Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw

A Reel Leadership Article

For many of us, there’s nothing better than a good summer action movie. Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw gives you and I just that. A movie you can sit back, shut off, and enjoy from beginning to end.

Taking place after Fast & Furious 7, lawman Luke Hobbs (Dwayne ‘the Rock’ Johnson) and criminal Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) are forced to join forces in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. The action is fast, the story is passable (especially for a summer movie), and it sets itself up for a sequel.

Idris Elba, Jason Stathom, Dwayne Johnson in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw team-up of Hobbs and Shaw happens because of a cyber-genetically enhanced villain appears. Hobbs and Shaw are tasked with tracking a stolen virus and catching the bad guy.

Their journey takes them around the world. It also takes them back to family.

In this article, we’re going to look at the leadership lessons in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. There were plenty. I hope you’re ready to enter the Reel Leadership zone.

Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw

1. Find out what you’re dealing with:

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw opens with a group of MI-6 operatives raiding a criminal operation. They are there to acquire a deadly virus that could wipe out most of the human population.

The agents breach the building successfully. Everything looks like it is going according to plan. Then Brixton (Idris Elba) makes his appearance.

Brixton is a cyber-genetically enhanced villain who is also after the virus.

As Hattie (Vanessa Kirby) makes her way to the virus, the rest of the MI-6 team surrounds Brixton. This was a mistake.

They didn’t know what they were dealing with. Brixton quickly dispatches the MI-6 agents. Then he frames Hattie for the job.

Leaders can have a great idea and then choose to run headlong into the idea. There’s little strategic planning (I know, I can fall into this leadership trap) and they go straight to tackling the idea.

This leads to all sorts of issues (once again, I know… that’s me!).

However, if you take a step back and assess the idea, you can get a better grasp of what needs to be done. You will know what you’re about to face and you have contingencies for when things go wrong.

Be cautious approaching new ideas. Figure out what you’re dealing with. Then take action.

2. You can lead with people who are different than you:

If you remember Fast & Furious 7, Hobbs and Shaw are as different as can be. You see this in Hobbs & Shaw.

Hobbs and Shaw eat their eggs differently. They drive different cars. They have different morning routines.

Still, despite early misgivings, you see Hobbs and Shaw working well together. They form a team that was unstoppable in the end.

You may not like certain members of your team. They may look different or think differently than you.

These differences shouldn’t stop you from leading them or with them. Their differences may actually help you become a better leader.

Be willing to work with those who are different than you.

3. Hobbs:

In life, things happen. You may not want them to but they do.

Hobbs has a young daughter named Samantha (Eliana Sua). Sam is asking Hobbs about his family.

You can see a hesitancy in Hobbs as he shares a little bit about them. Then he clams up and tells Sam this line.

Leaders experience Hobbs’ truth every day. There’s something happens. You don’t want it to but it does. This impacts you, your team, and the organization.

You can’t let bad things stop you from leading. You can continue to lead through difficult or bad times.

Don’t give up because things are difficult or not how you would like them. Continue forward!

4. You can see positives in bad situations:

We see a scene in Hobbs & Shaw where Shaw is talking to a woman in prison. This woman turns out to be Magdalene Queenie Shaw (Helen Mirren), Shaw’s mother.

While they’re talking, Queenie looks at the positive side of being in prison. There’s plenty of time for Sudoku, there’s shelter, there’s food, and more…

Queenie saw the positives of being in prison. She was okay with that.

Leadership has many ups and downs. You can feel like you’re on cloud 9 one day and the next you feel like you’re descending to the depths of hell. Sometimes, you feel like you’re stuck there.

Even in your darkest leadership moments, you can find positives. You can look for what is going right. And there are things that are going right.

Look for the positives in bad situations. These positives can help you get through the rough patch.

5. Locke (Ryan Reynolds):

You’re the best tracker.

Locke, a government agent, approaches Hobbs. He needed someone who was a great tracker. Who was the best tracker? Hobbs.

When you need a specialist, seek out the best. You want the best person for the job. Not the second or third best.

They may also turn you down, at first. Keep at it. If you know who you want, go for it.

6. Get a different view:

In seeking Hattie, Hobbs and government agents were looking at video footage of her escape. A normal viewing gave them an overview of the situation.

Yet, Hobbs wanted to look deeper. He asked the agent to zoom in on the heist location. Hobbs then asked to invert the view.

This gave the pair a different view. They could see where the video cameras covered. More importantly, they could see where they didn’t cover. This was the escape route.

In business, it is easy to get focused on what is right in front of you. You see what you want to see and no more.

I want to encourage you to get a different view on a difficult situation today. What’s something you’re missing? How could you look at the situation and get a new perspective?

Step back, look for a different view, and see what you’re missing.

7. Hattie:

Always like the CIA. Flexing the wrong muscle…

Hobbs was able to apprehend Hattie. As you know, Dwayne Johnson is a big, muscular man. So is Hobbs.

Hattie notices this. She also calls out the CIA for sending in the muscle.

You may think you need brute strength or a strong negotiator to get what you need in business. Some situations call for that.

Other situations don’t. There are times to be gentle. There are times to be strong. Every situation calls for a different flex.

Flex the right muscle.

8. Common causes unite unlikely partners:

Hobbs and Shaw didn’t want to work together. They were at odds with one another. Then they had a common cause.

They wanted to save Hattie. Hobbs wanted to save Hattie because he believed she wasn’t a criminal. Shaw wanted to save Hattie because she is his sister (shocker!!!).

You will have to work with a wide range of people. They will have different beliefs and ideals than you. This doesn’t mean you can’t work with them. You can.

All you have to do is find a common cause you both are fighting for. It may be a business proposal or the fight to end human trafficking.

You can almost always find a common cause to unite you with someone.

9. Leadership evolves:

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw is different than the rest of the Fast & Furious series. This new Fast & Furious movie isn’t about fast cars or pretty women. Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw is more of an action/comedy with an actual plot.

Fast & Furious movies are evolving. They’re changing. They’re becoming something different. Evolution is taking place in the series.

You’ll find yourself evolving as a leader. You won’t always have the same ideals or business ideas. They will change over time.

This is the evolution of leadership. You will find yourself thinking in new ways and leading your team differently.

It’s okay. Everything changes.

10. People will lie:

The scientist that developed the virus believed he was doing it for the betterment of the world. Eteon had told him they were going to use his creation for good. They lied.

You will find people will lie to you to get you to help them achieve their goals. They will do and say anything to put them in a better position.

Be aware of this. You won’t always be able to see the lies coming. But they will be there.

Make sure you’re working with trustworthy people. These people will do their best to not mislead you.

11. Deckard Shaw:

We’ll decide what’s impossible.

Hattie had injected herself with the virus. She did this to prevent Brixton from obtaining it. Because she injected herself with the virus, her time was running out.

The scientist had given them two options. The first was to kill Hattie, burn her body, etc… Their first option wasn’t pretty.

The second option was the remove the virus from Hattie. This required breaking into a heavily fortified building and time to remove the virus.

The scientist said the second option was impossible.

In the end, they were able to do the impossible.

You will have people telling you your ideas are impossible or impractical. They will say it’s never been done. Or it’s been tried and failed.

You can decide whether or not you want to try the impossible. You may be the one to do it.

12. Luke Hobbs:

I have a secret weapon. People actually like me.

Shaw had created alternate identities for Hattie, Hobbs, and himself. For Hobbs, he created one that would set off airport security.

Shaw and Hattie were able to enter the airplane and be seated. Shortly thereafter, Hobbs boarded the plane. This confused Shaw.

How did Hobbs get through the security check? Hobbs had an answer. He was able to get people to like him.

Here’s a leadership secret. You can lead people easier and better if people actually like you. You don’t have to be a jerk to be a leader.

When you get people to like you, they’re more likely to work harder, faster, and better for you.

Get people to like you. It can be your secret leadership weapon.

13. Stop changing your voice:

Air Marshall Dinkley (Kevin Hart) had heard Shaw and Hobbs arguing on the airplane. He stepped in to intervene.

During their conversation, Dinkley would change his voice. He tried to make himself sound bigger and more important than what he really was.

Be careful in constantly changing your voice to sound more important. You already are important.

You don’t have to have a deeper voice or a know-it-all attitude to be important. To be important or lead, you can be yourself.

14. Leadership can take you to places you don’t want to go:

There was one place Hobbs could think of that might be a good defense against Eteon and Brixton. This was his childhood home of Samoa.

There were family members. There was isolation. And there was his personal knowledge of the island.

With all of this, Hobbs didn’t want to go back there. He had become estranged from his family. It was going to be trouble…

Leadership takes us to all sorts of places. Some of those places are fun and exciting. Other places are ones we’d rather not visit or see.

Be ready to be taken to places you’d rather not go. This is part of your leadership journey.

15. Sefina Hobbs (Lori Pelenise):

Luke, we Samoans can handle trouble.

When Luke returned to Samoa, he brought trouble along with him. Brextin and Eteon were after him. There was going to be a fight.

His brother, Mateo (Joe ‘Roman Reigns’ Anoa’i), was furious with Hobbs. He’d left the island and now he brought back trouble.

Their mother tried to squash Hobbs’ feelings and Mateo’s animosity towards his brother. Sefina told them that Samoans could handle trouble. There’s nothing to worry about.

Do you have confidence in your team that they can handle the trouble that will come their way? Great leaders have a faith in their team that they can handle what’s coming.

If you put together the right team, you will have this faith as well.

16. We can believe lies about others:

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw presents a new side of Shaw. We discover that Shaw isn’t as bad of a guy as we believed. Much like his sister, he was framed for what he was accused of doing.

Hattie believed Shaw had committed the crimes. She let her belief cloud what she knew about her brother and separate the two of them.

Be careful what you believe about others. You may be led to believe falsehoods and lies.

17. Luke Hobbs:

You may believe in machines. We believe in people.

Eteon and Brextin believed a human/machine hybrid was the next step in human civilization. They thought they had to force the next evolution. They also believed they could be the “normal” people Shaw and Hobbs had on the island.

As you can imagine, Eteon and Brextin were wrong. Their human/machine hybrid would not be victorious over the regular people.

Businesses are full of technological advances now. We have supercomputers and servers. We have smartphones and security systems. And we have much, much more.

We rely on these systems to help us advance our organization. Sometimes, we rely on technology over the people in our organization.

I want to warn you to not believe so heavily in the technology of your business. Instead, look at your people. Believe in your people.

They are the backbone of your organization. If you don’t believe in them, you’re in trouble.

18. Not everything is as it seems:

The Fast & Furious movies appear to be about one thing. They appear to be about fast cars and pretty women.

Over and over again, we are shown this isn’t true. What Fast & Furious movies are about is family.

The Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw is no different. The movie wasn’t about fast cars (though it did have a few at the end) or pretty women. This movie was, once more, about family.

Don’t be deceived about what you think your organization is all about. Your organization isn’t about the money it can make. Or the products it can produce.

Your organization is about something different. Your organization is like the Fast & Furious movies.

If you look deep down, your organization is about family. The families of those you employ. The families of those you sell your products to. And the families of those who use your products.

Question: If you’ve watched Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, what leadership lessons did you take away from the movie? If you haven’t seen the movie, what Reel Leadership lessons from Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw that I shared resonated with you? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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