I was so excited to head back to the theaters this weekend. A new Karate Kid movie released and we were there for it! In Karate Kid: Legends, Ralph Macchio returns as Sensei Daniel LaRusso and Jackie Chan reprises his role as Mr. Han Shifu. It’s Karate Kid worlds colliding!
Macchio played Daniel LaRusso in the original Karate Kid trilogy. Recently, he reprised the role in the Netflix Cobra Kai series. Chan is returning as Mr. Han from the 2010 Karate Kid starring Jaden Smith. It just felt right.
In Karate Kid: Legends, Mr. Han is training the young Li Fong (Ben Wang) in the ways of Kung Fu. After the death of Li’s brother, Bo (Yankei Ge), he’s told he’s not to train anymore. No more fighting… Then his mother, Dr. Fong (Ming-Na Wen), tells him they’re moving to New York.
There, Li runs into trouble. He finds a pretty girl, Mia Lipani (Sadie Stanley). The only problem is that she has an on-and-off boyfriend, Conor Day (Aramis Knight). Connor has been studying the martial arts and he’s not afraid to use the skills he’s learned.
Everything comes to a head when Li hears about the 5 Boroughs Tournament. It’s a violent fighting tournament spread throughout the boroughs of New York City. It also comes with a $50,000 prize for the winner.
As we watch the story unfold, we can watch it for more than the great fighting, exciting action, and the love story. There’s more to Karate Kid: Legends than that. There are hidden Reel Leadership lessons you can find in the film. We’re here to explore them.
Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Karate Kid: Legends
1. Great leaders look to protect their people, sometimes to a fault:
Mr. Han is training Li in his dojo. Kids are all around doing what Mr. Han has told them to do. It looks like a fun place.
Then, Dr. Fong arrives. The dojo goes into semi-chaos as Mr. Han tries to hide Li. He’s not supposed to be there. His mother has forbidden him from training after his brother was murdered.
She didn’t want to lose another son.
Dr. Fong had the right idea. She knew she had to protect her son. However, she went into overprotective mode. She wouldn’t let him train in something he enjoyed.
Leaders, our job is to protect our people. We have to watch out, care for, and help them find ways to do their jobs in a safe environment. Their safety is on us.
However, we can’t hover over them. We can’t control everything they do. We have to be willing to give them some rope.
Make sure you’re not being overprotective of your people. If you are, you will hold them back.
2. Li Fong:
Context.
Li had gone into a local New York City pizza parlor. It was called Victory Pizza. He first tries to order a stuffed crust pizza. That’s not on the menu. It’s not New York style.
He then tells Mia he’ll have a pepperoni pizza and toilet paper.
Mia looks at him inquisitively. Why does this boy want toilet paper? More importantly, why does he think he can get it in a pizza shop?
But that’s not what he wanted. He didn’t want to buy the toilet paper at the pizza parlor. His family was new to the area. He filled Mia in on the context and said he wanted to know where to go to buy the sanitary products.
Make sense now!
We regularly lead without the full context. We hear rumors, frustrations, and angst. What we don’t get is the full context.
If something doesn’t sound right, ask for more context. People will give it to you.
3. Learn control:
Victor Lipani (Joshua Jackson) is Mia’s dad. He’d fallen on hard times and went to a loan shark, O’Shea (Tim Rozon), to keep their pizza parlor afloat. The shark came calling but Victor was unable to pay.
The lack of payment angered the shark. Thugs were sent to teach Victor a lesson. Thankfully, Li was in the alley as the attack went down.
Li jumped into the fight. He began tackling the bad guys. At one point, a thug was knocked to the ground. Li soon followed. As Li was about to throw a punch, the thug grabbed a metal garbage can lid. Li had to exercise self-control, pull his punch, and then throw a kick. Otherwise, he would have hurt his hand.
Leaders can be brash. They rush in, dream big, and begin changing things. It seems good. Until they realize they didn’t think things through. They had lacked self-control.
Self-control isn’t limiting. It’s freeing. When you allow yourself to have self-control, you make sure your actions won’t hurt you or other parties.
Think before you take your next action. Do you need to express self-control? You probably do.
4. Victor Lapini:
Would you teach me?
After the fight with the thugs, Victor asks Li a great question. He asks Li if he could teach him.
Victor saw the skills Li had. He understood they could be taught. And he was willing to learn.
So, he went to someone he trusted and felt could teach.
Leaders aren’t stagnant. They’re always willing to learn.
In fact, they learn constantly. They’re also not afraid to ask those ahead of them to help teach them.
Don’t be afraid to ask someone else to teach you. You’re not the most intelligent person. Get the help you need.
5. Li Fong:
First rule of kung fu, everything is kung fu.
Li agrees to help Victor learn kung fu to help him train for his upcoming boxing match. Victor believes the skills he’d learn from kung fu would benefit his old self in boxing someone younger.
Li meets with Victor at the pizza parlor. There, he throws down a roll of dough on the counter. He tells Victor everything is kung fu. He proceeds to show him what he means.
Victor is taught to hit the dough, wield a pizza peel, and hold pickle jars. It’s a lot like Mr. Miyagi (RIP Pat Morita) did to Danny in the Karate Kid films. Everything was karate. Everything is kung fu.
The movements and thoughts that go into those movements can be applied to Victor’s boxing. And he does.
We can change Li’s quote slightly to something more appropriate for what we do. I think we can say:
First rule of leadership, everything is leadership.
What does that mean? It means everything we do, every action, word, and deed is an opportunity to learn about the way we lead. More importantly, it’s a way to learn how to lead better.
Look at everything around you. It’s trying to teach you a leadership lesson.
6. Victor Lapini:
You want to talk about it?
Victor came into the room he used for training. Li was there. He was beating away at the punching bag.
Something was amiss. Li wasn’t doing well. Victor recognized this.
Victor then asked Li an important question… One we should all learn to use more often. He asked: You want to talk about it?
Why is this question so important? People want to be heard. Your people want to be heard.
Take the time to listen to their concerns and needs. Ask them if they want to share.
You’ll be surprised at just how many do.
7. One action can change your momentum:
Victor entered a boxing match to try to win money to repay O’Shea. He felt he was ready to take on the main event.
The fight started off rough. Victor was pounded by his opponent. Hit after hit, Victor was bruised, even bloodied.
Then the tide of the match changed.
Li told Victor to use the one-inch punch. Victor threw it. He landed it. And the match momentum changed.
All through one action.
You may feel like you’re being battered and bruised in your organization. There doesn’t seem to be any hope, and there is no light at the end of the tunnel.
But then… then you change one thing. Your momentum changes. You feel like you can make it through.
It’s incredible how quickly things can change when you change one action or thought.
8. Great leaders understand people:
Mr. Han went to visit Danny LaRusso. He flies to California to meet with him and invite him to help train Li.
Danny turns him down. He tells him he’s not training anymore. He’s definitely not coming to New York City.
Did this change Mr. Han’s opinion? No, he still knew he needed to get Danny to NYC. Mr. Han tells Danny he’ll see him in the city. Danny says no. Mr. Han then says, “See you soon!”
All while Danny was protesting. Then Danny shows up to train Li.
Why didn’t Mr. Han push Danny more? Because he understood people. He knew Danny would come.
The more you understand how people work, the easier leadership becomes. You don’t have to push, demand your way, or try to force things.
Simple conversations, appropriate words, and the right actions will get people to do things independently.
Learn to have empathy. Learn to understand people.
9. A lot can be done in a short period of time:
Danny arrives in New York City to help Mr. Han train Li. When he arrives, he discovers there are only 7 days until the 5 Boroughs tournament.
That’s not enough time!
Or is it?
Mr. Han and Danny begin to train Li on Alan’s (Wyatt Oleff) roof. They pour all their effort into Li’s training.
It works. Li enters the tournament and begins to win fight after fight. Eventually, he wins the whole thing.
You may look at an upcoming project and go: There’s no way we can complete this on time!
I know it can be hard to see that big tasks can be broken down, tackled, and accomplished in a short amount of time. Yet, they can.
You’ll power through challenging tasks with focus, determination, and energy. Put your head down, get the right people, and get to work. You can do it.
10. Find your reason to lead:
Li had entered the 5 Boroughs tournament to help Victor save the restaurant. That was one reason. Mia knew this.
So, she approached Li. She told Li he didn’t need to fight for her dad. Or her.
Li said he wasn’t. He was fighting for himself. That was his reason.
Why are you leading? Are you leading for someone else? Because you were told to? Because you enjoy it?
Find your reason to lead. It will be your guiding light.
Your why is important.
11. Change your tactics:
Bo had taught Li the Dragon Kick. It was a fancy flurry of movement that could be dangerous. Li struggled to land the move on his brother.
When Conor attacked him at school, Li tried the move. Conor evaded and took Li down. Li thought he couldn’t use the move again.
However, Mr. Han and Danny knew differently. They believed the move could be modified to avoid Conor’s kick and knock him out.
Que the training montage. Li trains at a subway station again and again. He tries to get underneath the turnstile gate. Eventually, Li does. He’s changed or modified his move.
During the final fight in the 5 Boroughs tournament, Li uses the move. He wins the match! His change worked.
What do you need to alter or change in your tactics? How could a slight tweak bring greater success?
Look at all that you do. What’s working? What’s not? Begin to work on what’s not working.
Find the minor adjustments you could make that could bring you greater success. Small tweaks can lead to huge gains.
12. Organizations grow and change:
At the start of Karate Kid: Legends, Victory Pizza didn’t carry stuffed crust pizza. At the end, Victor opened up a second pizza shop, Victory Pizza 2.
What’s different? What’s changed?
Victory Pizza 2 was now offering a stuffed crust pizza. They grew, changed, and evolved.
Just like any great organization.
Allow your organization the ability to grow and change. Just like people, organizations are not stagnant. They’re constantly changing.
You’ll find that new opportunities come your way as you allow for growth and change. Let it grow, change, and become something else.
