Have you watched the movie, Top Gun Maverick starring Tom Cruise? Well, I had an opportunity of watching this movie and I would like to share with you the leadership lessons that I learnt from it.
You already know the plot, some nameless state had built a uranium enrichment plant in some deep valley surrounded by mountains. The United States (U.S.) as always, had to destroy this uranium enrichment plant before the uranium arrives. They bring in Maverick (Tom Cruise) who is a very experienced pilot to lead the planning and the training of young pilots to deliver the top gun mission.
The first lesson I got was just the person they introduced to create this plan and train the pilots in this mission ‘Maverick’, who comes with intensive experience. I got that a leader who is in charge of planning must be experienced in implementing the plan or in planning this mission to ensure that the mission succeeds.
The mission in Top Gun is very clear, they needed to destroy the uranium enrichment plant before the uranium arrives. The mission was not just one big block of mission, they have broken it down into small pieces and stages. The exact details that this team goes into when it comes to planning were very tactical, How they were going to go into the deep valley into the mountains, how they were going to swamp the missiles, what exactly they should do, and at what speed they should ride their planes. It also reminds me that you need to be clear about exactly how you are going to implement the plan, so the second lesson I got is that you need to have a clear plan and mission. The plan must be specific and it must be time-bound.
If you watch the movie you see that at first, nobody believed that it can be done until Maverick showed them that it can be done.
The third lesson I got is that as the leader when you create a plan people are a bit skeptical, they do not trust that the plan can be implemented or carried out successfully. So, as a leader, you need to step in, demonstrate and show your team that the plan is actionable and it can be delivered. This is what Maverick did very well, he drove the plane and showed them how the plan going to be done and how the mission was going to be accomplished. Sometimes your plans might be questioned but it is your responsibility to demonstrate that the plan is attainable and actionable.
From the details of their planning sessions in terms of how they were going to go into the mountain valleys, and swamp all the missiles thrown at them by their enemy, the fourth lesson I got is that is that you need to go into the details and study the enemy as a team. As a team that is planning a mission, you need to study your competition in detail. You need to know everything about your competitor, that way you stand a better chance of beating them, maybe even destroying the competition completely or leaving them far behind you.
The team also thought about the risks and the equipment that they needed for them to accomplish this mission. They were flying planes that are fa-18 planes, which are quite old planes and they needed to use these planes for them to accomplish this mission.
The fifth lesson I got is that as a leader what tools and equipment does your team need for them to accomplish This mission successfully, provide them with those tools and equipment so they have no reason other than to work on the mission and accomplish the objective that you have set out for them in your plan.
Here comes the twist, Maverick and his hangman are shot down and they find themselves in the enemy territory. They have to figure out a way to get out.
The sixth lesson I got is that planning is not an exact science, sometimes things do not go according to plan. You may find yourself being shot down by the enemy and find yourself in enemy territory. The actual implementation requires you to be agile, you need to be quick to adapt to the changes that you might not even have thought about when you were doing the planning. While in the enemy base, Maverick and his hangman saw an old plane fa-14 which was older than the planes they were flying. Having the experience, they get on the plane and managed to escape all the missiles that were thrown at them and eventually escape to safety. When something is not in the plan you need to think out of the box.
Lesson seven ‘It’s the pilot, not the plan’, is the final lesson that I got from watching Top Gun Maverick. This saying was mentioned more than three times throughout the movie and the lesson that it has for all of us is that the plan can be perfect but it is the implementation that it matters. It is not really about the plan it is about who is implementing the plan that is what matters. In other words for me what I got or how I can translate this is that it’s not the plan that is okay but the implementation of the person who is implementing the plan that matters.
This a great lesson to us all as entrepreneurs, it is not about the plan but the implementation and who is implementing it that matters. Well, these are the lessons that I got by watching Top Gun Maverick. I hope you find time to go and watch and let’s see if you pick out these lessons that I got.
