As of writing this post, I have not seen the upcoming Marvel Studios movie, Captain America: Civil War. I will, however, be seeing it very soon.

I love what Marvel has done with the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe). This continuing storyline of movies over the past 8 years or so has been quite a fantastic ride and it is also a ride that doesn’t seem to be coming to an end any time soon. It has been very exciting seeing the characters grow, and I am super excited about Spider-Man joining the fray.

My excitement for the upcoming movie got me thinking about, as a leader in an organization, what lessons should I take from Captain America: Civil War based on what I know about the movie today?  The short synopsis for the movie is that the superheroes are divided against each other on whether to accept government regulation or should they continue to act as vigilantes. In a movie twist, Team Captain America is against government regulation and Team Iron Man is in favor of regulation. This is kind of the opposite of how the characters have acted up until now in the MCU. Iron Man/Tony Stark has been a symbol for flipping the bird against the government and acting however he pleases. In Iron Man 2 he claims to have privatised world peace and in The Avengers: Age of Ultron he creates the robot Ultron using alien technology, who ends up terrorizing the world. Captain America is a product of the military and has always put his nation above his own relationships, desires and existence and would never seem to be someone who would stand in the way of a governmental regulation.  However, maybe this isn’t that farfetched as Cap has seen government organizations corrupt all around him in his dealings with both S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra.

In some ways, being a leader in an organization is akin to Team Iron Man and accepting regulation. This could come in the form of a boss’s directives, company rules, government regulations, board decisions, stockholder decisions, or your peers thoughts. Rules and regulations protect us in many ways. I guess you could say, in some ways being a good leader is being a good follower. The first thing that comes to mind is information security. We can’t be reckless with information security. It’s not the right thing to do. Our corporations and their partners and clients depend on us to make sure we have things under lock and key and are following industry standards to make sure of it. This is a prime example where paving your way just doesn’t make sense. Another way might be with spending. When operating under a budget, it is our responsibility to make that budget work because the rest of the organization is counting on us to do so. Sometimes we need to check our ego at the door and realize that everything we do is not always going to be about coming in with guns a blazing.

As fun as being a follower is, being a leader is also a lot like Team Cap and continuing to be a vigilante, and fighting for truth, justice and the American way, right? Part of being a leader is most definitely being a pioneer, and paving new roads. Innovation is a huge part of being a technology leader. We need to think and rethink what it means to do whatever it is we do, and constantly reinvent ourselves from a technological standpoint. Technology is moving at such a rapid pace, if we become content with a certain pattern, practice, or technology, we already are behind our competition.

I have always related my role as a leader as someone who walks a tightrope between the sides of chaos and order. Perhaps, this tightrope is not only where I belong as a technology leader, but ultimately where we find both Team Cap and Team Iron Man at the end of their movie? Those of us heading out to the theaters this week will find out soon enough, but until then, can we agree that both Team Captain America and Team Iron Man are quite possibly both correct? There is a time and a place for everything. Sometimes it is best to follow in line and follow your marching orders to a tee, and other times it’s best to stand on your own even if that means there might be consequences. After all, you can’t make an omelette without breaking a couple of eggs, right?

Just for the record, going into the movie, I’m #TeamIronMan…

*********** UPDATE – 5/6/2016 ***********

I saw the movie last night, and I think my take on the movie before watching it was a good one, but there are so many more lessons to take from the movie. I’ll have to write about more of these in the future, but I’m keeping it spoiler free for now. Go out and see the movie!  It’s a really good movie with really good character usage and I enjoyed the villain and his master plan. All of the new characters are great! I’m a huge Spider-Man fan, and the new one is excellent. I am so excited to see Spider-Man Homecoming next year!