Every week, we bring you a new edition of Reel Leadership where we examine how leadership and the movies in our world can intersect. I’ve discovered that movies are powerful, motivating tools when used correctly. Movies are our modern-day fables and parables.
We’re looking at the zombie/horror film 28 Years Later this week. 28 Years Later is the third film in the series chronicling a zombie apocalypse. The first film was 28 Days Later. The second, 28 Weeks Later. This film starts at the initial infection, then jumps to 28 years after the initial infection.
In 2002, the Rage Virus broke out in the Scottish Highlands. Jimmy (Rocco Haynes) was sitting with his siblings watching the Teletubbies. The Rage Virus infected his family and turned them. Thankfully, Jimmy escaped and met up with his crazed father (Sandy Batchelor). Jimmy’s father told him to hide while he reveled in being turned.
The Rage Virus has slowly been eradicated throughout continental Europe. However, the British Isles are still under quarantine. This is where our story picks up. In a small village on Lindisfarne, a community is thriving. They make trips to the mainland when the tide is low and are protected when it is high. The film focuses on three prominent cast members: Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), his wife Isla (Jodie Comer), and their 12-year-old son Spike (Alfie Williams).
28 Years Later is another film with powerful lessons we can take away. While many people, especially Christians, may shy away from the horror genre, I’ve found horror films to help us explore our fears, understand we shouldn’t be afraid of as much as we are, and walk away with a sense of relief that good often triumphs over evil.
Let’s explore the jumps, scares, and leadership lessons in 28 Years Later.
Quotes And Leadership Lessons From 28 Years Later
1. Sometimes, disregarding directions can be a lifesaver:
Jimmy is sitting in a room with a bunch of other kids. The television show Teletubbies is playing on a TV screen. A woman comes in and tells them to stay exactly where they are.
Why? Because their house was being overrun by people infected with the Rage Virus. She wanted them to be safe.
Jimmy hears screaming and commotion happening outside the door. He walks to the door, opens it slightly, and the door is thrust open.
Those infected with the Rage Virus stormed the room, killing the young kids… except Jimmy. The horde push the door open and into Jimmy, pushing him against the wall and blocking him from the horde as they rushed the room.
His failure to listen to the woman saved his life.
We think our team members must listen to every direction we bark out at them. We’re the leaders, they’re the followers. Listen, listen, listen.
We may have a better grasp of what’s happening than those we lead. However, our employees can still make their own decisions. Sometimes, those decisions are better than the decisions we would make. Or, by accident, they turn out to work out better than what our direction would have resulted in.
Allow your team members to make their own decisions.
2. Jimmy:
It’s your big day, Spike!
Those on the land would leave to scavenge for goods on the mainland. They would also go to hunt the infected. This was Spike’s big day. He would leave the island for the first time in his life.
Big deal, right?!? It was. Spike was excited. He was going to get to do something he had never done before. He was becoming a man.
Jimmy was there to celebrate with his son. He made sure to let Spike know how big of a deal this day was.
A big contract is landed. A new hire is brought on board. Record profits were announced.
Those are big deals. Big days, if you ask me.
What are you doing to let your people know about these events? How are you celebrating significant events?
Significant events deserve big celebrations. Find ways to bring excitement to the things your organization is doing.
3. Jenny (Stella Gonet):
We’re all excited for you.
There were gatekeepers on the island of Lindisfarne. They would guard the path to the gate in case any of the Rage Virus-infected would make their way across. They also opened and closed the gate for people leaving the island.
Jenny was one of those gatekeepers. She was at the gate to see Jimmy and Spike off for Spike’s big adventure.
She and the other gatekeepers let Spike know how excited they were for him.
Great organizations have people like Jenny and the other gatekeepers. These people are excited for those around them. They celebrate the victories, mourn the losses, and comfort others when things don’t go right.
Find the Jennys in your organization. Give them permission to celebrate the good in others. The more Jennys you have, the happier your team will be.
4. Notice the not normal:
Jamie and Spike come across a dead deer carcass. It’s lying there, missing its head.
Spike notices the head is not where it should be. He sees it hanging in a tree not too far away.
This isn’t right.
Spike speaks up. He lets his father know. He noticed the not normal.
We have a lot of normal in our organizations. Our normal could be:
- The team we work with
- Our working hours
- The way we handle business
- Production standards
- Communication protocols
When these things are normal, no one notices. Something changes, and people begin to notice.
You have to notice the not normal before others do. When things are not normal, it could be a sign of changes to come or that something isn’t right.
5. Learn how to keep calm during chaos:
Jamie and Spike come across a group of fast-moving zombies. The fast-movers attack quicker than Spike expected. He’s freaked out. There’s chaos!
His once steady hand is now shaking. Before, he could shoot a slow-and-low zombie with ease. Now, faced with fast movers, his hands are a mess. They’re shaking. He’s trembling. He can’t land a shot.
His dad, on the other hand, knew how to keep calm. Jamie’s shots remained steady and measured. He was able to clear some of the attacking zombies out.
How do you respond to chaos? When things don’t go right? Do you freak out? Hulk out? Get angry?
Or, do you stay calm?
You know you’ve been here before. You’ve seen what’s coming. You know you and the team can make it through as long as you remain calm.
Practice what you will do when poop hits the fan. Practicing through scenarios will give you the confidence that you can do it in a real situation.
6. Look for opportunities to help:
Isla was ill. She was slowly dying from an unknown or untold disease.
While outside the island, Spike had seen a fire burning high in the sky. He told family friend Sam (Christopher Fulford) about the fire. Sam tells him there’s a man out there, Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes).
Spike hears the word doctor and his mind begins to race. Dr. Kelson could help his mother! All he has to do is get her to the doctor.
What happens next? Spike helps his mother leave her bed, get off the island, and meet with Dr. Kelson.
Spike looked for an opportunity to help.
Leaders are called to help. They’re there to help their team members succeed by giving them the tools they need to succeed. You’re also there to help them get through challenging situations in the workplace.
When’s the last time you sought an opportunity to help a team member? If it’s been a while, look for an opportunity today.
By helping team members, you do multiple things:
- Show you care
- Equip them
- Help them succeed
7. You can find help when you least expect it:
On the mainland, Spike and Isla wind up at an old Shell gas station. They enter and see a fog of gas inside the building. There are also many infected.
They enter when they feel they have no other choice. That’s when the Rage Virus-infected attack.
Suddenly, when they least expect it, a man, Erik (Edvin Ryding), appears from an opening in the ceiling. Erik’s a soldier who’s been helping to clear out the infected.
Erik tells them to get down. Once they’re down, Erik shoots and ignites the benzine gas filling the station. The ignited benzine wipes out the infected.
Spike and Isla didn’t expect the help. Yet, help showed up.
We may feel like we’re at our wits’ end. There doesn’t look to be a solution in front of us. Or anywhere around us.
That doesn’t mean it is the end. When we don’t see any hope, we have to keep looking.
God may move. Someone may appear. You may think of a solution.
Help shows up when we least expect it.
8. Leaders allow others to try on leadership responsibilities:
Erik needed to rest. He’d taken on the responsibility of carrying Isla when she couldn’t move herself.
During one of the resting periods, Spike saw an opportunity. Erik’s military helmet was there. He wanted to try it on.
Spike lifted the helmet and placed it on his head. Erik didn’t reprimand him. He allowed Spike to try on the helmet without comment.
Many people would have chided Spike. He was a kid. He shouldn’t be messing with valuable resources like that. Instead, Erik allowed him to try on something new.
Great leaders understand that people don’t become leaders overnight. They have to try and see what feels right and get comfortable stepping into a new position.
How do great leaders do this? They allow people to try on one aspect of leadership at a time.
You do this by:
- Adding one additional piece of responsibility to their plate
- Allow them to make an autonomous choice (and own the consequences)
- Listening to them and hearing what they are looking for
- Sending them to a conference or training to improve their skills
Help your team members walk into new responsibilities slowly. Allow them to adjust and find their spot.
9. Spike:
I’m not leaving her.
Isla hears screaming. Moaning. Struggling noises. Isla walks toward the noise. Spike begins to go with her.
Erik asks where he’s going. Spike says he’s not leaving his mother.
It’s easy to write off the people we lead. They’re their own. We don’t have to guard them 24/7.
That may be true. Yet, we have a responsibility to be there for them. We’re their leader. They’re our responsibility.
Don’t leave your people high and dry. Be there with them through their struggles and challenges.
10. Dr. Ian Kelson:
There’s no medicine that can cure her.
Dr. Kelson diagnoses Isla’s issue. She has cancer. It’s spread and is beyond any help he can offer.
There’s no cure.
That’s not what Spike wanted to hear. It is what Isla expected to hear, though.
Sometimes, despite everything we try, there’s no cure for an unhealthy, unprofitable, or floundering business. There’s too much history, baggage for it to be fixed.
You may have to learn the hard truth that it’s OK to end a business venture. It’s OK to close down an organization.
Closing down a business is never an easy decision. Still, sometimes, there’s nothing that can be done.
Be willing to end an organization, or your tenure with it, when needed.
