After 36 years, it’s finally here.
The movie that inspired the 13 year old kid in me to excel at whatever I did to become ‘The Best of the Best’… or at least, gave me an excuse to borrow my dad’s pair of cool aviator sunglasses (RayBan, nothing less) to try impress some girls (didn’t work, by the way).
After watching the latest movie last night with my wife, I realised several interesting career lessons can be learnt from our hero, no, not Maverick…but Tom Cruise himself!! (Don’t worry…No spoilers ahead!)
1. Do not let Obstacles Block your Dreams – Let them Guide you Instead.
Born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV, Tom Cruise had a very difficult childhood where he was bullied at school (because of his looks) and was beaten by his own father.
He was also dyslexic and struggled in school to the point where he described himself in later years as being ‘functionally illiterate‘!
In fact, he wanted to be a pro-athlete but his dreams came crashing down when he injured his knee in a very nasty wrestling match leaving his plans in the dust and he was very disappointed.
However, because of this injury, he sought other means of discovering himself and for fun, auditioned for his school’s production of ‘Guys and Dolls’ and he was hooked on acting.
And as they say, the rest is History.
Sometimes in life and in our career, things don’t happen the way we want them to happen and we naturally feel disappointed. Maybe you didn’t get that dream job, or perhaps you were passsed over for that coveted promotion. As I said in my previous article, “The Infinite Career Game” , realise it’s just a roadbump and not a dead end. Stay positive and move forward.
2. Not Every Decision will be the Right One
When you are at the top of your game, success seems to come naturally.
But for every blockbuster like Top Gun (1985), there will be box-office busts like The Mummy (2017) or Cocktail (1988).
You’ll never always be on top. There will be hits, and there will be misses.
And sometimes, your best bets don’t go the way you plan them to, like the time Tom Cruise turned down the role of Tony Stark in Iron Man because he didn’t think a SuperHero movie would work at the time. (I guess he was would’ve been too short for the suit anyway)
Likewise, in our careers, we often make our decisions with the best information we have at the time. And if it didn’t turn out the way we wanted to, well, as what they say, “Hindsight is 20/20.” Take a breather, then move forwards!
3. Teach the Next Generation
Whilst filming Top Gun Maverick, Tom Cruise put his entire cast through very intensive training.
He put them through 3 months of Flight School and safety training, and he led by example. His cast members described him as the ‘hardest working person‘ on set, despite him being the SuperStar of the Show!
He was always on hand to guide the younger actors and teach them the ropes. A lot of the action was ‘real-life action’ and not CGI’d like in other Marvel or Michael Bay movies. In a way, he was showing the new generation how ‘old school action movies’ were shot and filmed.
Are you sharing your ‘magic’ with your younger staff, or are you keeping all the ‘good stuff’ for yourself? Are you preparing the next generation for the business challenges ahead and are you making yourself available to answer their questions? Are you setting a great example by your leadership style?
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Let’s face it – we all love Tom Cruise and his movies just keep getting better and better. He may be one of the best paid actors in the world, but he’s still down to earth and stories of his ‘niceness’ to everyday people abound on the internet.
Let’s be like Tom Cruise.