Top Gun’s Pete “Maverick” Mitchell Is A Punk

It’s been over 35 years since the original Top Gun arrived in theaters, shot down the competition and became the top grossing movie in 1986. I was 16 when the movie came out, a summer blockbuster like no other that stylistically changed cinema and catapulted Tom Cruise into mega-stardom and action hero. In the mid-80s, I was this “stranger things” mash-up of athlete, prep, musician, goth by association and punk draped in a neatly pressed uniform at an elite private school in suburban New Jersey. A non-conformist conformist trying to figure myself out. Fast forward 35 years later at the 1-2-3-4 metronome speed of punk music, and Top Gun: Maverick is everything a summer blockbuster should be (and was), super entertaining, action-packed, fast, romantic, nostalgic and fun as fuck. My inner punk (and youth) raged as I watched the movie from a full-on supine position in my leather recliner, cheering and pumping my fists. I connected, not because Pete “Maverick” Mitchell and his Top Gun recruits destroyed the nameless enemy’s uranium plant (spoiler alert), but for Maverick being a badass punk and defeating the internal obstructionists. 

I’m 52 now, a pure Gen-Xer that is now comfortable in the skin of equal parts punk and pinstripe. I have spent over 25+ years as a corporate intrapreneur in several large, well-known companies and it has been filled with successes, failures and occasionally crushing imposter syndrome. A non-conformist conformist in a suit, but really a trojan horse punk underneath wearing zebra patterned shoes (those who know me have seen them). I have been called “unconventional” countless times in my professional career probably because I pissed people off, or saw things differently, and that’s a good thing. In each role as an executive leader, a couple of themes have remained the same. Innovation is rarely authorized in large companies and the executives that guard the “wall of can’t” are really saying “they won’t.” I’m paraphrasing key principles from the book, This Might Get Me Fired by Greg Larkin and rally cries from our networking group, Punks & Pinstripes. All of us in this group are badass transformation executives that have experienced corporate obstructionism in some form, we unite around this and share our war stories. We have pissed people off, and if you aren’t pissing people off, well you’re not innovating or creating change. Punks & Pinstripes are the rebels in the boardroom and we don’t always blend in. Here’s our secret: change is impossible without punks.

If Maverick were on LinkedIn I’d not only message and follow him, but I’d recruit and enlist him into Punks & Pinstripes. Maverick is one of us. He knows the rules and has the testicular fortitude and courage to break them. He is a hall of fame punk. He doesn’t fit in, never made it past captain – an authentic nonconformist, classic punk that pisses people off, rejects by-the-book conventionalism, executive obstructionists and those out to annihilate him. His secret weapons? It’s not his F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, his Kawasaki crotch rocket speeding down the runway, aviator Ray-Bans, leather bomber jacket or fucking Kenny Loggins. It’s his secret society of like minded thinkers, Rear Admiral Solomon "Warlock" Bates (Charles Parnell), a couple Top Gun recruits Lieutenant Natasha "Phoenix" Trace (Monica Barbaro), Lieutenant Robert "Bob" Floyd (Lewis Pullman), and his love interest, Penelope "Penny" Benjamin (Jennifer Connelly). These are his people, they get it and they know they need leadership and change at all altitudes.  

Maverick’s bigger secret weapon is his “Godfather”, someone that supported, protected and became his bullet proof vest. Enter Tom "Iceman" Kazansky (the legendary Val Kilmer), Maverick’s former head-to-head rival, turned friend and now the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Over the last 30 years, Iceman has saved his career many times. This time it’s from Rear Admiral Chester "Hammer" Cain (played by Ed Harris) by ordering Maverick to NAS North Island for his next assignment after destroying a prototype that he pushed past Mach 10. 

Greg Larkin states in his book that “loyalty under fire is ultimately what differentiates a Godfather from a typical sponsor.” The Godfather steps in, clears a path and demonstrates an emotional trust where he or she not only has your back, but says “kill me first”. I’ve had several key Godfathers (and Godmothers) in my career, and all of them have taken a chance on me, partnered with me and navigated through constraints and soul-crushing politics. My Godfathers flew with me through the “danger zone” and over the wall of can’t and corporate obstructionism. 

The problem that Maverick has to solve is not only to defeat his imposter syndrome and fears about history repeating itself with Nick “Goose” Bradshaw’s son (Goose was Maverick’s radar intercept officer in the first movie and died in a training exercise), Lt. Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw (Miles Teller), but he has to demonstrate that Top Gun recruits can fly at dangerously low altitudes in order to eliminate the enemy. His greatest constraint in all of this is time. Maverick has to prove this is a feasible solution even though his Godfather is gone (Iceman succumbs to cancer in the movie). How does he do this? Instead of pitching the idea to leaders, he presents the outcomes. This is absolutely critical when we talk about buy-in at the executive level in corporations. Anyone in a large office can shoot down an idea, but the data, and more importantly, the outcomes will set you free. The first outcome, Maverick out-dogfights all of his students with precise flying and some OG maneuvers. The second outcome, and this is where it really gets punk, Maverick gets rid of the bullshit relaxed parameters set by key obstructionist, Vice Admiral Beau "Cyclone" Simpson, (Jon Hamm), steals a F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and flies the simulated training course on his terms, proving to everyone that it can be done. Take my breath away Maverick, mission accomplished and you’re strike leader. Recruits, fall in line, you’re now a team! 

It was at this moment that I emotionally connected with the story, the movie and with Maverick. The story is an epic example of how outcomes and guerilla validation silence the naysayers and how a mission, or project, can move forward and over the “wall of can’t”. Maverick took a stand, an enormous risk, and won. In true blockbuster fashion and movie fantasy luck, the mission is a success of course. The team locks arms, makes it to the uranium plant, destroys it and Rooster saves Maverick. I pumped my fists at this movie in excitement when my daughter shushed me and demanded that I stop my slow clap. If you didn’t enjoy this movie, you better check your pulse. Coincidentally, Greg happened to call me the following day asking for my advice on a topic. I couldn’t contain my excitement not only about the movie, but what it stood for as a member of Punks & Pinstripes.  

In the most emotional scene in the movie, Iceman (who is unable to speak due to throat cancer), whispers to his old rival, "the Navy needs Maverick”. I was reminded of this at a recent Punks & Pinstripes dinner in Atlanta. A story was told about a high-ranking military officer who said that “when you fight bureaucracy, bureaucracy fights back.” We all know this is true in today’s corporate world as well, that’s no secret. We need more punks like Maverick, people that are different, people with radical creativity and fucking guts to fight the bureaucracy and create change in large companies. Isn’t that what being punk is all about? 

Think you’re one of us? Check out punksandpinstripes.com to apply to our executive network of badass rebels.And pick up Greg’s book, This Might Get Me Fired.