????8月初，由湯姆?克魯斯主演的動作電影《碟中諜》系列的第五部《神秘國度》在美國豪取5600萬美元票房。彼時，這部電影的海外票房也達(dá)到了6500萬美元。

????這是湯姆?克魯斯的勝利。上世紀(jì)80年代，憑借電影《壯志凌云》的熱映，克魯斯的事業(yè)突飛猛進(jìn)，但2005年他在《奧普拉脫口秀》上“跳沙發(fā)”的失態(tài)表現(xiàn)，在YouTube上迅速傳播，他的事業(yè)隨即跌入低谷。此后，他在媒體面前又做出了其他不當(dāng)舉動。比如，在接受《今日秀》采訪時，身為山達(dá)基教徒的克魯斯，竟然指責(zé)女演員波姬?小絲服用抗抑郁藥，治療產(chǎn)后抑郁癥。

????自此之后，克魯斯一直星途不順。但在過去十年，他不僅承受住了媒體無情的批判，并成功東山再起，證明自己依舊有著超高的票房號召力。大多數(shù)政治人物和CEO們都應(yīng)該對克魯斯的經(jīng)歷深有同感，因?yàn)樗麄円睬宄慌e一動均被聚光燈放大的感受。克魯斯在好萊塢重振雄風(fēng)的歷程，可以讓領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者獲得四點(diǎn)教益：

????身處困境時，不要讓自己越陷越深

????克魯斯的“跳沙發(fā)事件”其實(shí)并不嚴(yán)重，本應(yīng)很快從公眾視線當(dāng)中消失。但他卻又莫名其妙，甚至有些不負(fù)責(zé)任地抨擊服用抗抑郁藥，兩件事結(jié)合起來，便勾勒出一副糟糕的形象，他成了一位失控的名人。

????起初，克魯斯似乎還想冒雙重風(fēng)險為自己對山達(dá)基教的信仰辯護(hù)，但最后他明智地選擇停止談?wù)撨@個話題。隨著負(fù)面輿論增多，他可能意識到，自己的個人行為已經(jīng)令自身職業(yè)陷入困境，因此他首先選擇停止為自己“挖坑”。

????克魯斯已經(jīng)很少談?wù)撍纳竭_(dá)基教信仰。這并不意味著他已經(jīng)完全擺脫了負(fù)擔(dān)，但至少他不再為媒體提供更多自我破壞的素材。

????將公關(guān)任務(wù)留給專業(yè)人士去做

????最優(yōu)秀的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者會在身邊聚集最出色的專業(yè)人士，隨時征求和聽取他們的建議，尤其是一些關(guān)鍵職能，如公關(guān)等。長期以來，克魯斯背后一直有一個聰明的公關(guān)團(tuán)隊在替他打理事業(yè)。經(jīng)紀(jì)公司PMK的帕特?金絲莉是一位優(yōu)秀的公關(guān)專家，負(fù)責(zé)精心維護(hù)克魯斯的公眾形象。兩人的合作也非常成功。

????但據(jù)《名利場》雜志報道，在公關(guān)危機(jī)開始之前，克魯斯卻炒掉了金絲莉，由同為山達(dá)基教徒的姐姐擔(dān)任自己的經(jīng)紀(jì)人，這令好萊塢大跌眼鏡。這是一個糟糕的決定，而且事實(shí)也證明了這一點(diǎn)，因?yàn)榻鸾z莉這樣的老牌經(jīng)紀(jì)人肯定能預(yù)防公關(guān)危機(jī)的出現(xiàn)。報道稱，她曾告誡克魯斯在山達(dá)基教這件事上“保持低調(diào)”，這是明智的建議，可惜未被克魯斯采納。

????不過，克魯斯后來用專業(yè)的公關(guān)人士取代了自己的姐姐，最初聘用的是保羅?布洛赫，現(xiàn)在的經(jīng)紀(jì)人是阿曼達(dá)?倫德博格。相比克魯斯的姐姐在《奧普拉脫口秀》和《今日秀》這兩個災(zāi)難性事件中的表現(xiàn)，倫德博格在維護(hù)克魯斯形象方面所做的工作更有成效。很顯然，他已經(jīng)明白，名聲絕對不能成為賭注，對于一位影星來說更是如此。

????學(xué)會自嘲

????危機(jī)爆發(fā)之后，克魯斯在電影上的表現(xiàn)也時好時壞。有的電影表現(xiàn)不錯，比如《世界大戰(zhàn)》，但有些必定會成功的電影卻未能達(dá)到預(yù)期（盡管它們依舊有利可圖），比如《碟中諜3》。更糟糕的是，合作已久的電影制片廠派拉蒙電影公司也拋棄了他。事實(shí)上，準(zhǔn)確地說，克魯斯算不上失敗，但他不再擁有之前的那種票房號召力，也是不爭的事實(shí)。對于觀眾們來說，他似乎已經(jīng)成為了一個笑話。

????于是，他決定自嘲，而不是在他人的嘲笑中顧影自憐。

????2008年，克魯斯在喜劇電影《熱帶驚雷》中扮演了一個重要的小角色——低俗粗魯?shù)闹破靖吖芾姿?格羅斯曼。他自嘲般的滑稽表演獲得了觀眾和批評家們的好評。這個角色雖然并未立刻解決克魯斯所面臨的公關(guān)問題，但在改善公眾形象方面肯定發(fā)揮了一定的作用。

????克魯斯在電影結(jié)尾時滑稽的舞蹈，不由令人想起電影《乖仔也瘋狂》中的類似場景。這種自嘲的態(tài)度，幫助克魯斯找回了他最重要的資本——觀眾對他的喜愛。

????保持專注

????眾所周知，克魯斯對待工作一絲不茍，非常專注，或許正是因?yàn)槿绱耍嘲l(fā)的失態(tài)表現(xiàn)和山達(dá)基教的不當(dāng)言論，才會令公眾如此困惑和震驚。但即便在公關(guān)危機(jī)期間，他也沒有停止工作，之后他推出了一系列作品，包括在劇情片《獅入羊口》中的轉(zhuǎn)型嘗試，以及在歷史動作片《刺殺希特勒》中的出色表演，更不用說質(zhì)量上乘、票房大賣的《碟中諜》系列電影了。

????克魯斯很清楚觀眾想要什么，因此他一直在努力滿足觀眾的需求。盡管嘗試過喜劇和劇情片，但他始終記得自己是一名動作明星，并始終堅持這一點(diǎn)。在《碟中諜5：神秘國度》的前五分鐘，克魯斯表演了令人瞠目的特技，包括飛機(jī)起飛時，懸掛在飛機(jī)一側(cè)的鏡頭。這場特技也成為電影宣傳的重頭戲，展現(xiàn)和肯定了克魯斯的專長。

????這種堅持使得克魯斯的職業(yè)生涯在過去十年一直在持續(xù)，也為如何應(yīng)對困境樹立了一個良好的榜樣。盡管媒體和公眾似乎更愿意嘲笑他，而不是為他的努力喝彩，但克魯斯表現(xiàn)出了強(qiáng)大的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者素質(zhì)——面對困境，在正確的軌道上堅持前行，并對自己的票房潛力始終充滿信心。（財富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：劉進(jìn)龍/汪皓

????審校：任文科

????Over the weekend, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, the fifth installment in the lucrative action thriller franchise starring Tom Cruise, opened to an impressive $56 million at the U.S. box office. In addition, the movie has made $65 million overseas so far.

????It’s a coup for Cruise, who saw his career skyrocket after Top Gun in the 1980s but then watched it sink like a stone in 2005 after a silly couch-jumping stunt on The Oprah Winfrey Show, which went viral on YouTube. This was followed by other media fiascos, including his interview on the Today Show in which the Scientologist attacked actress Brooke Shields over her use of antidepressants for postpartum depression.

????It’s been a tough ride for Cruise since then, but not only has he survived the media’s unforgiving spotlight over the past 10 years, he seems to have made a comeback as a highly bankable movie star. Most politicians and CEOs can relate to Cruise, as they know what it’s like to have almost every move dissected under the public spotlight. And so, the following are 4 leadership lessons any leader can draw from Cruise’s Hollywood comeback.

????When you’re in a hole, stop digging

????Cruise’s couch-jumping episode wasn’t really a serious one and should have vanished from the public consciousness after a short time. But when combined with the movie star’s bizarre, and what some call irresponsible rant about the use of anti-depressants, it painted an image of a celebrity coming apart at the seams.

????Initially, Cruise seemed to double down on his beliefs in Scientology but eventually did the smart thing and stopped talking about it. As the negative press about him mounted, he probably realized that his personal behavior had placed him in a career hole and the first thing he had to do was stop digging.

????Cruise seems to have become less vocal about his involvement with Scientology. That doesn’t mean he’s completely free of baggage but at least he’s stopped giving the media fodder for his own destruction.

????Leave publicity to the right professionals

????The best leaders surround themselves with the best professionals they can find and listen to their advice, especially when it comes to critical functions like publicity. For the longest time, Cruise had a clever public relations team stage-managing his career. Pat Kingsley of PMK was a powerhouse publicist who carefully controlled Cruise’s public image. It was a successful partnership.

????But just before his publicity crisis began, Cruise surprised Hollywood by firing her and replacing her with his sister, also a Scientologist, according to Vanity Fair. It was a terrible move and very telling because a veteran like Kingsley could quite possibly have prevented the fiasco. She reportedly told Cruise to “cool it” with Scientology, which was smart advice – had he taken it.

????Since then, however, Cruise replaced his sister with a professional publicist, first Paul Bloch and now Amanda Lundberg, who seems to be doing a much better job of maintaining his image than his sister did during the disastrous Oprah and Today show period. He clearly realized that publicity, particularly for a movie star, is not something to be gambled with.

????Get in on the joke

????Following his seeming meltdown, Cruise’s movies performed unevenly. Some, like War of the Worlds, did well while other surefire bets like Mission Impossible 3 failed to live up to expectations (even though they were still profitable). To add to his troubles, his longtime studio partner, Paramount Pictures, jettisoned him. Cruise wasn’t exactly a failure but neither did he command the box office clout he once possessed. For the movie-going audience, he seemed to have become a joke.

????So he decided to get in on the joke instead of being victimized by it.

????In 2008, Cruise played a small but significant role in the comedy film Tropic Thunder, playing a sleazy and profane studio executive named Les Grossman. His hilarious performance, which indirectly seemed to be poking fun at himself, was well-received by audiences and critics alike. Even though the role didn’t solve Cruise’s PR problems overnight, it could be argued that it did a fair amount to soften his image.

????By being willing to laugh at himself, including appearing in an absurd dance sequence at the end of the film reminiscent of a similar scene in Risky Business, Cruise was able to restore his greatest asset – his likability.

????Stay focused

????Cruise has always been known for his unerring focus, which is perhaps why the public was so distracted and jarred by his couch-jumping and Scientology antics. Yet even during that period, Cruise never stopped working, and since then has produced a solid body of work, including a dramatic turn in Lions for Lambs and a compelling performance in the historical action thriller Valkyrie, not to mention several Mission Impossible movies of reasonably even quality and success.

????Cruise knows what his audience wants and works hard to provide it consistently. Despite his forays into comedy and drama, he is above all an action star and has remained true to that. In the first five minutes of Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, for example, Cruise performed an eye-popping stunt by dangling off the side of an airplane as it takes off. That stunt, which has been the centerpiece of the movie’s marketing campaign, both defines and confirms Cruise’s specialty.

????That consistency has kept his career afloat over the past decade and is a good lesson in how to weather storms. Even though the press and the public have seemed to take more pleasure in ridiculing him than applauding his work, Cruise has exhibited strong leadership qualities by staying on track and remaining confident of his own box office potential.

????S. Kumar is a tech and business commentator. He has worked in technology, media, and telecom investment banking.