The Punisher has been taken to the big screen multiple times over the years. However, Dolph Lundgren was the first actor to portray a live-action version of the Marvel anti-hero in the 1989 film. The film was a dark and gritty version of The Punisher, well before the Netflix series premiered.
In The Punisher, Frank Castle (Dolph Lundgren) is a respected police officer. That is, until the mob kills his wife and child in a car bombing. After that, Frank becomes The Punisher with a mission to take out the mob members who killed his family.
He’s a pained character who wants to rid the world of evil. Yet, he commits atrocious acts to make it happen. Long before Jon Bernthal, Thomas Jane, or Ray Stevenson assumed the mantel, Lundgren brought one of Marvel’s grittiest characters to life.
Today, we’re taking a look at the film and the leadership lessons hidden within it.
Quotes And Leadership Lessons From The Punisher
1. Leaders can be overconfident in their safety:
Mobster Dino Moretti (Bryan Marshall) is part of the Franco crime family. Viewers see him being acquitted of a crime. As he’s standing outside the courtroom, a reporter asks him about the Punisher.
What’s Moretti’s answer? He’s not worried about the vigilante. He’ll be fine.
Guess what? Moretti was overconfident in his safety. The Punisher later shows up and takes out this mobster.
What can we learn from Moretti’s overconfidence? It’s that leaders are never safe. We can’t be too confident.
There’s always someone out there looking to take our place (we should be willing to pass the torch). There’s always some kind of danger.
Be aware. Don’t be too confident that you’re always going to be in the position you’re in.
2. Lieutenant Jake Berkowitz (Louis Gossett Jr.):
No comment…
The Punisher blows mobster Dino Moretti up. Reporters swarm Berkowitz and begin pestering him with questions. One of those questions was whether or not he thought the vigilante was The Punisher.
Berkowitz’s response is one that leaders should take to heart. Berkowitz told the reporters he had no comment.
We may feel as if we should always have an answer on the tip of our tongue. That we should be willing to answer anything.
The truth is, “no comment” is a valid response.
You don’t have to answer every question. You don’t have to have an answer at the ready.
Being willing to say ‘no comment’ or ‘I don’t know’‘.
3. Make your case by knowing who you’re talking to:
Sam Leary (Nancy Everhard) approaches Berkowitz. She tells him she wants to become his partner.
Berkowitz is hesitant. Castle was his former partner. Now, he believes he has become The Punisher. He doesn’t want another partner.
Leary pushes the issue. When Berkowitz asks her why she thinks she’s good enough to be his partner, Leary has an answer ready. One she has tailored to Berkowitz.
While Leary had the qualifications, she knew one thing would get Berkowitz’s attention: She believed Frank Castle, Berkowitz’s former partner, was The Punisher.
Boom… it worked.
Why did Leary’s appeal to Berkowitz work? She knew her target. She knew who she was talking to. She knew what he believed.
When talking to others, get to know them. Understand their point of view. Find out their life experiences. Get a sense of who they are.
Then you can better communicate and negotiate with them. You can appeal to what truly matters to them.
4. Shake (Barry Otto):
I’m not trash! I’m a man!
Shake, who may be a stand-in for The Punisher’s techie sidekick Microchip, was in a bar harassing customers. He’s begging for money. Causing a scene.
The bartender has him thrown out. He screams and shouts that he’s not trash. He’s a human being.
This scene gave humanity to someone most wouldn’t give it to. They would see him as a dirty bum. But that’s not who he was.
Shake was a man. He deserved respect.
Think about the people on your team. Do you view them as people viewed Shake? Maybe they don’t have as much value as a high-level executive. Perhaps they don’t dress the nicest.
Don’t let a person’s appearance or apparent value cloud your view of them. They’re still human beings.
5. Use the technology you have:
Leary had a nice computer setup for the time of the film. She’s reviewing the information she has on The Punisher.
Berkowitz asks Leary what she’s doing. He knows she’s trying to track down The Punisher, but doesn’t see the value in it. He’d been trying to track The Punisher down manually for 5 years. He didn’t believe the technology would help.
Berkowitz was wrong. Leary saw a pattern and concluded that The Punisher was in the sewers. She was right.
What technology do you have on hand? Are you using it to the fullest?
Many leaders aren’t using the programs they have effectively. They may have Microsoft 365, but only use the bare minimum. Or they may have picked up a piece of software from AppSumo but put it on the back burner.
When we have technology at our fingertips, it behooves us to use it.
6. Shake:
As a result, the innocent will suffer.
Shake meets with The Punisher in the sewer. He had heard the mob’s children had been kidnapped by the Yakuza.
At first, The Punisher didn’t care. Shake had to appeal to his humanity. He made it about the innocent, something The Punisher cared greatly about.
What do the people around you care about? How can you frame what needs to be done around those cares?
Discover what those around you care about. Then, target your message toward that.
7. Be wary of the official narrative:
Leary tells Berkowitz that all of the crime families’ children have been kidnapped. There was a suspect: The Punisher.
Neither Leary nor Berkowitz believed it to be true. They knew the man better. And there were two reasons it wouldn’t be The Punisher: his kids.
The Punisher wouldn’t kidnap innocent kids. His life had been turned upside down because of the death of his kids.
Because of this, Leary and Berkowitz were wary of the official narrative.
The official narrative is often given by the one in charge. Not the person who knows or wants the truth.
Dig deeper into the official narrative. Make sure it’s the truth before you believe it.
8. Jake Berkowitz:
I know what it’s like to be given up on.
Leary and Berkowitz were searching the sewers for The Punisher. We wanted to find him.
But Leary didn’t know the whole reason behind Berkowitz’s desire. She asks him why he’s spent 5 years searching for Frank.
His answer was simple: Berkowitz knew what it was like to be given up on. He didn’t want Frank to feel the same way.
What has happened to you throughout your leadership journey? It may have happened when you were younger. Something may have occurred after you stepped into a leadership position.
These things may have made you feel less than. They may have hurt your feelings or pushed you in the wrong direction.
Be the leader who won’t give up on others because you know what it feels like. And you know there’s something better for those you lead.
9. Desire something better for your people:
Leary confronts The Punisher. After Berkowitz had met with The Punisher, he had resigned from the police force.
Knowing that Berkowitz had met with The Punisher and The Punisher’s past, she asks him, “How long can you live with your heart cut out?” The Punisher responds, “A long time.”
Leary has an excellent follow-up question. She asks The Punisher if that’s what he wants for Berkowitz.
She hit him right in the feels. She knew The Punisher didn’t want that for his old partner. He would want something better.
You have to have the same desire. You have to want something better for your people than what you’re experiencing.
I recently attended a memorial for a former coworker. He’d been killed while biking in Colorado, something he loved to do. The stories people shared of his life contained one aspect that resonated with me: Jerry wanted something better for his people. He did everything in his power to make that happen.
What are you doing to give your people something better? Great leaders help their people discover that.
10. The Punisher:
You’re a good boy, Tommy (Brian Rooney). Grow up to be a good man.
Tommy was the son of mobster Gianni Franco (Jeroen Krabbé). Franco had tried to kill The Punisher, but The Punisher took him out before Franco could finish him.
After rescuing Tommy, The Punisher tells him to grow up to be a good man. That he’s a good boy. There’s something better for him. But, if not, there’s something much worse waiting for him.
I loved that The Punisher encouraged the son of an antagonist. He saw that Tommy was a good boy. That Tommy had the potential to grow into a good man.
And he told Tommy as much.
Are you seeing the good in your employees? Do you encourage them to be the best they can be?
Great leaders encourage their people to be their best.
