Dragon Ball is an animated series that started in Japan in 1984. The cartoon has garnered critical acclaim and runs through multiple series.
Dragon Ball Super is one series that spawned from the original series. Originally running from 2015-2018, Dragon Ball Super racked up numerous awards.
In 2022, the new Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero animated was released to theaters.
Jumping into the world of Dragon Ball can be pretty confusing as there are so many years of canon and characters to understand. Yet, it is not an impossible task. You can jump into the new Dragon Ball Super movie with minimal issues. *Here’s a bit of background on the Dragon Ball franchise*
What is Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero about? The movie tells the story of the resurgence of the Red Ribbon Army. The Red Ribbon Army is a threat from Goku’s past (Sean Schemmel). The evil Magenta (Charles Martinet) is looking to resurrect the organization and take out Goku.
It’s a fun, entertaining animated movie that’s fit for the whole family. In fact, we had one young child next to us making karate moves and emulating the characters on the screen. His actions were adorable.
Check out Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero for a movie you can enjoy. You’ll also find plenty of leadership lessons in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. Make sure to watch the film with a leadership mindset and you’ll come out wiser!
Before we dive into today’s Reel Leadership article, I want to put out a warning. I am not a Dragon Ball scholar. I’ve watched bits and pieces of the series. I apologize if I get something wrong in this article, but I did my best!
Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero
1. Your personality matters:
Dr. Hedo (Zach Aguilar) was the grandson of Dr. Gero, the top Android researcher of the Red Ribbon Army. Dr. Hedo was just as talented as his grandfather. However, Dr. Hedo had a fatal flaw. He couldn’t hold down a steady job because of his personality quirks.
His personality would prevent him from getting along with others. Eventually, he would find himself looking for another job. It got so bad that he wound up in prison!
Do you think your personality doesn’t matter? Do you believe people have to get along with you no matter what?
If you do, your leadership ability is questionable.
Many leaders lose their best employees because their personality clashes with those they lead. They may be brash, abrasive, or stubborn. Whatever the issue, their personality gets in the way.
Make sure your personality isn’t getting in the way of you leading well. If it is, adjust your personality. You can do it!
2. Beware of false narratives:
Magenta wanted to recruit Dr. Hedo once Dr. Hedo was released from prison. He had Carmine (Jason Marnocha) do recon. Afterward, Carmine and Magenta picked Dr. Hedo up from the prison.
This was when Magenta began to spew a false narrative to Dr. Hedo so that Dr. Hedo would create new androids, Gamma 1 (Aleks Le) and Gamma 2 (Zeno Robinson), and a new version of Cell called Cell Max (Dameon Clarke).
Dr. Hedo was told that the Capsule Corp was an evil organization. The Capsule Corp was bringing in aliens to invade the Earth and overrun it.
All of this was lies. Yet, Dr. Hedo chose to listen and join the Red Ribbon Army (due to their ability to fund his research).
People will tell you the narrative they want you to hear. They will also tell you the narrative they think you will believe.
You have to navigate what you hear. You have to make sure that you’re not falling for lies or misinformation (we’ve seen a lot of this in the political sphere on both sides of the political spectrum).
False narratives will have you doing things you wouldn’t normally do. Learn to identify the false narratives, correct them, or move on from the organization.
3. Picollo (Christopher Sabat):
He hasn’t needed to fight in a long while. He will when he needs to.
Piccolo and Pan (Jeannie Tirado), Goku’s granddaughter, were talking. One of the topics that came up was that Goku hadn’t fought in a long time.
The reason Goku hadn’t fought was that he hadn’t needed to. Piccolo realized this wouldn’t always be the case. There would be a time when Goku would have to fight once more.
Leaders may retire, move on, or choose to do something different. They may feel their skills and talents are not needed.
Be ready if that is you.
There will be a time when you’re called back to lead. This call may not be in a traditional sense but in the form of a mentor or teacher. A leader should always be ready to lead.
4. Quality takes time:
Magenta was ready for Cell Max to be ready to deploy. When Dr. Hedo told Magenta Cell Max wasn’t suitable for battle, Magenta was upset.
Magenta wanted to use Cell Max now. No excuses, no worries about what could happen.
Dr. Hedo had to remind Magenta of what he had been told. Magenta had told Dr. Hedo that he was willing to wait for quality. Magenta really wasn’t willing to wait and, in the end, a huge price was paid.
You often hear that you can have quality or price. There’s also a saying that you can’t have quality and fast delivery.
There’s truth to this saying. True quality takes time.
You cannot rush quality. If you do, you’ll get a result that isn’t ready for prime time.
5. Whis (Ian Sinclair):
There’s more to training than working your muscles to exhaustion.
Vegeta (Christopher Sabat) and Goku were training. One of the ways Vegeta tried to train was through meditation.
Goku saw Vegeta sitting there and complained. He wanted to know why Vegeta was just sitting around.
Whis tried to help Goku understand. There’s more to training than working your muscles.
Just like Whis told Goku there’s more to training than working your muscles, I want to encourage you that there’s more to leadership than demanding things from your team. Demanding things from your team is probably the last thing you want to do.
Leadership requires you to stretch many different muscles, including your mental muscles, personality muscles, and more. Work on all of the leadership muscles you have and not just one.
6. Leaders aren’t greedy:
Piccolo summoned Shenron (Christopher Sabat), one of the great dragons. Shenron was willing to grant Piccolo three wishes.
Piccolo wished to have his latent powers unleashed. He knew this was what he would need to defeat Magenta, Gamma 1, and Gamma 2.
Once he received his wish, he told Shenron he was done. He didn’t need anything else.
Could Piccolo have requested something more? Yes, but he received what he needed. He wasn’t going to be greedy.
Leaders could take a cue from Piccolo here. There are leaders worldwide who wish and demand more and more from their people.
They get upset when their people aren’t performing with ever greater efficiency. They throw tantrums. They demand more.
Stop being greedy with your people. If they’re performing at a more than acceptable rate, recognize this. Let them know that you appreciate their hard work. Tell them they’re going above and beyond and how great that is.
7. Pan:
But Papa always seems so busy. Do you think he’ll notice?
Pan’s Papa is Gohan (Kyle Hebert). He had become academic since his fighting days. He poured himself into his studies so much that his family felt he was ignoring them.
When Piccolo had to kidnap Pan for the Red Ribbon Army, he told her of his plan. She wondered if her father would even realize she was missing.
Ouch.
But…
How true is that for you and your family? So many leaders bury themselves in their work. They hide away from their families. They don’t give them the time or recognition they desire.
Beware of the time you spend away from your family. They realize you’re not there, either in body or mind.
Be there for your family. They need you.
8. Make sure you understand your team and they understand you:
One of the Gammas saved Pan when Carmine tried to shoot Pan. The Gamma’s action triggered something within Piccolo.
He realized the Gammas weren’t really bad guys. The Gammas had just been misunderstood (and misled).
Misunderstandings happen in the workplace. You’re busy doing your thing. Your team is busy doing theirs. The lines of communication get crossed.
Work hard on making sure misunderstandings are minimalized. Understanding your team more will save you and your team a lot of headaches as you both begin to understand one another.
9. Difficult situations often unleash our potential:
Pan had been frustrated. She had been trying to learn how to fly. This skill was something Piccolo had been working with her to accomplish.
Everything Piccolo did to get her to fly failed. However, when Pan was put in a difficult situation, Pan was able to fly.
This happened after Magenta released Cell Max. Cell Max sent a barrage of laser blasts from his body. They arched and fell all over the place.
One of those blasts almost hit Pan. To avoid being hit, Pan summoned her potential and flew!
We don’t like difficult situations. We feel as if they’re stressing us out too much or challenging us in the wrong way.
I say we need to get used to difficult situations. They’re what brings out our potential. We must figure out what’s happening and how to resolve the problem.
Look at difficult situations as potential unleashers!
10. Increases in our positions don’t necessarily relate to an increase in influence:
While fighting Cell Max, Krillin (Sonny Strait) reminded Piccolo of a skill he had forgotten. Krillin had seen Piccolo increase in size while fighting Goku previously.
Piccolo forgot about this skill until he was reminded he could do this. During the fight, Piccolo did increase in size. However, there was a caveat.
Though Piccolo increased in size, his strength or power did not increase proportionally. He retained the same strength he had when he was smaller.
We think that once we get promoted, we’ll have more power. We have a higher position, we should… right?
That’s not how it works. You may have more power by title but do you have more influence with your people?
That’s what you’ve got to work on. You cannot rely solely on your title or position to give you more influence.
Work with your people. Gain their trust.
Then, you’ll gain the influence you desire.
