A Reel Leadership Article

DC League of Super-Pets is an animated adventure centering around the pets of DC superheroes. We get to meet Krypto (Dwayne Johnson) as he is Superman’s (John Krasinski) best friend. After Superman is captured, Krypto is forced to team up with superpowered shelter pets Ace (Kevin Hart), Merton (Natasha Lyonne), Chip (Diego Luna), and PB (Vanessa Bayer).

The film is more enjoyable than I thought it would be. It is a tale of friendship and learning to rely on others.

Adults and children alike will find themselves enjoying this family-friendly film. They will also find themselves discovering Leadership Lessons in DC League of Super-Pets.

This article will examine the leadership lessons you’ll find in the movie. I hope you’re ready to take a journey to the animated world of Super-Pets!

Quotes And Leadership Lessons From DC League of Super-Pets

1. Leaders are sacrificial:

DC League of Super-Pets opens with the destruction of Krypton. We see Kal-El’s parents preparing their baby boy for his rocket ride to earth.

Why?

Leaders are sacrificial – Leadership lessons from DC League of Super-Pets
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Krypton was about to explode. They only had one pod. That pod had to go to their son. They had to protect him.

What do you do when you’re facing trouble? Do you say, “every man for himself?” Or do you do your best to care for your team?

The best leaders care for their team. They’re willing to sacrifice their best interest for the interests of their team.

Be willing to sacrifice.

2. Superman’s Mom:

No, our son will need a friend.

Superman’s parents tried to stop Krypto from joining Superman on his trip to earth. They failed when Krypto ran past them and hopped into the pod.

There was a brief moment when the parents considered removing Krypto. They stopped when Superman’s mom said he would need a friend.

Superman is not the only one who needs a friend. Every leader needs someone they can confide in and trust.

If you’re a leader, you need a friend. Find a person you can trust. Lean on them when you need help or someone to talk to.

3. You may not see what is truly happening:

Superman threw a squeezie Bruce Wayne/Batman dog toy for Krypto to fetch. When Krypto quickly returned, he threw the dog toy again; this time, the toy penetrated a tree.

Superman also tried to get Krypto to play with other dogs.

Krypto couldn’t see what was happening. Superman was trying to spend a little less time with Krypto so he could have more time with his girlfriend, Lois Lane (Olivia Wilde).

Our teams may be growing apart or we may be neglecting our teams. Either way, we may not realize the drift we’re experiencing with our teams.

I’ll say it is okay to drift apart from your team, but it is not okay to neglect them. It’s also okay not to immediately realize what’s happening.

But, you do need to recognize what is happening in your organization. Make sure you’re checking in and seeing where you are with your team.

You can do this through one-on-one meetings or other ways of staying in contact.

4. Natural-born leaders think leading is easier than it is:

Clark Kent, Superman’s civilian identity, had visited an animal shelter to find a friend for Krypto. At the shelter, a family walked into the building. The animals there got excited. They would have a family.

Ace then breaks the news to them. They weren’t going home with the family. The cute kitty was. The kitty cats always got adopted.

What does the kitty say? The kitty says being a shelter pet is easy. After all, the kitty got adopted on its first day there.

There are natural-born leaders and then there are those who have to work on their leadership skills. For those who have natural skills, leadership is easy. They may even brag about how easy leadership is.

What about those who struggle to lead? To those who leadership doesn’t come naturally?

Leadership can be hard. Don’t let those who find it to be easy get you down.

5. Batman (Keanu Reeves):

They’re overrated.

Lex Luthor (Marc Maron) was hoping to gain superpowers. He had pulled a gigantic meteor made of Orange Kryptonite.

The theory was orange kryptonite would give ordinary people power. Eventually, Lex is able to get a piece of the meteor.

Nothing happened. Lex didn’t gain any powers. Talk about disappointing!

Many things in leadership are overrated – Leadership lessons from DC League of Super-Pets
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Batman had a few words for Lex. He told him that superpowers are overrated.

There are tools and skills that leaders have that other leaders would love to have. They think they would be great leaders if they had those skills.

Let me tell you… Those things are overrated.

You don’t need what others have. You need what you have within you.

Stop looking for things outside of you. Look inside. There is power within you.

6. Dog-El (Keith David):

Your problem is you.

Dog-El was Krypto’s father. He had left a recording for Krypto that he could listen to when he needed help.

One of the recordings tells Krypto what his problem was. Dog-El tells his son that he is his own problem.

Ouch!

That stung, but it was true. It’s also true for most leaders.

The biggest problem we will face is ourselves.

We think we are bigger, better, and badder than we really are. We also believe we don’t need others.

This mindset is a problem.

We need to get out of our own way. We must realize we are our biggest problem and look for ways to get over ourselves.

7. Little things can take down the big picture:

Lulu (Kate McKinnon) is a shelter pet that gained powers from the orange kryptonite. She was a hamster that lost all of her hair due to an experiment by Lex Luthor.

Lulu recruited an army of hamsters. Using the orange kryptonite, she gave the hamsters superpowers.

Mind you, hamsters are small creatures. They’re tiny and cute but pack a big bite.

Lulu unleashes the superpowered hamsters on the Justice League: Wonder Woman (Jameela Jamil), Aquaman (Jemaine Clement), The Flash (John Early), a female Green Lantern (Dascha Polanco), and Cyborg (Daveed Diggs). The hamsters defeat the superpowered team.

You may think that the little things in your organization may not matter. They do.

Little things are often the things that take down organizations and leaders.

Their size gets past leaders. You’re able to ignore them until they create a major issue.

Take care of the small things before they become the big things.

8. Leaders can be accused of things they didn’t do:

We learn the backstory of Ace the Bathound. He had been owned by a young family with a toddler.

The toddler shuffled towards the stairs. If she had fallen, she would have been seriously hurt. Seeing the baby in danger, Ace sprung to action.

Ace took the girl’s arm in his mouth. He pulled the girl away from the stairs. He saved her.

It’s not what the parents saw. The girl’s parents saw Ace attacking their daughter. He had left bite marks on her arm!

They got rid of Ace because of the incident.

You can do the right thing and still be accused of wrong-doing – Leadership lessons from DC League of Super-Pets
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Have you ever felt like Ace? You’re doing what’s right. You’ve made decisions that will help the organization, but someone gets hurt?

Then you’re out of there. Someone above you makes the decision that you’re gone.

Know that you may be accused of doing things you didn’t do.

You’ll be okay, though. You have integrity. You did the right thing. In the end, you will survive.

9. Krypto:

I’m the only one to blame.

Superman’s been kidnapped. The Super-Pets have been caged. Things are looking bad.

This is when Krypto becomes a leader.

He sees what has happened. He realizes why things are the way they are.

His actions have caused this. But now he’s willing to take responsibility.

Leaders are willing to take responsibility for their actions. They don’t place the blame on others. The blame falls on them.

Don’t push the blame onto others. Accept responsibility for your actions and decisions.

It’s what leaders do.

10. Leaders cannot work alone:

All shelter pets who fought alongside Krypto found a match with a Justice League member. All but Ace.

Batman, at first, refused to take Ace. Batman worked alone.

Then something happened. Batman began to think about reality. Batman didn’t work alone.

We may think we work alone but we don’t. Every leader works with someone – Leadership lessons from DC League of Super-Pets
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He had worked with lots of others: The Justice League, Robin, Nightwing, etc…

He finally chose to adopt Ace!

You do not work alone. You never will. There is always someone with you.

Don’t neglect to remember those you’ve worked with. They’ve played a significant role in your success.

Leaders don’t work alone. They have teams and friends.