KPop Demon Hunters tells the story of three young girls who sing K-pop (popular Korean songs) in a band called HUNTR/X, using it as a secret identity. Their true identity? They are demon hunters.
The world doesn’t know that it is on the brink of being overrun by demons. Huntrix is there to protect the world as they try to turn the Honmoon (Soul Gate) golden. Once it turns, the world will be safe.
The HUNTR/X are so close to turning the Honmoon gold when a shocking truth is revealed. One of their members is a half-demon.
KPop Demon Hunters has taken over the top of the charts on Netflix. It has become so popular that Netflix released a sing-along version, which had a weekend run in movie theaters.
This movie is burning up the charts. And it could burn up the charts as a leadership growth tool. Let’s examine how it could achieve this.
Quotes And Leadership Lessons From KPop Demon Hunters
1. Celine (Yunjin Kim):
The world will know you as pop stars but you will be more than that.
Celine is a former demon hunter. She is now counsel to the girls in HUNTR/X. At the beginning of the movie, she narrates a great line.
She tells the viewers, ‘The world will know you as pop stars, but you will be more than that.’
Ooof.
That hits. Hits hard.
We all have a role to play in our organizations. We may be the CEO, COO, Vice-President, or a layperson. We’re known as that.
However, we’re more than the title. We’re more than what people see.
Understand this well.
2. Beware of those who will try to take you off your path:
The HUNTR/X were having the last concert on their World Tour before a break. The concert was starting in just a few minutes when you see HUNTR/X on a plane.
Rumi (Arden Cho), Mira (May Hong), and Zoey (Ji-young Yoo) aren’t jet-setting. They’ve been tricked into getting on the plane by demons disguised as airline employees.
They’re going to be late to their big show! They only discover this when their agent, Bobby (Ken Jeong), calls them to ask them where they are.
The HUNTR/X had been taken off their path through a simple deception.
What about you? How often do you find yourself taken off your path?
It could be an employee who wants you to tackle their project. It could be by a customer who believes they’re more important than others. Or it could be you’ve caught a case of the shiny object syndrome.
We have to learn to stay focused. To keep our eyes on the prize.
Stay focused, stay on the path.
3. Everyone has a unique talent:
The girls in HUNTR/X each brought a unique talent to the band.
- Mira – Visual and lead dancer
- Zoey – Rapper and lyricist
- Rumi – Pop-star royalty
Each member of the band brought something unique to the team. Vocals, lyrics, generational equity.
When combined, the band was unstoppable.
Remember this as you lead your team. Each member is unique. Each member brings something special to the team.
Help them flesh it out. Help them grow their skills. Help them to use their skills to benefit the team.
4. Timing is important:
Rumi had been struggling with her vocals. She has been unable to reach the vocal notes required for their songs. They needed to take a break.
That was the plan for the band at the end of their tour. Still, despite Rumi’s issues, she decides to release the band’s next song: Golden.
The release of the song threw Zoey and Mira off. They had also expected time to relax. They wanted to lounge on the couch, watch TV, and eat food.
Now they couldn’t. Rumi had forced them back to work at an inopportune time.
Timing is essential in everything we do. We must be aware of whether we’re taking action at the right time.
If we act at the wrong time, we could put our organization or health in jeopardy. We could stretch our employees too far.
Timing is important. Make sure you’re not acting at the wrong time.
5. Healer Han (Daniel Dae Kim):
To treat the part, we must see the whole.
With Rumi’s voice failing, they visited Healer Dan. While he was a snake oil salesman, he had a great line.
Healer Dan told Rumi that to treat the part, he must see the whole. He wanted to check out more than the voice.
Why? Because symptoms are often endemic of something bigger.
Is there something wrong in your organization? If so, are you examining the entire organization?
Disengaged employees are a problem. What’s the whole look like? Is there a leader in the organization who’s causing the issue?
Are your employees frustrated? What’s your technology stack look like? Is it holding them back?
Take a step back and look at the whole before you treat the part.
6. Shame is a leadership killer:
Gwi-Ma (Lee Byung-hun) is the ruler of the Demon Realm. He’s bent on taking over Earth.
In KPop Demon Hunters, we see how he did this. He preyed on people’s shame. He also preyed on the shame of the demons.
Rumi learns this when she talks to Ji-noo (Ahn Hyo-seop). He’s a demon who has created another K-pop band to take on the HUNTR/X but soon learns Rumi’s secret (she’s part demon).
Rumi shares that demons do have feelings (Rumi was taught they felt nothing). That Gwi-Ma makes them feel immense amounts of shame. This shame leads them to stay under him.
Shame is a killer. Especially in leadership.
When you lead from shame, you lead from a place of weakness. You’re leading from fear and angst and anger.
Don’t let shame be where you lead from.
7. Rumi:
Maybe listen to these voices instead of those in your head.
The Saja Boys (Ji-noo’s band) crashed a signing for the HUNTR/X. There, Ji-noo is sitting next to Rumi.
A little girl comes up to Ji-noo. She hands him a present. She’d drawn something for him. Ji-noo is touched.
Rumi encourages Ji-noo to listen to the positive voices in his life. To shut off the voices in his head that are telling him that he’s evil, bad, vile.
We’ve all got voices in our heads. Many of us are battling negative thoughts. These negative thoughts are bringing us down.
Meanwhile, we’ve got positive voices in our lives. Our spouses tell us they love and care for us. Our employees state how helpful you’ve been. Our friends tell us they enjoy being around us.
Positive voices… Trying to break through the negative voices in our heads.
Listen to the positive voices. They’re there to encourage you.
8. Hope is powerful and you get to decide if you have hope:
While Ji-noo and Rumi were talking, a cute old lady walked up to them. She thinks Ji-noo and Rumi are a couple.
Ji-noo shoots back that they’re not. They’re just friends. The little old lady tells Rumi that Ji-noo is hopeless. Ji-noo listened to the old lady and said, “That seals it…” Meaning he believed he was hopeless.
Rumi counters. She tells Ji-noo that no one gets to decide if you feel hope or not.
You get to decide whether or not you feel hope. Whether you feel hopeful for the fate of your family, organization, and local areas.
Choose to feel hope. There’s power in hope (though hope is not a game plan).
9. Find the best of your organization:
HUNTR/X gathers together. They have to find a song to sing at the International Idol Awards. What would be their best song?
They chose Golden. Golden is about the best of us, of them. That would be the song that would bring people together.
When you find the best in your organization, you unlock a superpower. Your team will begin to see just how much positive there is within your organization.
They can also begin to see how each piece of the organization works together.
Find the best in your organization. Pull it out. Show it to the team.
10. Power comes from truth:
Rumi is exposed to the other members of HUNTR/X as part demon. It almost destroys the band. Almost.
But then the band comes back together. They begin to understand that the truth brings them together. They even create a new song on the spot.
The lyrics of this song are powerful. It’s about being broken, yet still whole. It’s about finding the best in you even when you fail. It’s about getting back up.
Why did we cover up the colors stuck inside our head?
Get up and let the jagged edges meet the light instead
Show me what’s underneath, I’ll find your harmony
Fearless and undefined, this is what it sounds like
This all came from telling the truth. There’s power in truth.
Stop hiding, stop telling lies, stop creating false narratives that’s hurting you and your organization.
Decide to be truth-telling leaders. Even when it’s hard. Especially when it’s hard.
There’s power in the truth.
