EP 13 - Tom Leads Like a CEO
At first glance, Tom Cruise is the ultimate movie star. But when you look closer, you see a leader who has built not just a career, but a system. He is the face on screen, but also the producer, strategist, and custodian of a brand that has endured for decades.
In this Episode:
Francois Jacquemin reflects on Tom Cruise as more than an actor: a disciplined leader and custodian of his brand. This episode explores charisma, execution, and the balance of ego in leadership.
His approach offers lessons for any executive who must balance vision, execution, and reputation.
Charisma supported by discipline.
Charisma is often what we see first. The magnetism, the energy, the ability to hold an audience. But charisma alone does not build longevity. What sustains Tom Cruise is discipline. He rehearses meticulously, prepares thoroughly, and treats the production costs with respect. In an industry where every minute is expensive, he shows that focus and consistency matter more than improvisation.
The leadership of a brand.
Cruise is more than an actor delivering lines. He is a producer shaping the project from the beginning. He challenges scripts, reimagines stunts, and pushes his own limits to provide something different. In that sense, he acts as CEO of his own enterprise. His choices are deliberate, anchored in the understanding that his name is his brand, and his brand is his business.
Ego as an element of leadership.
In boardrooms, as on film sets, ego is always present. It can drive conviction or create conflict. The difference lies in how it is managed. Tom Cruise embodies the balance: demanding without being destructive, confident without dismissing others, able to listen while still leading. This capacity to channel ego into positive momentum is as relevant in corporate strategy as it is in cinema.
From screen to boardroom.
The lesson is not that every leader must emulate a movie star. It is that leadership is never only about presence. It is about the structure that supports presence: preparation, focus, and the ability to carry a brand with integrity. Charisma may draw attention, but without discipline it fades. Trust is what remains, and it is built minute by minute, decision by decision.
The parallel for executives.
In insurance and reinsurance, the stakes may not be measured in box office receipts, but the principles are the same. Clients, regulators, and investors respond not to appearance alone but to consistent delivery. The challenge for leaders is to balance vision with execution, charisma with credibility, and ego with collective progress.
Leadership, like film, is a performance. But the difference between performance and theatre is discipline. That is what transforms attention into trust, and trust into longevity.
Timecode:
00:00 Introduction to Tom Cruise's Unique Approach
00:36 Tom Cruise: The Brand and the Leader
00:54 The Team Behind Tom Cruise
01:21 Tom Cruise's Commitment to Quality
01:53 Tom Cruise's Public Persona
02:23 Tom Cruise's Work Ethic and Perfectionism
05:08 Comparing Tom Cruise and Dwayne Johnson
06:46 Leadership and Ego in the Industry
07:41 Navigating Boardroom Dynamics
Francois Links:
Apple Podcast
Transcript:
Tom is, he's a product, right? Yeah. He's a guy that makes films, but when he joins a movie, he's unlike any movie star that you're gonna have because he will, he, he will. He joins very early as a producer to a movie. He'll read the script and he'll say in parts of the script, actually, I've done this before and I want to do it a different way.
And it's great 'cause he's then gonna push himself to deliver the film in a different way. Take the stunts and take the risk. Upper level, but it's also things that are interesting to him. But he's surrounded, but he's been doing it for a long time. But what's his approach? He's a leader, right? So it's like, uh. His business. So it's his own business. It's, it is Tom Cruise brand. Tom Cruise is, um, he's, he's the man. He's the man. He's the man. Well, he's the, he's the, he's the physical representation of a lot of work by a team. But he's the CEO, right? He's the guy that's on the screen. But there is a big team behind him.
And that big team have to manage a big personality. Um, I don't think Tom's incredibly demanding more than most. For longevity. It's about quality and consistency. Right? And that's what he's got, which is remarkable. I always take my hat off to people that are throwing themselves out of airplanes and thinking about what the audiences need. And he also won't trade being a movie star. Like he genuinely is one of the few movie stars that hasn't made television and, and those other things. He really, really respects what that is. So it's a, it is about focus. He know what he wants. Uh, he has a side on his objective, his vision, and, uh, and he's going for it a hundred percent.
How, how does he bring the people around him to, to towards that? Uh, I think it's Tom, right? Yeah, Tom is Tom. I mean, if you, if you met him in the street, you, you would probably think he's pretty average, average guy. Because the relationship is through the screen. Like everybody knows what Tom Cruise looks like. Um, obviously he sounds different in different countries depending on whoever's doing the voiceover. And, and in Japan I have had the same voice as, as Tom Cruise. That's the only thing we have in common. Funny enough. Uh, but no, he is a pretty remarkable guy. But it's a big product. He's a big product. He doesn't take on too much.
When he leans in, the production companies have to really support him, but he brings in a full team the way that he's pushing himself so hard. First of all, mentally reading the script, preparing for a project, but also delivering, delivering on the day. Execution is everything. He understands that why takes six takes, right?
He wants it to be perfect. He's not a one take guy, but he's rehearsal practice when the cameras are rolling. He's on it, and he knows the cost of production, but the cost of production by the minute is probably one of the most expensive things you're ever gonna find. So when you have a movie star that really thinks about the business side of things, it makes a difference.
Okay. But also he's respecting, he, he's, he's the custodian of his own brand, which a lot of stars, you know, they're, they're, they're outsourcing things to their teams to say, should I do more of this? Less of this. But Tom, he's not. On social in the same way that say, will Smith is on social. And, and I sort of respect the Tom side of things because it keeps the essence in the brand.
Whilst you are, everybody in the world knows who he is, it keeps that level of mystique a little bit higher, that if you want to see him go buy a ticket, right? That's literally it. So he respects the business in all of those lenses, but when it comes down to. Promoting a film and being accessible to his fans is very much there.
He seems pretty intense. So it is a, it is like he's a leader that takes things in their own, in, in his own hands and, and, and drive things, uh, by convincing people that this is the right way. And his team, of course, they, they work for him, but they still have to be convinced, right. So, and, and, and, and at the end of the day, public follow.
So I guess that there is, there is something into this, in this leadership style that brings. Him and, and, and, and, and, and the people into, towards the, the vision, without a doubt, without he is ridiculously charismatic. Right? And most good leaders are. Really charismatic, but listen to the teams around them.
And he's that guy as well. He's, he is listening. He's listening. He's taking the advice. He's, he's, but he's also thinking about, he's constantly in broadcast mode. Uh, so when he's working, if that's working in front of the camera, working the machinery behind the camera, working at a a, a movie convention or going to see the movie executive, that's where I've.
Had my relationships with Tommy is, is really just at movie conventions, so he's always acting, but he's, he's even behind the scene. He's acting, he's always thinking about that moment and he's very different. I've, I've seen a lot of movie stars. In the waiting wings ready to come out onto a stage and have that conversation.
Tom's different, he's on a hundred percent of the time. I'm sure he is. It is very different when he is relaxing and, and drawing his energy from somewhere. Without a doubt he's an extrovert, but even extroverts need a break. Yeah, yeah. Um, a lot of actors are, are, are introverts and generate their energy and can play a character because that's where they draw that energy from is being that character.
He's the opposite of, he's remarkable. Genuinely remarkable. But there are others too. I mean, Dwayne Johnson is a huge movie star, right? But he's like a huge character. Like if Tom asks you a question, physically huge as well. I mean, in every, he's a big guy. Yeah, he's a big guy. There's no getting away from that.
But he will, he will. And, and when I was running, uh, marketing teams and looking at digital marketing, he would talk to, he talked to Da Dwayne's team, but Dwayne would. Ultimately join those calls and say, what else can I do? Do you want me to do it slightly different for Instagram or TikTok? And he's very aware, he does have young children that probably ask him, or you know, what are you doing here?
But he really feels that he's part of that, and he checks in. And when Dwayne asks you a question, I would say that your heart rate goes up 10%. When Tom asks you a question, I think your heart rate doubles. So there's a, there's a, there's a, there's a difference in being that leader as well. I think that.
The industry doesn't waste Tom's time, and Tom doesn't waste your time. Like I say, on set. He wants to, he's a perfectionist, but he, he puts the effort in to minimize any of that time. And that's not to say that Dwayne runs, runs over in production. He's also incredibly professional. The industry is not built of professional like this.
Some of them, the ego is. Not as controlled. And ego's a big part. Yeah, ego's a big part of charisma, of being a leader, but ego is everywhere. I mean, you know, in boardrooms you have big egos as well, and uh, that's something that you always have to play with. You, you, you suffer. I mean, if you're a CEO and you're chairman or other people have their own ego, then you have to, you, you have to understand that and, and be able to, to.
To accept it and, and, and play with it. You know, there's the, there's the negative ego, there's a positive ego, and, uh, sometimes it's po it's the same person. But then at that moment, you need to be able to weather the, the, the, the, the storm and, and, and, and get the new basis to, to, to, to be getting to the decision.
So whether a is a strategy. Or a a, um, a movie or something that you change in a scenario. There's a convincing element and, uh, the convincing element is, um, what you bring on the table. Oh, you need to convince the other. There's the, the, um, there's, there's what the other is going to, to, to, to bounce back to you. And, uh, if the emotions are too high, then you get nowhere. So I find that always. Interesting. There's a moment in, in board meetings or probably in those moments it's exactly, it's changing. It's changing the mood. This from no, no. Two people fighting against each other to, okay, let's, let's make it work and, and, and finding a different basis. Usually it's, from my perspective, is a different basis, not the same basis as the one that triggered the crisis.