I believe the 1986 animated Transformers film to be one of the best animated films of all time. The movie pushed boundaries I wouldn’t have thought possible for a children’s movie. But, then again, maybe Transformers: The Movie wasn’t a movie made for children.
There was a slip of profanity. Then there were the deaths of so many beloved Transformers. And the stakes… The stakes were massive for an animated feature in 1986.
What happens in Transformers: The Movie?
Set in 2005, the heroic Autobots have been pushed out of Cybertron. The evil Decepticons have taken over the planet. Where are the Autobots? They’ve been forced to hide on two moon bases around the home planet.
While the Autobots have had to deal with Megatron (Frank Welker) and his followers, a new threat emerges: the planet Unicron (Orson Welles). Unicron is bent on destroying every planet in his way. He consumes the energy and moves on.
Cybertron is now in his path.
The Autobots now have two battles to face: The fight against the evil Decepticons and the fight against a planet-eating giant.
Their battle is fierce. It’s full of love, anger, and sadness. It’s also full of leadership lessons for the perceptive leader. Let’s discover what Transformers: The Movie has to offer in terms of leadership in this edition of Reel Leadership.
Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Transformers: The Movie
1. Know when to fight and when to recover:
The Decepticons had taken over Cybertron. The Autobots had been exiled. They were now hiding just outside the view of the Decepticons.
Why were they hiding? They didn’t have enough Energon (their energy source) for a full-scale battle. They hid to bide their time until they were strong enough to wage war.
As leaders, it is tempting to be on the offensive all the time. We make full-court presses to advance the organization’s mission.
What happens when we’re tired, worn out, or struggling? We believe we have to push forward.
The truth is, we don’t. There will be times when you have to stop. When you have to say “let’s rest.”
It’s okay to pause to recover.
2. Perspective is key:
Daniel Witwicky (David Mendenhall), the son of Spike (Corey Burton), was fishing outside of Autobot City. There, he was joined by a hot-tempered Autobot named Hot Rod (Judd Nelson).
Hot Rod reels in a fish. It’s flopping around and the two look at it. Daniel says the fish is giant. And it does look huge next to the young boy.
However, the fish is then shown next to Hot Rod. Guess what? The fish doesn’t look so big.
Perspective is key.
We can get caught up in how big or small our organization is. Maybe we want to grow our church of 150 to 1,000 people so that it will be a big church. What you don’t realize is that the average-sized church in America has 60-70 regular Sunday attendees.
When we begin to look at desires from the right perspective, a reality check happens. We’re often bigger and more successful than we think. It’s only because we’re comparing ourselves to something outside of our league that we begin to feel defeated.
Get the right perspective.
3. A lack of information will make you doubt those who take action:
Daniel and Hot Rod see the Autobot ship arriving at Autobot City. They want to watch the ship come in, especially since Daniel’s dad is on the ship. So, they head to Lookout Mountain.
When they arrive, Daniel sees a hole in the side of the ship. Hot Rod takes a look and sees Decepticons in the ship. The ship had been overtaken!
What does Hot Rod do? What any rational person would do: He begins to attack the ship. Kup (Lionel Stander), a battle-weary Autobot, sees Hot Rod attacking the ship. He watches and wonders why the young whipper snapper is attacking their ship. He thinks Hot Rod has lost his mind.
Our employees often have more information than we do. They’re seeing front-line action. They’re seeing what’s happening in real time. We’re only getting updates and snapshots.
We may see something that looks out of place. Maybe we think someone is acting inappropriately.
And then we get the full picture.
Things begin to make more sense when we have more information. We’re able to understand why someone did what they did.
It’s wise to withhold judgment until you have more information.
4. There are often different ways to do things:
Kup races to meet with Hot Rod. Once he arrives, the two, along with Daniel, head to Autobot City to help defend the city. As they approach, they see Insecticons attacking the city. They’re even blocking the bridge!
Kup mutters that the Insecticons are in the way. Hot Rod sees something different. He sees one of the Insecticons as a ramp into the city.
The two agree. They put the pedal to the metal and use the Insecticon as a ramp.
When you hear someone suggest a solution, don’t discount them because their thoughts are different than yours. They may have a different perspective that leads to a different solution.
What do you need to do to reframe your thinking? How can you look at problems and see a solution instead?
5. Grimlock (Gregg Berger):
Me Grimlock love challenge.
Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) arrives on the scene. He’s brought backup with him in the form of the Dinobots. The Dinobots are a group of heroic Transformers who don’t transform into vehicles but into prehistoric dinosaurs. The team consists of:
- Grimlock
- Slag (Neil Ross)
- Sludge
- Snarl
- Swoop (Michael Bell)
When Optimus Prime sends the Dinobots to fight the Destructicons, Grimlock is thrilled. He lets out a gleeful noise and states that he loves a challenge. Then he goes to work.
Do you love a challenge? Challenges will push leaders to go beyond what they thought they could do. Sometimes, it feels like too much.
However, challenges are good. They help us to see what we can accomplish. They also allow us to ask for help and bring in others to help.
Don’t be afraid of challenges. They’re there to grow you.
6. A leadership void will create tension:
Megatron and Optimus Prime face off. The battle is fierce. Optimus Prime loses his life. Megatron is gravely injured.
Starscream (Christopher Collins) sees an opportunity. He tells the other Decepticons to eject the injured teammates from Astrotrain (Jack Angel). They were taking up too much real estate and causing Astrotrain to struggle.
One of those he had ejected was Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons. With him gone, a leadership void existed.
We see a fight ensue over who should lead. The Constructicons step up. They say they should lead. Then Soundwave (Frank Welker) speaks up. He believes he should lead.
There was tension throughout the ranks of the Decepticons.
Whenever a leader exits an organization, there is tension. Rightfully so.
Sometimes, it’s because employees don’t know what’s going to happen next. Who will be the next leader? How will he treat them? Will everything change?
Othertimes, it’s because no leader has stepped up to fill the void. People wonder what’s happening, whether their jobs are safe, and whether the company will survive.
When there’s no leader, tension will increase.
7. Hot Rod:
I just got this feeling…
Unicron attacks the moons of Cybertron. He’s destroying Autobots and their homes.
Hot Rod begins to tell Kup that he believes the Matrix Of Leadership will help them. He doesn’t know how or why. Yet, he knows the tool passed down throughout the ages will help.
Kup isn’t so sure. He’s seen war. He’s seen devastation. And the Matrix Of Leadership hasn’t helped. He asks Hot Rod why he thinks it will be different now.
Hot Rod doesn’t know. He just has a feeling. By the end of the film, we see that Hot Rod was right. The Matrix Of Leadership helps them and transforms him into Hot Rodimus.
Many leaders I’ve met hate to trust their gut. They think they have to have the facts. They need to know the details. Trusting your gut isn’t leadership.
But trusting your gut is leadership.
Research has found that our intuition, trusting our gut, is often the right course of action to take. Our inner knows what to do next. We only need to listen.
8. Ultra Magnus (Robert Stack):
I can’t deal with that right now.
Kup and Hot Rod’s ship is attacked. The ship crashes, but those watching it go down think they’re badly damaged or dead.
Not only did their ship get attacked, but so did Ultra Magnus’ ship. He’s trying to fight a battle on two fronts.
However, he knows he can’t deal with the possible deaths of the Autobots on the one ship while his is under attack. He has to stay focused.
It may seem cold-hearted not to address a major issue as it arises. But you also have to consider what else is happening.
Are there multiple fires in the organization? What’s happening besides the emergency being raised?
There may be multiple issues to address. Leaders know they must address the most pressing issues before addressing others.
Make the call on what to deal with in the moment.
9. Arcee (Susan Blu):
I think Daniel can make himself useful using this.
The ship Ultra Magnus and his team were in a crash landing. The ship was damaged, and multiple issues arose.
One of those was what a young, helpless boy was to do. He didn’t have the strength or resilience of a Transformer. That’s where Arcee comes in.
She finds one of Spike’s old exosuits. The suit allowed Spike to do more than a normal human could do. Daniel could also use the suit.
She suggests as much. Daniel puts on the suit and finds himself working alongside the Autobots to repair the ship.
Sometimes, you may see someone as useless or ineffective. You don’t see how they can contribute to the team.
Then, someone recommends a tool that gives the person superpowers.
Look for ways to empower your team members, even the less effective ones. Sometimes they’re struggling because you haven’t given them the right tools.
The right tool can help people succeed where they were once struggling.
10. Kup:
I knew you had potential!
Megatron was transformed into Galvatron (Leonard Nimoy) by Unicron. He was meant to serve him with his new powers. Instead, he stole the Matrix Of Leadership and hid from his master.
Hot Rod finds him. They battle.
Galvatron has Hot Rod pinned. He’s ready to end him. Then Hot Rod reaches up, grabs the Matrix Of Leadership, and releases its power. With the release of power, Hot Rod becomes Hot Rodimus.
He’s now the leader of the Autobots.
Kup sees this happen. Even though he’s been a grumpy grump, he admits that he had seen potential in Hot Rod.
There are people in your organization who could become great leaders. We only have to recognize them.
Who do you see potential in? What do you need to say to them to encourage them to take the next step?
Don’t be like Kup and hold it in. Instead, be an encourager of up-and-coming leaders. Let those you see with potential know you see it within them.
