we share a love of action movies, U2, and late night runs at Denny’s.
This post is also part of the Reel Leadership series, featuring a number of bloggers and podcasters who are exploring leadership lessons in this summer’s biggest movies. The movies we’ve covered include:
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (Joe Lalonde)
- Tomorrowland (Ellory Wells)
- Mad Max: Fury Road (Joe Lalonde)
- Inside Out (Kent Sanders)
- Jurassic World (Jeff Brown)
- Pixels (Jon Harrison)
And now, here’s Don . . .
Truth be told, I believe I could be IMF operative extraordinaire Ethan Hunt. I’m pretty sure I’m just as smart. I really like to travel. I can walk really quietly, too. Of course, I’ll need to brush up on my weapons training, physical fitness, language skills, and knowledge of current events.
All kidding aside (well, mostly), we can all be more like Ethan Hunt than we probably realize. In the world of the IMF, leadership is the key to success or failure. How does Mr. Hunt do it? He’s certainly got the skills of a world-class spy. More than that, though, Hunt is an effective leader. Here are four leadership lessons from Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation we can all implement without the danger of being disavowed by the Secretary.
1. Build a talented team.
As brilliant and talented as Ethan Hunt is, he can’t pull off a mission by himself. He can do all the groundwork, but a team is required to be effective. Benji, Brandt, and Luther are not just luxuries. Their talents and abilities are necessities. Every member brings a specific set of skills to the IMF team.
A leader is only as good as the team that supports him or her. In fact, effective leaders are comfortable knowing that their team may actually be more talented than he or she is. Spending time building, training, equipping, and operating as a team must be a priority for every leader.
2. Take time to plan.
One of the most fascinating parts of every Mission: Impossible movie is the development of the plan. For Rogue Nation, the team must break into a power plant and go underwater to download a computer file. Of course, this involves elaborate planning, timing, and coordination. Spies that don’t take the time to plan tend to have short life expectancies.
A leader’s effectiveness rises with planning, and it quickly fails without it. Whether it is planning your weekly schedule, a meeting, the quarterly goals, or a presentation, taking time to plan is of utmost importance. Effective leaders make time to plan before taking a step.
3. Prepare to adjust your plans.
What? Leaders are supposed to toss aside the intricate plans they worked so hard to develop? If the situation warrants, then you must be willing to make adjustments. An effective leader knows when to recalculate, sidestep, speed up, slow down, or turn around. The world is not static. It’s dynamic and changes constantly.
No action movie would be complete without a plot twist, and Rogue Nation demonstrates this leadership lesson. As Ethan Hunt tracks down the Syndicate he must constant adjust his plans to account for changing situations. Every plan the IMF team formulates must be tweaked and updated by the second to accomplish their mission.
4. Cultivate strong friendships.
A surprising element in Rogue Nation is the relationship between Ethan Hunt and his IMF team. Both Benji and Luther each have a scene when they talk about their loyalty to Ethan. In fact, it is this friendship that motivates them to risk their lives to help him on the mission. This stands in contrast to fear, greed, and selfishness that motivates the henchmen of the Syndicate.
Good leaders realize that relationships are important and take time to grow. When I reflect on the leaders I’ve had the good fortune to work with, I can honestly say that one of the primary reasons I’ve followed them is because each and every one has taken the time to cultivate a personal relationship with me. When people know that their leader genuinely cares about them, their families, and ultimately their life, they will develop loyalty that motivates far more than money or titles every can.
It’s a safe bet that you won’t have a high-speed motorcycle chase on the way to work tomorrow. You probably won’t be jet setting around the globe following leads for the Syndicate. You can be an effective leader like Ethan Hunt, though. Just be sure to keep an eye out on the way to lunch.
Have you seen the newest Mission: Impossible movie? What lessons did you take away from it?
