New movies added to Netflix don’t come as much of a surprise to me. Netflix is a powerhouse when it comes to producing new movies. However, I was shocked when I came across a recent movie addition that wasn’t a Netflix produced film.
I was surprised to see a new Doom movie. Previous to Doom: Annihilation, there had been one Doom movie starring Karl Urban and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in 2005. This Doom movie flopped hardcore. That’s why seeing a sequel or reboot produced was so shocking!
But I was excited. I’m always up for a bit of cheesy movie watching. Doom: Annihilation would prove to be just that.
Doom: Annihilation tells the story of Lt. Joan Dark (Amy Manson) as her team is sent to the United Aerospace Corporation (UAC) base on Phobos. Dark is a disgraced lieutenant and her team isn’t happy to be working with her again. They feel they are being punished for her failure.
While Doom: Annihilation isn’t a good film, it is a fun film for fans of Doom and video games. I can’t get enough of movies made from video games. Rarely are they good movies. They’re mainly cheesy and fun.
That’s what you get with Doom: Annihilation. You’ll also get Reel Leadership from Doom: Annihilation. Prepare yourself. You’re entering into dangerous territory!
Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Doom: Annihilation
1. Dr. Malcolm Betruger (Dominic Mafham):
Well, I’m very much looking forward to meeting you face to face.
Dr. Malcolm Betruger was a scientist on Phobos who was trying to use a mysterious gateway to teleport people from the UAC lab in Nevada to Phobos. A young scientist volunteered to go through the portal.
Betruger showed great excitement in meeting the young man. There was someone willing to go above and beyond and test the boundaries of science. This excited Betruger and he let the young man know this.
How excited are you when someone goes above and beyond their job description? Do you tell them how excited and proud you are of them? Are you excited about what could happen?
If not, you need to check yourself. Great leaders are excited when their team members experiment and try something new. They also let the team member know how excited they are.
Be a leader who shows excitement when meeting team members and when they try new things!
2. Experiments fail:
The scientists were excited when the young man appeared on Phobos. They believed the teleportation had been a success. Sadly, the young man’s teleportation to Phobos didn’t go as planned. When he arrived on Phobos, the young man began to transform into a zombie-like creature.
Part of the experiment worked. Part of it didn’t. The experiment could be considered a failure.
What do you do when a team member experiments and fails? Do you praise them for trying or do you reprimand them for the failure?
Great leaders don’t look at the failure. They look at the gumption it took to take a risk and try something new. They know nothing great happens with risk. What great leaders also know is that experiments will fail.
Not everything will go according to plan. There will be hiccups in trying new things. Be okay with failure.
Failure is a great thing. Failure is a learning tool to discover what works and what doesn’t. The only time failure is truly a failure is when you don’t get back up and try again.
3. People see opportunities in different ways:
For Dark, going to Phobos was the worst draw a UAC marine could have. It was the last stop on a train to nowhere. Dark and her team were not happy to be on the transport to this distant planet.
For Dr. Bennett Stone (Luke Allen-Gale), a trip to Phobos was like a winning lottery ticket. It was a new unexplored territory. A scientist couldn’t be happier to be going to Phobos.
You have to know your team. When you do, you will know what excites them and what feels like a punishment.
You may feel a transfer to a new department is a great reward. After all, you would feel honored to be given the transfer yourself. However, your team member may feel it was the worst draw they could get.
Knowing your team members, their career path, and what they want to do, will help you decide where you can place them and the tasks you give them. Make sure you’re rewarding them the way they would like to be.
4. Your team can be punished for your actions:
Why was Dark being sent to Phobos? She had been insubordinate to a superior officer. Why was Dark’s team sent to Phobos? Because of what Dark had done.
Dark’s team was being punished for her actions. They were sent with her even though they did nothing wrong.
When you act, you have to consider the repercussions on your team. They may be in the crosshairs because of something you did wrong.
This isn’t fair. This isn’t right. However, this is how things often work.
5. Know your organization:
Bennett was a ravenous studier. He loved to learn and know about what he was going to do or where he was going. Heading to Phobos was no different.
He studied the base and the personal. He knew who was going to be there and what the base layout was.
This came in handy when the team arrived on Phobos and they couldn’t hail anyone inside. Bennett was able to inform the team that there was an emergency entrance/exit on the landing pad. This gave them access to the base.
Great leaders know they have to have an intricate knowledge of the organization they’re working for. By knowing the whos, whats, wheres, whens, and whys of their organizations, they can better lead and guide their teams.
Get to know the organization you’re working for. Get to know why they exist. Get to know what they do. And get to know the whos within your organization.
6. Use the tools you know how to use:
Sergeant Logan Akua (Chidi Ajufo) mocked Captain Hector Savage (James Weber Brown). Savage had chosen the super shotgun to bring to Phobos. Akua had fancy new weapons in his arsenal.
Savage had a great response to Akua. Savage told Akua
You have your toys. I have mine.
What does this mean? This means Savage knew and trusted the guns he took with him. He was comfortable with them and could use them with ease. He wasn’t concerned about fancy weapons. What he wanted was something he had used before.
It is soooo easy to be tempted by the new and shiny tools offered to leaders. It might be the new course from Michael Hyatt or a new piece of software from AppSumo.
The new leadership courses, software, and conferences aren’t bad. They’re good. However, if you’re not going to be able to use them to the best of your ability and to the full extent of the software, you might be better off using the tools you know and love.
Becoming an expert in those tools will pay off better than playing around with new tools all of the time.
7. Captain Hector Savage:
I’m thinking about Sargeant Balowviki’s family.
Savage had one of his sergeants decapitated by the demons. He’d seen the body and the carnage. Now he was thinking about the family of the deceased soldier.
Great leaders are concerned for more than the people they lead. Great leaders are concerned about the families of those they lead.
Randy Conley shares that he likes to send thank you notes to a team member’s spouse in this article. This is thinking about the families of those you lead!
What can you do to think of the families of those you lead? It can leave a powerful impact on your team.
8. Bad leaders look out for themselves:
After their first encounter with the creatures, one of the UAC marines chose to run. This man was Private Steven Winslow (Clayton Adams).
He thought of himself first. He chose to run at the first sign of trouble.
Dark tried to talk him out of running. She couldn’t…
When I think of a bad leader, I think of a leader who thinks strictly of themselves. They have no concern for their team members, customers, or those they don’t oversee. All they care about is me, me, me.
That’s a bad leader. They think only for themselves. They look out only for themselves.
Beware of the bad leader. They will bring you and your team down.
9. Chaplain Glover (Louis Mandylor):
Faith costs nothing, miss.
Chaplain Glover was talking to Dark. Dark told him she had lost her faith. Glover responded with the above quote.
Glover knew faith costs nothing. All it took was a little bit of belief on the part of the one who has faith.
Do you have faith? Faith can come in many different forms. You can have faith in:
- God
- Yourself
- Your team
- Your organization
Faith doesn’t cost a lot but faith can go a long way. When you have faith in a higher power, you can believe there’s a purpose behind everything that is happening. When you have faith in yourself, you can believe the job can get done. When you have faith in your organization, you can believe they are more than capable.
Do you have faith?
10. Great leaders encourage others:
Dr. Veronica Cyr (Katrina Nare) was one of the scientists on Phobos. She was scared as she had seen the demons invade the lab and kill so many of her friends.
Dark saw Cyr’s fear. She saw it increase even more when she sent Cyr away. Before she did, she gave Cyr a gun. She also gave her a word of encouragement.
Dark told Cyr she could do it. She had the ability to get to safety.
Are you encouraging your team members? Do you tell them you believe in them? That they can do a great job?
If not, you need to begin to. Great leaders are encouragers. They share words of encouragement with their team members. They let them know someone believes in them.
11. Admit when you mess up:
Dark had screwed up. She had let a terrorist escape and was insubordinate. She knew this as well as those who were over her.
At first, she wasn’t willing to own up to her mess up. Eventually, she was able to admit what she had done wrong.
Great leaders are willing to say they screwed up. They are willing to say they made a mistake.
Be a leader who is willing to own their mistakes. Don’t place blame on your team. Own it. Be the leader.
If you want to check out Doom: Annihilation, you can check it out on Amazon Video.
Question: If you’ve watched Doom: Annihilation, what leadership lessons did you take away from the movie? If you haven’t seen the movie, what Reel Leadership lessons from Doom: Annihilation that I shared resonated with you? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.