I saw “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” recently and watched it for what I wanted to see: entertainment, action, and some learning. I’m always looking for something to learn – a reminder or an impressive nuance that speaks to my quest for the best in people. In the case of Jack Reacher, in addition to a ton of action I saw a story of integrity, relationships, discovery, and humanity. The moment or rather the instant I’m writing about happens when Jack Reacher’s (Tom Cruise) “daughter” Samantha (Danika Yarosh) tells him and Turner (Cobie Smulders), “Strong guys don’t hurt you. Weak guys do. Strong guys have little sisters or want one.”
You can get many messages from the well-delivered line alone. Check out the Brian Dodd On Leadership Blog espousing “11 Leadership Quotes and Lessons from Jack Reacher: Never Go Back.” Brian also took from the movie what he wanted.
What stuck with me in this exchange was not her expert delivery but Jack Reacher’s subtle and intentional reaction. He was listening. He was learning. Sure, Reacher is a tough guy, but what I like seeing is his well-honed high-level of awareness and consideration. Samantha was new to him and his experience with her to date could have led him to be dismissive. She was young, aloof, distrusting, and unreliable. We dismiss people, their comments and their potential contributions because of our previous experience with them. For our purposes, her line could be restated, “Strong people don’t dismiss you. Weak people do.” In paying attention, maybe he was reminded that weak people can be more dangerous. . . maybe the value to him was learning about her experience and knowledge. More broadly maybe the reaction was his internal acknowledgement that she was not just an idiot kid. Or even further, it was all of this plus some empathizing with a young lady whose life had led her to this conclusion.
The People Fox 