Leadership Lessons from the Kung Fu Panda

Well you might be ruminating, “That’s an odd title for a blog” but believe you me, every time that I have watched the Kung Fu Panda, I have been taken aback by the depths of the word play and the subtle messages veiled under a humorous yet an extremely motivating story line. The idea of this article can be primarily be attributed to the scores of Self Help books and movies that have given me company in this bone numbing winter of Delhi, distracting my mind albeit for a short while from the short eats and cryogenic sleep. The good part of any well-made animated movie is that it appeals across the age ladder with different interpretations altogether. I present here yet another interpretation of the movie.

“PO: But Dad, didn't you ever, I dunno, want to do something else? Something besides noodles?

MR. PING: Actually, when I was young and crazy, I thought about running away and learning how to make tofu.

PO: So why didn't you?!

MR. PING: Oh, because it was a stupid dream. Can you imagine me making tofu? [He laughs at the thought.] No. We all have our place in this world. Mine is here. And yours is—“

Leadership Lesson 1: You have to be crazy enough to dream big, there is nothing like a stupid dream. Or to put it in Jack Kerouac’s words “Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do...”

OOGWAY: One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it.

Leadership Lesson 2: Confront your deepest fears; there is no way you can out run them

OOGWAY: Your mind is like this water, my friend. When it is agitated, it becomes difficult to see. But if you allow it to settle, the answer becomes clear.

Leadership Lesson 3: Good decision making comes with a cool and unperturbed mind, procrastinate decisions if you are not in the right frame of mind.

There is a scene wherein PO prepares a chair propelled by fireworks that catapults him right before Master Oogway as he is about to declare the Dragon Warrior

Leadership Lesson 4: A lot of success depends of getting the timing right, being at the right place at the right time is crucial be it accidentally or incidentally.

OOGWAY: Quit, don't quit. Noodles, don't noodles. [Po looks back at him, confused.] You are too concerned with what was and what will be. There's a saying: Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present

Leadership lesson 5: We either cling on to the past or are too much worried about the future that we forget the present. If we were to live each day to the fullest we would have a memorable past and a promising future.

OOGWAY: My old friend, the panda will never fulfill his destiny, nor you yours, until you let go of the illusion of control.

Leadership Lesson 6: A leader needs to let go of the illusion of control, there are a lot of extrinsic factors that are beyond our control. Trying to control the factors outside your scope would get you nowhere and frustrate you in the process.

SHIFU: I cannot train you the way I have trained the Five.

Leadership lesson 7: There is no “one size fits all” concept when it comes to mentoring. A leader needs to keep in mind that every individual has a different developmental/training requirement and hence the same should be tailor fit to suit each individual.

MR. PING: There is no secret ingredient!

PO: Wait wait wait...it's just plain old noodle soup? You don't add some kind of special sauce or something?

MR. PING: Don't have to. To make something special, you just have to believe it's special.

Leadership Lesson 8: Each and every individual is special in his own unique way, you just need to believe in the same and make sure that the other person also is made to feel special.