31 Leadership Quotes And Lessons From First Man The Movie

Tonight I had the privilege of seeing First Man, a biography of the iconic American astronaut Neil Armstrong.  Played by Ryan Gosling, this movie. covers Armstrong’s life from 1961-1969.  In short, it is time to update my The Top 20 Leadership Movies Of The Last 20 Years list.  While feeling methodical at times, this film does a spectacular job of chronicling the incredible costs someone must pay to do extraordinary things and how it affects their family and friends.

First Man culminates with the July 21, 1969 Apollo 11 mission with Armstrong’s famous moonwalk and his return home.  This movie is filled with incredible personal loss, sacrifice, intense training, and indescribably claustrophobic moments.

Everyone should see this movie.  Concerns over omitting the planting of the American flag are legit.  However, the movie is filled with pro-American images and comments.  There is one very understandable F-bomb from Janet Armstrong, played in Oscar-worthy fashion by Claire Foy.

What strikes you most about Neil Armstrong is his stoic, almost robotic personality.  This shows up in how he mourns, the type of father and husband he is, and how he handles unimaginable danger.  Perhaps it takes someone who compartmentalizes to the extreme to be able to do something like fly to the moon.  In any event, First Man is a fascinating case study of a legendary leader.

The following are 31 Leadership Quotes And Lessons From First Man:

1. Extraordinary Leaders Think Extraordinary Thoughts – It takes someone unusual to look up at the horizon or look into space and think, “I belong up there.”  For the record, Christians should have the most extraordinary thoughts of anyone because they should be constantly thinking, “This earth is not my home.  My residence is in Heaven.  I belong up there.”
2. Every Great Leader Has A Great Team Around Them – Whether it was the engineer team at NASA, his fellow astronauts, or his wife Janet, Armstrong had the finest team possible and all were deeply committed to his success.
3. You Never Have To Recover From A Good Start – The movie begins with an incredible scene of Armstrong testing a high-altitude plane which was continually bouncing off the atmosphere.  This set the stage for the entire film.
4. A Distracted Leader Can Be A Dangerous Leader – Armstrong’s flight was deemed a failure.  One of the commanding officers said, “He’s a good engineer but distracted.”
5. High Risks Activities Are Unforgiving – Armstrong was grounded because of the flight.  Similarly, many leaders are grounded when their high risk activities fail.
6. Preparation And Struggle Are The Price You Must Pay For Success – No entitlement here.  Words cannot describe the excruciating physical price the astronauts paid to fly in space.  When beginning to train in a Multi-Access Challenge which helps with turbulence and rolling aircraft, the instructor said, “First victim, Armstrong.”
7. Leaders Should Seek Out Different Vantage Points – Armstrong said, “When you get a different vantage point it changes your perspective… It allows you to see things you should have seen a long time ago.”
8. The Most Successful Leaders Have High, Very High Intelligence – As training began for the Gemini and Apollo missions, the astronauts were presented a 604-page book on rocket physics they needed to learn.
9. Successful Leaders Become Comfortable Being Uncomfortable – Neil’s training purposely put him in the most unforgiving, uncomfortable situations because this is what he would face in space.
10. Successful Leaders Have An Intense Disdain For Frivolous Information And Conversations – While flying the Gemini craft, a fellow astronaut asked Armstrong, “Can you give us a status?”  Armstrong replied, “No.  I have too much to do.”  I thought to myself, “AMEN!!!”
11. The Problem Is To Identify The Problem.  The Solution Then Becomes Obvious. – Referring to the previous point, Armstrong solved a problem by working the math.
12. The Toughest Leadership Happens Not In Space, It Happens At Home. – There was an incredible scene where Armstrong was dealing with issues in space.  Meanwhile, his wife Janet was dealing with two misbehaving young boys.  Also, throughout the movie we learn of Neil’s incredible ability lead complex teams and solve complex problems.  However, he often had no idea what to do when leading his family.
13. Leadership Is Often A Test Of Managing Uncertainty – Jan told NASA executives, “You’re a bunch of guys making models out of balsa wood.  You don’t have anything under control!.”
14. Leaders Respond Best In Predictable Environments – Janet said, “I married Neil because I wanted a normal life”
15. One Of The Greatest Gifts A Husband Can Give A Wife Is Stability – Janet added, “All I wanted was stability.”
16. Every Organization Has Revenue Creators And Revenue Protectors – A United States senator said to Armstrong, “We’re considering it (space program) in the context of taxpayer dollars.”
17. Successful Leaders Always Have Options – After a failed LEM session, Armstrong said, “The ejection seat is the back-up.”
18. Smart Leaders Need Failure And Learn From Failure – Armstrong added, “We need to fail.  We need to fail down here so we don’t fail up there.”
19. Leaders Give People A Wonderful Picture Of Themselves – Walter Cronkite said in a newscast, “These are sailors of the skies.”
20. Smart Leaders Use Discretion – Buzz Aldrin, played by Corey Stoll, comes of as a jerk in the movie.  He said, “I’m just saying what you’re thinking.”  Armstrong replied, “Maybe you shouldn’t.”
21. Successful Leaders Ignore Critics – It was amazing to me the critics NASA faced and how their complaints were the same ones we hear today, 50 years later.  Much like Nehemiah did not come off the wall he was building around Jerusalem when being criticized by Sanbalot and Tobiah, successful leaders sole gaze is on their goals and objectives and not the conversations of their critics.
22. Successful Leaders Give Others Confidence – Armstrong said in a press conference, “We’re planning on being successful.”
23. Successful Leaders Are Practical Leaders – When asked what they were taking into space, Aldrin made a joke about something of his wife’s.  Armstrong said, “If I had a choice, I’d take more fuel.”
24. Your Greatest Priority As A Leader Is To Your Family – Prior to leaving for the Apollo 11 mission, Janet asked Neil, “What are the chances you’re not coming back?  Those kids (of fallen astronaut Ed White), they don’t have a father anymore!  So you’re gonna sit the boys down, and prepare them for the fact that you might never come home!”
25. Great Leaders Have Great Focus – As Armstrong was landing the LEM on the moon, his laser-like focus allowed him to block out multiple warning signals going off.
26. “The Eagle has landed.”
27. “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
28. Family Matters More Than Anything – As Armstrong stood on the moon’s surface, he reflected back to the wonderful times he had with his wife, son, and deceased daughter.
29. Great Leaders Have Great Trust – After the successful Apollo 11 moon landing, a French woman is interviewed and says, “I always trust an American. I knew they wouldn’t fail.”
30. Successful Leaders Do Hard Things.  They Never Take The Path Of Lease Resistance. – President John F. Kennedy said, “We go to the moon not because it’s easy but because it’s hard.”  No entitlement here.
31. All Leaders Leave A Legacy – I have met people who do not like to talk about legacy but it is true that all leaders will leave one.  Leaders will be remembered by who they are, what they did, and how many lives they impacted either positively or negatively.

Once again, First Man is an incredible movie!  Make sure you go see it this weekend.  Hopefully, the Oscars will be paying attention.