How to Lead Like Monkey D. Luffy
Key Principles to learn from the soon to be King of Pirates
If you are new to the world of Anime/Manga, you may not have heard of the franchise One Piece. To give some context, One Piece is widely regarded as one of the greatest Anime franchises to ever exist. Launching in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997, it has since been collected into over 80 volumes, while breaking records in both Japan and The United States. The franchise has even set the Guinness World Record for “the most copies published for the same comic book by a single author”, and is “the best-selling manga series worldwide with over 430 million copies sold”. At the helm of One Piece is the main character Monkey D. Luffy, the 17 year-old (19 after the time-skip) Captain of the Straw-Hat Pirates who sets sail to achieve the title of “King of Pirates”. The title of “King of Pirates” was established by the world’s greatest Pirate Gold D. Roger who sailed across the entire ocean and amassed great treasure, battled in wars that re-shaped countries, went head to head with the world government, and conquered all. On the day of his execution, Gold D. Roger said to the world:
“My treasure is yours for the taking, But you’ll have to find it first. I left everything I own… In One Piece.”
Thus began the great pirate era, and the beginning of one of the greatest case study in leadership.
Clearly Identify Your Mission
I’m Luffy! The Man Who Will Become the Pirate King! — One Piece: Season 1 Episode 1
When we are first introduced to the series, the opening episode is a bold declaration of intent by Luffy. The mission is made clear, the purpose is made clear, and the intention for every action has been defined. The mission is so bold and so clear in fact, that it catches many off-guard during the series. Most of the characters in the series who are much further along in their pirate journey than Luffy desire to be “King of The Pirates” as well, however the difference is that they treat the title as an ulterior motive. On the surface they desire to amass wealth, prove to be the strongest, have the greatest armies, and they assume this will lead to being King. The problem here is in the limitless capacity of these superlatives. Terms like “the greatest” “the richest” “the strongest” are vacuums that trap many with ambition because while it sounds great, there is no true measurement for it. This problem doesn’t exist for Luffy. The target is clearly set at being “King of The Pirates” and that opens the door to a “by any means” approach. It frees Luffy from being trapped by being the richest, the strongest, or any superlative for that matter and allows him to take the direct route to success.
We see this same principle applied with Michael Jordan’s full season return to the Chicago Bulls after his first retirement. Michael Jordan made it clear from the beginning that “we’re here to win a championship. We are a championship team. This is a championship organization… and we are going to play that way.” That 95'-96' season was arguably one of the greatest seasons by any basketball team in the history of the NBA. The Bulls went 72–10, had an 18 game win-streak, only loss 2 home-games, and won their 4th NBA Championship. That same season, Michael Jordan lead the NBA in scoring, was named MVP, and Finals MVP. When you’re the leader of the team, the organization, or of your pirate crew, your ability to make the mission clear from the beginning sets the tone for everyone else to reflect in their actions. The more clear the mission, the easier it is for people to follow.
Create A Mission Big Enough To Attract A Strong Team!
To be the King of Pirates, your crew is going to have to be pretty damn amazing. The opposition that you’ll face along the journey to achieving this title is covered in challenges, wars, and enemies who’s strengths and personal ambitions know no limit. The Navy for example, the sworn enemy of the pirates, is filled with officers and admirals who can run in the air, harden their bodies past iron, and some even are made of elements like light, ice, and lava. The current 4 strongest Pirates ( Emperors of the Sea ) have fleets of ships, armies in the thousands, and are legends of great wars with one of the four being known as “The Strongest Creature Living”. To conquer these characters Luffy would need a crew of amazing people, but amazing people need a call to action that is even greater than their own to attract them to alignment.
- Zoro: (Straw-Hat Crew Firstmate): Goal is to be the greatest swordsman.
- Sanji: (Straw-Hat Crew Cook): Goal is to reach the “All Blue” the place where all the oceans converge and every fish can be found.
- Nami: (Straw-Hat Crew Navigator): Goal is to chart the entire ocean.
- Brook: (Straw-Hat Crew Musician): Goal is to meet his whale on the opposite side of the ocean.
- Chopper: (Straw-Hat Crew Doctor): Goal is to be the greatest doctor in the world and cure every disease.
- Franky: (Straw-Hat Crew Shipwright): Goal is to build the ship for the King of Pirates.
- Robin: (Straw-Hat Crew Historian): Goal is to understand the mystery of the ancient texts.
- Usopp: (Straw-Hat Crew Marksman): Goal is be a brave pirate who went on a great adventure.
Each member of the Straw Hat Crew has an ideal and a mission of their own, developed through their own experiences and hardships. All of these missions are daunting, grandiose, and seemingly impossible given the resources at their disposal. When Luffy met Zoro he was tied-up and sentenced to death, Usopp was about to have his village massacred, Franky was about to be killed, Robin was about to be killed in a temple collapse, Chopper is about to be killed by a false king, Nami is about to be killed by the pirate crew she was enslaved by, and the list goes on. The everyday person has dreams and goals but the realities of what it may cost to achieve it evokes fear, and complacency. What often gives hope however is an ideal or mission that seems so big that it makes the achieving of a personal goal feel more attainable. It’s hard to believe that you can really be the greatest swordsman, but it’s not hard to believe that you can be the greatest swordsman if you’re fighting alongside the King of Pirates. It’s hard to believe you’ll ever see the place where all of the oceans meet when you’re just a chef in a restaurant. It’s not hard to believe you’ll see the place where all the oceans meet when you’re the chef to the King of Pirates. It is the grand mission of those who we regard as great leaders that attract the loyalty and alignment of the most amazing among us.
Beat The boss! Do The Impossible!
Throughout the series, we consistently see Luffy go toe-to-toe against foes and circumstances that simply seem insurmountable. With an unyielding conviction, he brazenly calls out the biggest barriers and forces them to bend or break to his will. To save Zoro, Luffy had to defeat a feared Navy Captain who was holding Zoro captive. To save Nami, Luffy had to defeat the captain of the Arlong Pirates, the most feared group of pirates in his region. To save his brother Ace from execution, Luffy broke in alone to the most heavily-guarded prison, broke out, and then took on the strongest of the Navy in the first war of his era. Consistently, Luffy is putting his convictions on the line in front of all and pushing forward to victory. This ability inspires not just the people who hear of his story to fight for their own causes and champion him, but for his crew, it inspires them all to live for their causes, and die for his.
There is an episode where a Warlord takes Luffy’s pain and fatigue from days of battle and presents it to Zoro, offering to spare their entire crew if he was willing to take the pain for himself. Without hesitation, Zoro agrees. When The Warlord Kuma asks Zoro if he would lay down his own ambitions and his life to save Luffy, Zoro responds resolutely:
If I can’t even protect my captain’s dream, then whatever ambition I have is nothing but talk! Luffy must be the man who becomes the Pirate King!
Zoro then is transferred to an area away from the crew and he plunges himself into a bubble that contained days of pain, fatigue, and anguish that Luffy had inflicted into his body. By all counts, this was a death sentence, but some how, Zoro survived the excruciating ordeal.
It is very easy to look at all the challenges that present themselves to our businesses, our ambitions, or our missions as equal. When one thing goes wrong, often times other things go wrong as well. The role of a great leader however is not to get caught up in fighting the grunts or trying to patch the small holes in the ship. The role of a great leader is to take on the boss, to continue steering the ship forward, and to make the impossible seem like another step along the ascension to victory. It is in doing this that he or she inspires their team to action against what is perceived to be unbeatable.
This year has forced us all to take a sobering look at ourselves, our environments, and the way interact with both the external and internal elements of living. It is no understatement to say that 2020 will be a moment that marked a pivotal time in modern history. In that same breath, it is no understatement that as citizens of nations across the world, we have been forced to take a more detailed look at our leaders and the effects they have on our lives. Apathy is no longer a privilege of developed nations or companies that are thriving on the stock market; all has been impacted personally by the good or bad leaders that they orbit. When we think about the qualities of good and bad leadership, it’s easy to draw from examples that don’t challenge the imagination. With that being said, I challenge that the lack of imagination in this area is precisely how we end up recycling the same forms of leadership in the modern era. What if the best example of leadership wasn’t found in any textbook or conventional school of wisdom? What if the best example of leadership for us to study was a 17 year-old kid who simply decided that he was going to be the “King of Pirates”? What if you could lead like Monkey D. Luffy?
