What Makes Great Leaders & Teams ?
The question that many have asked, and many have answered, here’s my answer
We know that there are many elements we can consider to answer the question, including the environment in which a leader, and the teams they lead, are working in. A team fighting for survival of the business will have differing day to day priorities to a team that is forging ahead on a trajectory of high growth and success.
But maybe there are things that are not so different too….
The things that are needed from you, the leader, and the teams as leaders too.
The Musical Link
After nearly 20 years as Vice President of Marketing in three different companies, of different scale, size and stages of growth I have reflected on an analogy many times that is very personal to me.
Playing Drums in Band.
Why ? How can that have any relevance?
One of my great passions in life is music, playing drums in particular and following some of the world’s best drummers. I have had the good fortune to be able to continue to live out my passion for playing drums by playing in a band, gigging regularly for over 10 years. – whilst continuing to lead a busy life as a VP, travelling and working with teams around the world.
The following 7 Key Ingredients use my musical analogies to bring energy and purpose for results
The 7 Key Ingredients of Great Leadership & Teamwork
(from a band perspective)
Purpose
The band plays for one reason and one reason alone.
We love to perform.
We want to perform to the absolute best of our abilities, each and every one of us, and we want to ENTERTAIN our audience. We want to infect them with our passion and energy for the music. We want our audiences to have fun and to have fun with us, be inspired and to want to see us again. And for that we are prepared to practice even when we sometimes don’t feel like it, to prepare and make sure we KNOW our parts, and have the mindset that "we know our shit" and be ready to go for it.
This is our reason to exist.
Sense when you need to Push vs Pull
The drummer may not always be seen (in the smallest of venues I can be squashed in at the back, hidden behind the horn section, singers, guitarist and bass !) – but you will definitely be heard…..and more importantly you are responsible for holding the band together, setting the tempo, keeping the time through your playing.
Sometimes you need to push forward to keep the momentum and pace, sometimes you need to pull back and allow different band members to shine, or even slow the pace when it’s getting away with itself. You also need to be prepared to recognise that if you set the pace wrong, you will need to correct it along the way.
The Job is the Band, not just you
Whilst there might room for some ‘showmanship’, some funky fills or even mini-solos…..the truth is that your job is to make the band sound great – by sensing the moment, helping to fuel the energy and the feel of the song, leading from behind or stepping out in front to punctuate the moment, intro the song or finish with a flourish.
Play what is needed for the moment, rather than trying to be seen.
No Ego, Win Together
Whilst each member of the band has different levels of ego (after all, to be the front man requires some level of ego !) – when we are playing together, we are together.
Those TRULY ELECTRIC moments are when we are all IN THE MOMENT, and totally on the beat, the bass in sync with the bass drum, the snare crack syncs with the guitar, the cymbal crash with the singer’s shout and the horn section stabs, with the vibe and energy that carries all the way into the room with the audience – that is when we are ALL leading together and winning together.
Those moments never ever happen with one member of the band alone. We all know it, as a shared belief, and that is what helps us to navigate the egos and have our best moments together.
Learn from our Mistakes, Find a Way
In those moments when the band makes mistakes, usually when any one of us comes in too early, misses out a line, plays the wrong note, forgets where you are …. You find your way out. And usually one of the musicians in the band, not always ‘the leader’ will start the path out, through a cue in the melody, or maybe a shift and cue to the next chorus with a drum fill.
Miraculously, in most cases, the audience won’t even notice the mistake because we held together. And while we might comment or joke about the mistake, no one is held to blame or made to feel bad.
We would rather celebrate that “we got ourselves out of it”, and use it to help us not to get it wrong next time.
See Beyond your Own Perceptions
The truth is that in any band, each member brings a different level of experience and skill. When we are on stage do you think that anyone in the audience has any idea who is really ‘the best skilled’ musician on the stage ? The truth is that each member is playing to their best, playing for their position, and playing to bring the song to life.
We all bring our own perceptions of how good we really are, but there’s been more than one occasion when someone in the audience has been surprised that a band member has no grades or certificates for their instrument.
We might be an amateur band, but we play as professionals.
Earn your Audience Every Time
As a drummer, my biggest inspiration as I started at the age of 13 was a world class drummer called Neil Peart. Voted the best rock drummer many times, he remained an inspiration to me throughout my life, not just for drumming. He never tired in his pursuit of working for his audience, and not taking them for granted. Even as the drummer of one of the most successful rock bands, Rush, he still never took it for granted that the audience would just be satisfied with what he had already done. What is next ? How does he keep the audience still wanting to come back again, and for more ? This is what any band, and leader and any team should be aware of.
Not resting on your past, but continuing to ‘show up’ and carving your best performance in the moment, and seeking out the path to the future – and doing that together.