4 Things Tom Cruise’s Frustration Showed Us That Being A Leader Is Stressful
“Your mission, should you choose to accept it.”
“I have told you, and now I want it, and if you don’t do it, you’re out.” — Tom Cruise, 2020.
Recently, Tom Cruise’s outbursts to his staff struck the internet like thunder. It went viral fast, showing his moment of frustrations on the set of Mission Impossible 7.
In case anyone missed it, on 16th December 2020, there was recorded audio shared on the internet showing the great dare-devil actor’s frustration with two staff on set who accidentally broke the safety health protocol by not social distancing.
Now, from the perspective of staff/crew members and from some people who heard it, they’d think that Tom was being too harsh and exaggerating because people tend to forget. However, from a leader’s perspective, it’s actually too much, especially for someone who has so much passion for the industry that is being slammed hard by Covid at the moment.
From the audio, Tom showed us how stressful a leader can be. Not only do they have to think about the success of the business, but they had to think about the future of it, its costs, and the people who work for them and their stakeholders.
Let’s take a look at his words according to the recorded audio, it clearly showed how hard of a position Tom Cruise is currently in to prepare for his blockbuster movie.
Note: These are just my speculations as someone working closely with the film industry. Quotes here are directly from the audio recorded of Tom Cruise’s outburst.
1) They Have To Repeat Themselves nearly ALL THE TIME
“We want the gold standard. They’re back there in Hollywood making movies right now because of us! Because they believe in us and what we’re doing!!!”
Today, we live in a world where there is just too much information to be stored in our heads. There is just not enough memory to remember them, and too much information will only gain you no audience at all. That is why leaders must repeat themselves nearly all the time.
It may sound annoying to repeat what you say all the time, parents understand this very much, but it’s necessary.
Repetition is the key to successful communication, it has a great power especially for learning, and important in speeches to motivate others. Leaders must also redefine their way of repeating themselves so that they won’t bore their followers: simple and concise. That way, it reminds their colleagues and followers what they are fighting for.
In Tom’s case, he knew that he is creating a blockbuster movie. Perhaps the crews forgot? Who knows.
In the ranting showed above, we can see that he repeated himself three times in a different way: creating a great quality movie. First, he told them that they are of a high standard. Second, he reminded the crew that they (I’m not sure who Tom meant by ‘they’ but I’m assuming stakeholders or producers)are the reason why Hollywood is back in business. Lastly, he ended it by telling them that there are people out there entrusting their project to work.
Another example of his repetition of the message was when he threatened to fire his crews, and he delivered it repetitively and some with different context:
I have told you and now I want it and if you don’t do it you’re out. If I see it again you’re fucking gone — and you are — so you’re going to cost him his job, if I see it on the set you’re gone and you’re gone.
That’s it. Am I clear? You understand what I want? Do you understand the responsibility that you have? Because I will deal with your reason. And if you can’t be reasonable and I can’t deal with your logic, you’re fired. That’s it. That is it. I trust you guys to be here. That’s it. That’s it guys.
As you can see here, because of how serious the Covid cases are in the US, Tom had to ensure that all his people are safe. There cannot be a protocol broken, otherwise, it’d cause the whole movie to add more cost if they had to delay the project just because if someone broke the protocol.
2) They Work Later Than Others
I’m on the phone with EVERY f*cking studio at night, INSURANCE COMPANIES, PRODUCERS!!
“Leaders are the ones willing to look out for those to the left of them and those to the right of them. When it matters, leaders choose to eat last.”
Leaders who prioritize others first before themselves will gain even more followers. In the working world, in order to have the people you hire to be comfortable having you as their leader, you are going to have to prioritize their well-being before yourself.
As written in the quote above, it showed that Tom worked harder and later than others, telling everyone that he had to speak with a lot of people to get their movie in process in this kind of time.
Because, like any leader would think, who else will do it if not him? Sure, maybe he hired people to deal with the other stakeholders, but ultimately, he’s the one who must be making the decision.
Doing this is exhausting. It’s messy and a lot of work to do. But leaders must do it for everyone if they want the business going, especially for Tom’s case. Who else would be dealing with insurance companies and producers than himself?
3) They Care About Their Employees & Stakeholders
“We are creating thousands of jobs you motherfuckers. You can tell it to the people that are losing their fucking homes because our industry is shut down. It’s not going to put food on their table or pay for their college education. If I see it again you’re fucking gone — and you are — so you’re going to cost him his job”
Leaders eat last because they care for everyone’s well-being. If they don’t, then they are not leaders but bosses. That’s not what Tom was trying to be, he was trying to be a good leader who cared for the people involved in the movies.
People will follow leaders who care about their well-being personally and at work. When leaders know them personally particularly, that’s when they opened their follower’s motivation and are aligned to their vision and mission. At the end of the day, those leaders will be the ones with many followers.
Sadly, not many understand how much leaders care. Recently, after Tom’s outburst, five of his crew members quit. You may give your all for them or carry all their pressures, but not many would appreciate it or understand the things you had to go through to make things work. And that itself is already frustrating.
4) They Must Think About The Long-Term Of Their Business
“That’s what I sleep with every night. The future of this fucking industry!”
In my workplace, there is always a five-year planning work meeting. It’s where the BOMs and the business development team gather to talk about where will this company go five years from now and what’s their plan.
I was involved in this one time and it was exhausting. I had to research potential places for the company to expand, why choose that area, what’s the demography there, who were the competitors, and so many more. I remember feeling frustrated because I didn’t know what to do or how do I see the company five years from now.
Now, imagine how Tom Cruise felt with this when the film industry is shut down for nearly an entire year. How will he pay his employees? Are people still willing to go to the theaters after Covid? Will they be able to generate money through online streaming? Is the industry coming to an end?
I’m sure entrepreneurs understand this very much. They must think about the profit and losses from each product they release or even when building the company itself. It’s a very difficult task.
Conclusion
Tom isn’t at fault when he yelled at his crew members. He had a lot on his shoulder, the pressure was real to create a movie during the pandemic. The costs are adding up when no revenues are coming in since the beginning of the year and investors are slowly losing faith in the film industry at the moment.
His ranting also showed us that being a leader is tough. Not only that you have to think about your role, but the entire thing. Based on the audio, he showed us that leaders:
- Have To Repeat Themselves nearly ALL THE TIME
- Work Later Than Others
- Care About Their Employees & Stakeholders
- They Must Think About The Long-Term Of Their Business
This audio showed us that there is so much pressure when one becomes a leader. It’s not easy as Tom Cruise did in the movies, and definitely a lot of risks to take. But at this kind of time, he is truly doing a mission impossible for the job he believed in and passionate about.
I’m certain that when this movie is released, his hard work as a leader of the franchise will pay off.
