Imagine this… You’re former military. You’re down on your luck. Your autistic brother has been kicked out of the latest group home for him. And you’re late for work as a window cleaner.
That’s the plight of Joey Locke (Daisy Ridley) in Cleaner. Joey has been beaten down, kicked around, and on the last good graces of her employer. With this latest tardy, she’s in jeopardy of losing her job. She’s also been told she’s going to work late and her coworker has made her workday a living hell by overriding the controls on the suspended access platform. She’s unable to get to her access point in the building.
Turns out, that was a good thing for her. She was able to stay outside in relative safety as terrorists took over the building.
Now…
Her former skills can come into play. She has to find a way into the building, rescue her brother Michael (Matthew Tuck), and save the employees and visitors held hostage. It felt like a take on Die Hard.
You’ll not only get action and thrills, but you’ll also be able to decipher leadership lessons woven throughout the film. Buckle in; Reel Leadership is coming your way.
Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Cleaner
1. Take care of your family:
Joey gets a call early in the film. It’s the boarding house her brother had been staying in. She needs to get there now.
There’s a problem. She’s late for work. If she doesn’t get to work soon, she’ll be fired.
She makes a choice. She heads for her brother Michael. Upon arriving, she’s told Michael is no longer welcome there. He must leave with Joey now.
What’s she going to do now? She chooses her family. She takes her brother on a journey around the city as she tries to get to the Agnian Energy building for work.
It can be a difficult choice to decide between work and family. However, it shouldn’t be. For you or your employees.
Employees come and go. So do leaders. What never should is your family.
Make sure you’re caring for them as you’re leading others. Make sure your team members can care for their families as well.
Family is important.
2. Bad organizations will punish others when corruption is discovered:
Why was Michael kicked out of the boarding home? Because he had hacked their systems.
But it wasn’t only because he hacked their system. Michael had discovered something devious. The boarding home had been stealing from him.
The boarding home began to threaten Michael and Joey. They were told they would be sued for stealing data. They completely overlooked the fact they had been the ones stealing from Michael.
Beware of bad organizations. If you notice them trying to punish those who expose corruption, unethical behavior, or more, run, run, run.
You cannot stay in an organization that punishes what is right. Stay too long and they’ll bring you down as well.
3. Michael:
They have to face justice.
Michael was confused as to why he was kicked out. He didn’t like it there, he knew what he did was wrong, but he also knew what they were doing was wrong.
He told Joey that the boarding home has to face justice. The right thing had to be done.
When there’s corruption, you have to confront it. You can’t let those who do wrong get away with it.
Be willing to confront other leaders, employees, and customers doing wrong.
4. Great leaders speak up for those who can’t:
Joey is in the elevator with Agnian Energy owners, Geoffrey Milton (Rufus Jobes) and Gerald Milton (Lee Boardman), when a pregnant service worker enters. Gerald scoffs at the pregnant woman. He even makes an unethical quip.
What does he say? He tells that woman she should be home, not working.
Joey overhears this. She wasn’t willing to stand by idly. When she hears Gerald speaking down to the woman, she speaks up. She tells Gerald that maybe the woman could have stayed home if they paid proper maternity leave.
Do you ever see injustice in your workplace? Do owners ever talk down rudely to employees? Do you?
Don’t stay silent when you see others being abused. As a leader, you have the ability to speak up.
Speak up for those who can’t.
5. People may not understand what you say:
Gerald was a partier. He’d taken a woman from the gala to a room in the building. They were going to have relations when the terrorists released a gas that knocked everyone out.
Noah (Taz Skylar) was a window cleaner as well. However, he was more than that. He was part of the organization hijacking the party. He was going to expose Agnian Energy’s corruption to the world.
In order to do that, he had to have Gerald with the rest of the group. He went to find him. When he did, he revived him using an antidote to the gas.
Gerald looked out the window and saw Joey. He began mumbling about a window cleaner. Noah misinterpreted Gerald’s mumbling. He thought Gerald was talking about him.
Be clear and concise in how you talk to your people. Don’t mince words, speak in circles, or try to be fancy. People won’t understand you.
You have to be able to speak clearly and to the point. The more you do this, the more your people will understand what you’re communicating.
6. Your organization’s sins will be exposed:
Geoffrey shared Agnian Energy’s mission. It was to care for the planet. To make things better. But was it?
Marcus (Clive Owen) knew better. He knew Agnian Energy had been involved in criminal activities, including murder! More than that, Marcus also knew Agnian Energy wasn’t as environmentally friendly as it claimed to be. Their actions were damaging the planet.
Uh oh… Agnian Energy had been exposed!
Is your organization doing things against its code of ethics? Are you aware of anything that is out of sorts within the organization?
Know that these things will come out at some point or another. The sin of an organization will always be revealed.
7. Noah:
Nobody’s listening to you, Marcus.
Marcus had tracked Gerald to a room after he had broken free. He wanted to get Gerald back to the room where he would confess.
Noah was there as well. But he wasn’t falling in line with Marcus anymore. Neither were the people he thought were friendly.
Noah told Marcus no one was listening to him anymore. He had lost his leadership influence.
Know that you can lose your influence over those you lead. The longer you lead, the more you digress from the mission, and the further away you take people, the less they’ll listen to you.
Your influence will fluctuate. A lot of that fluctuation is up to you.
Be a leader who people will want to continue to listen to.
8. Superintendant Claire Hume (Ruth Gemmell):
What are you trying to accomplish tonight?
Claire Hume was trying to resolve the situation at Agnian Energy. She knew she had to get on the phone with someone in the building. That person was Noah.
Claire didn’t pull any punches. She wanted to know what Noah hoped to accomplish. How did she get the information? She asked him point blank.
Don’t be afraid to ask your team members what they hope to accomplish. They have their own goals in addition to the goals of the organization.
You may discover your team members hope to advance, try new positions within the organization, or mentor someone. The more you understand what your people want to do, the more you can guide them into roles and positions that suit those desires.
9. Help people understand how their situation relates to something they know:
Micahel was a huge movie fan. In fact, he loved Thor. Michael carried a replica of Mjölnir, Thor’s hammer from the Marvel movies, with him throughout the film.
As the situation became more tense, Joey realized she could help Michael understand what was going on. She told Michael their situation was like when Thanos went after the Infinity Stones in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Noah was Thanos. He was looking for data (the Infinity Stones). He would use them to hurt others (Thanos made half the MCU disappear). They had to stop him.
Michael understood this.
How do you talk to your people? Do you use illustrations, words, and ideas that they understand? Or do you ramble on in business-speak?
The more you’re able to communicate what’s happening in layman’s terms, the more your team will understand. Relate your mission, vision, and purpose in ways others can understand.
10. Bad leaders withhold important information:
Noah made multiple people within Agnian Energy confess to their sins. When they were done, he said one more person had to confess.
That person? Noah himself.
Noah looks at the camera and confesses to what he’s done and what he’s about to do – kill everyone in the Agnian Energy building.
Uh oh. His people, including Zee (Flavia Watson), didn’t know this. It upset them when they discovered this truth. It was important information that was withheld.
Leaders think withholding information will save their team from the stress, anxiety, and anger that comes from the truth. In reality, the truth will help them process and deal with what’s going on.
Make sure you’re not withholding the wrong information. When you do, you’ll upset others.
