The Super Mario Bros. movie broke records in 2023. It dethroned Frozen II as the highest-grossing animated movie. It brought in over $1.36 billion. And now we have a long-awaited sequel: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie!
Does it deliver? Do Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) save the Princess, Rosalina (Brie Larson)? Would it be a Mario Bros. movie if they didn’t?
In The Super Mario Galaxy movie, Bowser’s (Jack Black) son, Bowser Jr. (Benny Safdie), kidnaps Princess Peach’s (Anya Taylor-Joy) sister, Rosalina. Bowser Jr. has a plan to destroy the galaxy and have him and his father live on Planet Bowser, a planet he constructed from the bedtime stories Bowser would tell his son.
This leads to Mario, Luigi, Toad (Keegan-Michael Key), and Yoshi (Donald Glover) to travel across the galaxy. They must save the Princess. This time, she’s not in another castle. She’s on another planet. And, with the help of classic Nintendo character Fox McCloud (Glen Powell) from the Starfox video game series, the Super Mario cast rescue the Princess.
Let’s look at the leadership lessons found in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. The movie spans galaxies. So will the leadership lessons.
Quotes And Leadership Lessons From The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
1. Find the story people want you to tell:
The movie begins with Rosalina telling the Lumas (star-shaped creatures that call her mom) a bedtime story. The story? One of Princess Peach.
The Lumas begin to ask for another story. They want to hear the story about the Plumbers (Mario and Luigi).
Rosalina relents. She retells the story they want to hear. Peace is restored to the household.
You may desire to tell your story to your team. That may fall flat. In response, you may try to tell them the story of the organization. Still, flat…
What do you do?
Ask them what story they want to hear! You may discover they’re looking to hear how Jim in maintenance fixed a difficult problem. Or how the IT Manager replaced the servers and improved efficiencies.
Do you know what stories your people want to hear? They don’t want to hear stories about heroic leadership. They may not even want to hear stories about the good the organization is doing.
Your people want to hear stories of success of people just like them. Share those stories with them. These are the stories that will inspire them to greatness.
2. Mario and Luigi:
Woo hoo! Wah ha ha! Yahoo!
Mario and Luigi are riding dirt bikes in the desert. They exclaimed these phrases as they jumped, slid, and had fun.
They did something cool. They had to verbalize it.
Are you verbalizing when your team does something cool? Do you verbalize when you do something cool?
There’s something special that comes from exclaiming joy and happiness in what you do.
Find ways to express your joy and the coolness of what you get to do.
3. Mario:
Okay… I guess we’ll just follow that terrifying noise.
Mario and Luigi were called in to look at a creepy pipe. There had been a strange, eerie noise coming from the pipe.
When the brothers arrive on the scene, they can hear the noise. It’s terrifying. But…
Duty calls. They’ve been summoned to fix the problem.
Mario and Luigi steel themselves. They have a job to do, no matter how terrifying. They enter the area and discover the source of the noise…
It’s Yoshi!
The cause of the noise wasn’t terrifying. It was someone in need of help.
Let’s be honest. Leadership can be scary. Downright terrifying…
You have to handle the emotions and actions of the people you lead. You have to step into positions of power you may not be comfortable with. You may even have to let someone go.
All of these situations can be terrifying.
Yet, you are a leader. You’ve been chosen for these situations.
Be Mario… Follow the terrifying noise. Then deal with it.
4. Beware of seeking validation:
Bowser Jr. had been missing his father. Bowser had been imprisoned, unable to return to his son. In response, Bowser Jr. tried to build something his father would love.
Bowser Jr. states:
It’s really cool, right? I think my father is really going to love it.
Why did Bowser Jr. do this? He wanted his father’s validation. Something he rarely had.
There’s nothing wrong with having your skills, talent, or value validated. We all long for that.
However, validation can become deadly when it is all we seek… Or when we seek it for the wrong reasons.
Beware of validation. It can make you do the wrong things so you can feel better about yourself.
5. Leaders believe in their people to make the right decision:
A Luma comes to Princess Peach. The star asks Peach to help save his momma.
Peach is trying to decide what to do. Should she say yes? Should she say no? What would be the consequences?
As she’s trying to decide, Mario and some of the Toads bust through the door. The Toads tell Peach she can’t go. It’s too dangerous.
Mario has a different opinion. He tells Peach and the Toads that she would make the right decision. Mario believed in Peach.
I’ve watched a lot of leaders talk about their employees when those employees aren’t around. A lot of the talk isn’t positive. In fact, it’s downright negative.
I’ve heard:
- We can’t praise what they do. It’ll go to their heads.
- They keep making mistakes.
- We can’t trust them.
It’s sad. It’s frustrating. And it’s wrong.
How can you lead someone when you don’t believe in them? How can you get the best out of them when you always say what they can’t do?
Instead of being a negative leader, start believing in your people. Tell them you think they can do it.
The more you encourage, the more you’ll get out of them.
6. Mario:
He could just use some guidance.
Mario tells Bowser his son is looking for him. Bowser believes Bowser Jr. must hate him. He’s been gone for so long. He’s not been a good father to him.
Instead of agreeing with him, Mario had a word of encouragement for Bowser. Mario told Bowser that Bowser Jr. could use some guidance… even though Bowser Jr. had tried to cut his head off.
Mario saw the promise in young Broswer Jr. He believed that with a little guidance, the lad would be better.
Who on your team do you feel is falling behind? Maybe they’re not adapting to the workplace as quickly as you thought. Or you’ve seen them struggling with the requirements of the job.
Think about this…
Have you given them the guidance they need?
People need guidance. They need to know their boss has their back.
Give them the guidance and reassurance they need.
7. Bad leaders can change:
Bowser had his heart set on killing the Mario Brothers. It was his lifelong dream. He’d also passed that dream onto his son. They would take over the world and kill Mario and Luigi.
After being incarcerated by the duo after the first movie, Bowser got to know the brothers. He began to change his mind.
The brothers weren’t so bad after all. The world didn’t need to be conquered.
He was a changed man. At least for a time…
Have you ever met a bad leader? You watch how they demoralize their team. You’ve seen them berate and destroy others.
It’s demoralizing.
And you see no hope for them.
I want to encourage you not to give up on them. Bad leaders can change. They can do so by getting to know good leaders. By getting the right training. By seeing what really can be done.
Bad leaders can change. Help them to do so.
8. Call for help:
Fox McCloud’s spaceship had crashed. It was inoperable. The crew wasn’t going to get anywhere.
That’s when Luigi calls out on the radio. He sounds like someone from the movie Smokey and the Bandit. It’s pretty hilarious.
But someone hears. The Lumas did! And they arrive to help the crew get to their next destination.
Leaders often think they’re alone. No one is coming to help them. They’re right… but not for the reason they believe.
There’s a fault in many leaders. They’re scared to ask for help. They believe that if they do so, people will see them as a failure, less than, or someone who can’t lead.
Don’t be that leader. The best leaders know they need help. And they’re not afraid to reach out to those who can assist.
Call for help!
9. Rosalina:
The Toads raised and protected her until she grew strong enough to protect them.
Rosalina finally gets the chance to tell the audience her bedtime story. Except it’s not a bedtime story. It’s the story of Rosalina and Peach, sisters who were separated at a young age.
The story goes that the sisters were made of stardust. Together, they could harness the power of the cosmos. The connection made unsavory characters come after them.
To save one another, Rosalina had to send Peach away. Peach was sent to a world where the Toads protected her. The Toads raised and protected her. Then… when Peach was old enough, she became the protector.
The roles reversed. The protected became the protector.
A similar thing happens in leadership. People are protected and led by strong leaders. Those strong leaders encourage, raise up, and protect their people. Eventually, their people grow up strong. They’re now able to lead.
Great leaders aren’t looking to lead. They’re looking to raise the next generation of leaders.
Be willing to work with those you lead. Guide, nurture, and mold them to be new leaders who can take over.
10. Be wary of those who would lead you astray:
Bowser had begun to change. His view of the Mario Brothers had changed… Until he was reunited with his son.
Bowser Jr. shows his father what he’s built. He tells Bowser:
This is who you are. This is where you belong. Tonight, we destroy the Mushroom Kingdom. Tomorrow, the universe!
In the blink of an eye, the old Bowser is back. He’s ready to kill, maim, and destroy. His son had led him astray.
Watch out for those who would try to lead you astray from the narrow path you know you should follow. It’s a hard path. But it’s a worthy path.
If people are encouraging you to do the wrong thing, tell them to stop. If they won’t, move on from them.
The wrong influence will bring you down.
11. You can lead even when you don’t know how:
Mario and Luigi battled Bowser and Bowser Jr. The battle was fierce. Then Luigi gets Bowser Jr.’s paintbrush, called the Gaddbrush. The Gaddbrush brush can create goo, bring about vicious enemies, and more. It’s a powerful weapon!
When Luigi gets the Gaddbrush, he begins to paint. What he paints isn’t what he was trying to. When he’s finished, he’s painted Mr. Game & Watch. He’s a silhouette character with limited movement.
Luigi said he never knew how to draw. Luigi’s lack of talent didn’t stop him from creating something powerful.
Mr. Game & Watch smashed Dry Bowser (Bowser had fallen into lava and emerged as a bone version of himself). He was victorious in the moment.
We think we need all the gadgets, gizmos, and skills to be successful. We think experience or knowledge will get us there.
While those things will help us lead better, they aren’t the only things that will help us become successful.
You can fumble your way through. Sometimes, the inexperience will expose new ways of doing things. Sometimes, you’ll find yourself learning on the go and gaining traction faster than if you had already been trained.
Don’t be afraid of a lack of experience. You can learn and grow and become the leader your team needs you to be.
