My mind is still trying to comprehend how there are now 8 Fast and the Furious movies. It seems like yesterday I was leaving the Cinema Carousel after watching the first The Fast And The Furious movie in 2001.
I was driving my 5-speed manual 1994 GMC Sonoma. Revving the engine and trying to feel like I was one of the characters from The Fast And The Furious. Alas, I never was and never will be but the thought still lingers.
After watching any of The Fast And The Furious movies, I still get the urge to do a burnout or get into a police chase. That’s just how these movies make you feel.
Two years ago I shared leadership lessons from Furious 7… And now we’re on the eighth movie in the franchise. Mind blowing!
The Fate Of The Furious reunites most of the cast minus Paul Walker as Brian O’Connor and Jordana Brewster as Mia Toretto. We get to see Vin Diesel reprise his role as Dominic ‘Dom’ Toretto, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson as Agent Luke Hobbs, Michelle Rodriguez as Letty ‘Ortiz’ Toretto, Tyrese Gibson as Roman Pierce, and Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges as Tej Parker. We’re also introduced to the new villain Cipher as portrayed by Charlize Theron.
Why Fast And The Furious 8?
Every time I hear there’s a new The Fast And The Furious movie I wonder what they’re going to come up with next. The Fate Of The Furious sees the team reunite as Dom turns on the team.
He turns on his team after the mysterious Cipher approaches him. After successfully completing a mission, he slams his vehicle into Luke Hobb’s and leaves him stranded and at the mercy of the government they’re interfering with.
This is the groundwork of The Fate Of The Furious. And it intrigued me.
Now, onto the leadership lessons and quotes from The Fate Of The Furious.
Leadership Lessons And Quotes From The Fate Of The Furious
1. Dominic ‘Dom’ Toretto:
You make a deal. You’ve got to live up to it.
The movie starts with Dom living the life down in Cuba. He’s enjoying his new life with Letty and things seem to be going well. Then someone approaches Dom and tells him there’s trouble.
Dom meets up with his cousin who we learn hasn’t made good on a car loan. He hasn’t been paying his car note. That’s when Dom tells him he needs to live up to the deal he made.
Leaders make deals all the time. They also break deals frequently.
But great leaders don’t do that. Great leaders know their word is their bond. They make a deal, they have to live up to the deal.
2. Know your skills:
When Raldo tried to repossess Fernando’s (Dom’s cousin) car, Dom stepped in. He offered to race Raldo to allow Fernando to keep his car. If Dom won, they would get Raldo’s car. If Dom lost, Raldo would get Dom’s.
Raldo accepted this challenge but under one condition: The car Dom used would be the piece of junk car he was trying to save.
Dom knew his skills. He knew he could salvage the vehicle and win the race. Immediately, he went to work on getting the car into a condition he could win with.
In what was a thrilling race, Dom comes out victorious, the car is destroyed, and Dom allowed Raldo to keep his car.
Leadership requires you to have a vast array of skills. Knowing what skills you possess will help you go far in leadership.
Practice leadership skills. Know what you’re good at and work in your strength areas. Let others serve in their strengths.
3. Dominic Toretto:
Okay, buster… Let’s see if this works.
While Dom was confident in his skills, he still knew things could go sideways. Especially with the piece of junk he was racing with.
You’re going to be put into situations where something is untested. Much like the junky car Dom was racing in, you’re going to be in situations where you don’t know if things are going to work.
Try new things anyways. Give yourself the opportunity to see if you can work with what you have.
4. Great leaders are givers:
After winning the race, Fernando’s car was totaled. She was sinking into the ocean. Fernando wasn’t going to be using her anytime soon.
Dom decided to give Fernando his beautiful Chevrolet Impala. It was a classic and well taken care of. But he gave her away.
Great leaders are givers. They see a need and they do what they can to fulfill the need. They do things to help others.
Are you?
5. Letty ‘Ortiz’ Toretto:
It’s not about what you want. Or what I want. It’s about why we haven’t asked the question.
Dom and Letty are a couple in The Fast And The Furious franchise of movies. They’ve been to hell and back in their relationship.
One thing they’d never brought up was the possibility of having a child together. After a recent discussion, Letty wondered why they’d never discussed the possibility of having a child.
There are many possibilities in business. There’s also many possibilities which are never discussed.
The question then becomes: Why haven’t you discussed the unmentioned possibility? Could it be you’re scared of it?
6. Bad leaders make you betray your values:
This leadership lesson from The Fate Of The Furious is one we all need to take to heart.
We see Cipher, the villain of The Fate Of The Furious, put Dom into an unwinnable situation. One where Dom has to turn on his team and leave his value of family behind.
That’s what bad leaders do. Bad leaders make those they lead do things they would never do because they’re wrong.
Help your team to be able to do the right things at the right time. Don’t force them to make the impossible choices.
7. Great leaders inspire:
We then flash over to Luke Hobbs. He’s standing on a soccer field giving a rousing speech to his daughter’s soccer team. He’s pumping them up and they’re getting ready to go into a soccer battle!
Great leaders do this. They help their team get inspired and ready to face what’s ahead.
Give your team a pep talk. Help them to see they have what it takes to win the day.
8. Mr. Nobody:
You’re going to need to get a team you can trust.
Mr. Nobody approaches Luke Hobbs for a mission while he’s coaching his daughter’s soccer team. He tells him there’s going to be danger and he’s going to need a team. A team he can trust.
When you have a team you can trust, you can do almost anything. You have the utmost confidence in those you’re leading. They believe in you. And you’re both ready to get the job done.
Find a team you can trust. Then work with them.
9. Luke Hobbs:
It’s not too late to stop this.
Once Dom began to betray Luke and the rest of the team, Luke gave Dom a choice. He could stop. He didn’t have to steal the EMP and turn it over to whoever he was working with.
There was still time to change what was happening.
While we feel we’re pressed for results, the truth is we often have more time to change what we’re doing than we think. We can take an extra day or two to think over the latest business buyout or the hiring of a new employee. We don’t need to rush into major decisions.
10. Stand up for those you believe in:
Even though the team saw Dom betray them, Letty was willing to stand up to those who questioned Dom’s loyalty. She’d been through so much with him she knew there had to be a reason for his betrayal.
Be willing to ask the tough questions when something goes wrong. Don’t automatically assume the person who screwed up did it on purpose. There may be something going on no one else knows about.
11. Great leaders take responsibility:
The mission Luke Hobbs led went south. They failed and he was captured.
He could have tried to place the blame and get out of the trouble he was in. He didn’t.
Instead, he did what great leaders do: He accepted responsibility for the failed mission and the punishment that came with it.
Great leaders don’t pass the buck. Great leaders take responsibility for what happens under their watch. This includes the penalties as well as the rewards.
12. Mr. Nobody:
Rule #1: Know your audience.
Mr. Nobody was training a new agent, Little Nobody. Little Nobody didn’t know who he was talking or how to talk to him. This allowed for a couple of humorous scenes between him and Luke Hobbs.
While not knowing his audience caused us to laugh in The Fate Of The Furious, not knowing your audience can be a major detriment to your leadership. By not knowing how to talk to those you’re leading, lines of communication will break down.
Know who you’re talking to. Know what kind of communication and motivation works well for them.
13. You can help people change:
Dom had the chance to take Raldo’s vehicle. He chose not to.
This choice of Dom’s was to help Raldo. He knew his actions could begin a positive change in Raldo’s life.
Your actions, positive and negative, leave a legacy on others. When you choose grace and mercy, you will help change people for the better.
14. You can work with people you disagree with:
Luke Hobbs and the rest of the Furious crew were enemies with Deckard Shaw. Deckard killed Han Seoul-Oh in The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift and there was still animosity.
Yet, in The Fate Of The Furious, Deckard and the rest of the team were forced to work together. And they did a great job.
You’re going to have to work with people you disagree with. Whether the disagreements are political, spiritual, or something else, you’re going to have to work through the issues and get the job done.
Don’t let disagreements stop you from doing what you need to do.
15. Letty Toretto:
You going to turn your back on family? Just like that?
Letty didn’t pull any punches when she had the chance to confront Dom. She wanted to know how he could turn his back on those he claimed to love.
She didn’t get an answer at this point.
When you make decisions that hurt the organization, people are going to question why you’re doing what you’re doing. Be careful of the decisions you make and be ready for people to ask questions.
16. Great leaders check in on their people:
Letty was struggling with the possibility Dom could have betrayed them all. That’s when Luke Hobbs wandered over and checked in on her.
He asked how she was doing. Whether or not she was okay.
He wanted to know his team members were doing well.
Do you check in on your team members? Do you see if they’re doing okay?
You need to. This shows your team you care about them.
17. Cipher:
Everything is a choice.
While Charlize Theron’s Cipher is the villain of The Fate Of The Furious, you can still find leadership lessons in what she says.
She told Dom “Everything is a choice” after he turned his back on his team. He could have chosen differently.
And you might feel like you have no choice but to make a bad business decision or to do something unethical. The truth is: You have a choice. You have the ability to choose right or wrong.
I encourage you to choose the right thing.
18. Take wise shortcuts:
It’s often been said there are no good shortcuts. I think that’s too broad of a statement to make.
You can find shortcuts that are just and beneficial. We saw this in The Fate Of The Furious when Hobbs drove his large pickup truck over a downed scaffold to take a shortcut in pursuit of Dom.
When thinking of taking a shortcut, make sure it’s the wise thing to do. Then go for it.
19. Great teams don’t give up:
Dom’s team had plenty of reasons to give up. On him. On the mission. And on each other.
Yet they didn’t. They stuck it out.
This is what great teams do. They stick together and continue to work towards a solution.
20. Great leaders take the hit:
As the team was trying to take out the submarine, a truck with rocket launchers began his attack. He started to shoot rockets at the vehicles. This is where Hobbs stepped in.
He moved his truck into the line of fire. He took the first couple of hits from the rockets.
That’s what great leaders do. They take the hit for their teams. They don’t let their teams take the blame.
21. Great teams protect:
By creating a great team, you have a team who will protect one another.
After Dom had discovered his son was safe, he rejoined his team to destroy the sub. And then his car was destroyed and he was vulnerable.
The team then surrounded him with their vehicles to protect him from the heat and flames of the exploding sub.
When you create a great team, the teams will lay down their lives for one another. Create teams that are willing to sacrifice for one another.
22. Luke Hobbs:
Daddy’s staying home.
The Fast And The Furious movies have always been about family. The Fate Of The Furious is no different.
And I love the line Luke Hobbs delivers to his daughter.
He had the chance to have his name cleared and go back into his old career. One that took him away from his family for extended periods of time.
He declined the position because he knew the value of his family.
Do you know the value of your family? Are you willing to sacrifice for your family? They should be the most important part of your life.
Closing Thoughts On The Fate Of The Furious
I really enjoyed The Fate Of The Furious. The movie was another solid entry in The Fast And The Furious franchise. I left the theater wanting to race and zoom around in my car.
That’s what a good movie does. Good movies make you feel like you were a part of the action and you can do some of the things they did.
There are a few things to be cautious of. The Fate Of The Furious contained quite a bit of language and the beginning of the movie had scantily clad women for about five minutes.
If you can get past these objectionable items, The Fate Of The Furious is an enjoyable ride.
Question: Have you seen The Fate Of The Furious? If so, what was your favorite leadership lesson from The Fate Of The Furious? If not, what was your favorite leadership lesson from The Fate Of The Furious I shared? Let me know in the comment section below.
Did you enjoy these leadership lessons from The Fate Of The Furious? Would you like more leadership lessons from the movies? Check out the Reel Leadership archives here for more leadership lessons from the movies.
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