The Jurassic World trilogy has ended with the latest entry: Jurrasic World: Dominion. The last film in the series had an interesting premise. We got to see what the world would look like if the genetically brought back dinosaurs lived with humans.
The world looked similar but oh so different.
Sadly, this fantastic premise didn’t carry over to a movie that entertained me. I’m not sure if it will entertain you or yours.
But one thing is for sure.
You’ll be able to watch Jurassic World: Dominion and walk away with plenty of leadership lessons. Let’s take a look at those leadership lessons in today’s Reel Leadership article.
Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Jurassic World: Dominion
1. Not everyone will adapt well:
Gemma Zhao (Jasmine Chiu) reported on the dinosaurs that migrated to populated areas since the last Jurassic World film. Many of the dinosaurs had migrated to populated areas.
Sadly, the migration wasn’t going as well as the scientists hoped. There were a lot of issues with the dinosaurs adapting to their new environments.
In this example, you may instantly think of a team member you’ve brought on in the past as the dinosaur. You thought they would be a stellar fit. They weren’t.
You’re now left struggling with what you can do with this team member.
Know that there will be issues with people adapting to your organization. Their struggles will come with the way you conduct business, the corporate culture, and other areas.
Help them adapt. If they can’t adapt, help them find new employment.
2. Gemma Zhao:
Now that we’ve brought these animals back, can we face the consequences?
The news report with Gemma shows some startling issues with the attempt to integrate the dinosaurs into the human world. The dinosaurs ate people. Property destroyed. On and on it went.
The consequences were significant. There was destruction, loss of life, and more.
Leaders have to think about the consequences of their actions. Everything they do has an impact on the organization.
Know this as you make transitions, bring on new people, and change the organization’s look.
You can do it. But can you face the consequences?
3. Understand how to react to situations:
A brontosaurus had made its home at a logging facility. The workers there were attempting to get it to leave. They didn’t know how to react and communicate with the dinosaur,
Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon) had wandered away from her home. She came upon the scene. She helped the workers move the dinosaurs.
She whispered to a worker to use the truck horn to get the dinosaur’s attention. Use flares to guide it.
She understood what had to be done. She knew how to react to the situation.
Tense situations can quickly escalate. If you don’t handle the situation, significant damage can occur.
Understanding how to react to the situations you’re placed in will help you know what to do. Make sure you’re reacting in the right way.
4. You have to get people to trust you:
Maisie was a clone, like the dinosaurs. Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) had taken her in. They moved to a secluded area so she wouldn’t be discovered by people wanting to use her.
This frustrated Maisie. She wanted to go and interact with others.
Owen told Maisie the reason. She couldn’t go to town because they didn’t trust people. Maisie believed she couldn’t go because Owen and Claire didn’t trust her.
Because they lacked her trust, she went to town and was kidnapped.
People are hard to manage. Not because people are difficult. More often than not, people are hard to manage and lead because we failed to gain their trust.
Building trust is crucial for a leader. Leading without trust is like driving a car without oil. You’re going to have trouble.
Work on gaining the trust of the people you lead.
5. Give people what they want:
The best part of Jurassic World: Dominion had to be the appearances of the cast from the original Jurassic Park. The returning cast included Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), Alan Grant (Sam Neill), Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), Dr. Lewis Dodgson (Campbell Scott, new actor in this role), and Dr. Henry Wu (BD Wong).
What a sight to see! So many of the beloved original characters making a return. The theater popped when these actors and actresses appeared on the screen.
Their return was what people wanted.
You have to understand what your people want. Do they want money? Are they looking for a challenging career? Do they want career advancement?
Giving your people what they want isn’t about codifying them. You do this to help them enjoy their jobs.
6. Ellie Sattler:
Alan, you never get used to it.
Ellie and Alan had seen a lot. They had a part in the original Jurassic Park. This means they had a lot of hands-on time with the genetically created dinosaurs.
Yet, all these years later, we see Ellie being awestruck with the work that was done.
I want the same to be true for you as a leader. I want you to never lose the wonder of what you’re doing.
The work you’re doing is impactful. You’re changing lives.
Never get used to it. Have the awe and wonder.
7. Bad leaders want complete control:
The world was thrown into chaos as a breed of genetically engineered locusts began ravaging farms worldwide. Interestingly enough, the farms that used BioSyn Company’s modified crops.
Dr. Wu looked into this. He realized there was a reason the crops were avoiding the BioSyn crops. They were engineered to avoid them.
Dr. Wu brought this information to Dr. Dodgson. He already knew. Dr. Dodgson said he didn’t want chaos. What he desired was complete control.
Any leader who leads so he can have control is a bad leader. Control should not be at the heart of a leader.
Instead, being a serving leader is the goal. You should desire to help those on your team.
Get rid of the idea that leadership means you are in control.
8. Soyona Santos (Dichen Lachman):
You can’t engineer loyalty. You have to nurture it.
Soyona had trained a dinosaur to kill. She could place a laser on someone and the dinosaurs wouldn’t stop attacking until the target was dead.
She knew that she couldn’t engineer something like this. She had to nurture the dinosaur to do this.
You cannot engineer a great team. You have to be willing to take the time to nurture the people on it.
This may seem idiotic. The people you lead are not children. Yet, they’re looking for acceptance and a place to be.
Give that to them. Nurture them. They’ll become loyal.
9. Owen Grady:
I read your book… Well, I listened to it on tape.
Owen was talking to Ian. He was impressed and let Ian know that he had read his book.
He caught himself and offered a correction. Instead, he said he listened to Ian’s book.
Here’s the thing: whether you read a physical copy of a book, the digital version, or if you listen to a book doesn’t matter. The important thing is that you are reading/listening to books that grow your knowledge.
Use whatever means you need to understand the content. It could be a physical book, an eBook, an audiobook, or a movie.
Learn from what moves you.
10. Ellie Sattler:
What matters is what we do now.
Claire had been having nightmares over the things she regretted. The problem with this is that you cannot change the past.
Ellie recognized this. She encouraged Claire to move on from her regrets.
You have to move on from your regrets. The past is the past. You cannot do anything about what you have done.
All you can do is to work on yourself today, tomorrow, the next day, and so on.
Make sure you’re working on what matters. It’s not the past. It’s what you’re becoming.
