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by Jim Walker
© 2006, All Rights Reserved
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Over the years many Rock Star Leaders have captured the nation’s imagination and stirred its conscience with varying degrees of success. Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Jackson Brown, Bruce Springsteen and many others have taken up their guitars and raised their voices in the hope of making the world a better place. Bono, lead singer for the Irish band U2, stands squarely in this leadership tradition, but in many ways has transcended it – taking the art of Rock Star Leadership to altogether new levels. For students of leadership who may have missed it, Bono’s 2004 graduation speech at the University of Pennsylvania is not only an entertaining and inspiring work of oratory, but also provides a model for many aspiring leaders – even those of you who are not globally famous celebrities. Of course at first glance, some might argue that Rock Stars do not have the true talent, discipline, and smarts required to be effective leaders – but as we shall see, there are other leadership talents and intelligences to be considered and cultivated when living in Vertigo Nation.
If you haven’t seen it, take a few minutes to read the speech. It’s posted at this link.
http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/between/2004/commence-b.html
So what exactly is Rock Star Leadership, and what is Bono doing that makes him not just a great rock n’ roller, but also has transformed him into an incredibly unique and influential global leader? Let’s break it down into eight easy to remember themes that you can carry with you: R-O-C-K S-T-A-R
R is for Real… As in “Be Real”.
This is the number one rule for any effective leader – know exactly who you are, and be comfortable with who you are, and don’t make pretensions to be something or someone you’re not. This is especially true in an age like ours – Vertigo Nation - where a never ending media onslaught of staged images, manufactured opinions, endless television news, and tired, poll-tested ideas create a permanent state of bland, psychological motion sickness. Bono’s UPenn address begins with a startlingly clear and amusing declaration, but one that also cuts right to the heart of the matter: “My Name Is Bono And I’m A Rock Star.” How many times have we watched aspiring political leaders flounder under the national spotlight simply because they don’t really know who they are – or seem unable or afraid to share who they are with the public. I still find it fascinating to recall how both Bob Dole and Al Gore revealed entirely new and engaging personas after losing their campaigns. All of a sudden they were making the rounds on late night television, transformed into relaxed, funny, self-deprecating, everyday guys. Did it taking losing on a national stage to strip away all their fear and posturing? Or were they finally left alone by their handlers long enough to actually say something unrehearsed? It’s hard to know for sure – but it seems almost certain that they would have gained more votes had they revealed that side of themselves – their Real side – before Election Day – not after.
O is for Original… as in “Be Original”.
As an artist in the public eye for over two decades, Bono is well aware of the need to keep exploring new avenues and directions with his music. His work on debt relief and AIDS has also taken him to places where the streets have no names – a rock star traveling with the US Treasury Secretary, a rock star on the phone with the President of the World Bank, a rock star getting into the nitty gritty details of trade practices at the Devos Economic Forum. What leadership book was he reading? What Harvard case study told him about this leadership approach? The answer of course, is that for the type of transformational leadership that Rock Star Leaders attempt, there is there is no leadership book, no magic recipe, no “Five Steps For Galvanizing World Opinion On The African Crisis”. Bono’s leadership is literally a work of art, a creative act that can’t be taught, and certainly shouldn’t be copied – at least not in the literal details. What we can copy and learn from though, are the themes behind his leadership, and then imagine how to apply them to our own stage.
Sing the melody line you hear in your own head, remember, you don't owe anybody any explanations, you don't owe your parents any explanations, you don't owe your professors any explanations. You know I used to think the future was solid or fixed, something you inherited like an old building that you move into when the previous generation moves out or gets chased out.
But it's not. The future is not fixed, it's fluid. You can build your own building, or hut or condo, whatever; this is the metaphor part of the speech by the way.
Originality is clearly one of the main themes of Rock Star Leadership, but you had better be ready for critics to blast your latest album, for industry insiders to backstab you, and for fickle fans to turn on you in a heartbeat. To achieve both success and true originality takes courage, patience, and a thick skin. This is certainly true in the music business, where Bono first made his mark, and it is true in the leadership business where he is putting those same qualities of steadfast originality into practice.
C is for Caring, as in “Be Caring”.
Notice that the rule is not “Be Careful”– but, “Be Caring”. We’ve got a society full of “Be Careful” – but way too little “Be Caring”. If you think about it for more than five seconds, you’ll realize that you can almost always instantly tell when somebody genuinely gives a damn about whatever it is they’re talking about, and when they are just moving their lips in some postured pose. You may not like his music, or his omnipresent cool glasses, or even care about Africa, but when listening to him speak, and seeing him in action, no one can question whether or not Bono really does care about the causes he has embraced.
K is for Keep On, as in “Keep On Keeping On”.
What began for Bono with an eye-opening and heart-wrenching trip to Africa in the mid 1980s has taken root and become a steady, unrelenting campaign for change and justice. Keeping the momentum going, keeping up the drumbeat, keeping attention focused on the issue of African relief has not only helped the cause, but it has distinguished Bono as a true expert in the field.
I didn't expect change to come so slow, so agonizingly slow. I didn't realize that the biggest obstacle to political and social progress wasn't the Free Masons, or the Establishment, or the boot heal of whatever you consider 'the Man' to be, it was something much more subtle. As the Provost just referred to, a combination of our own indifference and the Kafkaesque labyrinth of 'no's you encounter as people vanish down the corridors of bureaucracy.
There is a saying that those who go the extra mile find the road less crowded, and at the end of the day – those leaders who keep on keepin’ on often find themselves in unique and powerful roles. Whatever leadership task you take up, be sure that you can find the strength and motivation to keep at it, year in and year out - to keep on saying “Yes” in the face of unrelenting and petty “No’s”.
S is for Simple, as in “Keep it Simple Stupid”.
In today’s hyperactive – micro segmented, globally competitive economy, there is a logic and temptation behind creating complex leadership strategies addressing a wide range of possibilities and outcomes. While in many cases this approach yields powerful results – it is not the road of Rock Star Leadership. For better and worse, Rock Star Leaders focus on just a few searing themes that can match the emotional content of their music.
So my question I suppose is: What's the big idea? What's your big idea? What are you willing to spend your moral capital, your intellectual capital, your cash, your sweat equity in pursuing outside of the walls of the University of Pennsylvania?
“What’s your big idea?” Can you explain it in 30 seconds so that a 4th grader can understand it? Can you explain it in 30 seconds so that your grandmother can understand it? Rock Star Leaders use simple lyrics, and a whole lot of amplifiers, to zero in on just a handful of critically important themes. This ability to tease out and distill the critical simplicity of what needs to be done is a rare talent – somewhat akin to writing a hit song, and in Bono’s example, he has started an organization called DATA that demonstrates this simplicity: Debt – AIDS – Trade – Africa. No need for some elaborate mission statement here – it’s essentially clear what the agenda of this organization is all about. Simplicity also makes it clear what you are not trying to achieve, thereby allowing you to stay focused.
T is for Truth, as in “Tell the Truth”.
Brendan Kennelly has this epic poem called the Book of Judas, and there's a line in that poem that never leaves my mind, it says: "If you want to serve the age, betray it." What does that mean to betray the age?
Well to me betraying the age means exposing its conceits, its foibles; its phony moral certitudes. It means telling the secrets of the age and facing harsher truths.
Facing the harsher truths about the world and how it operates is what makes Rock Star Leaders such a rare and valuable commodity in a society that often feels like a masquerade ball filled with branded digital toys, sleek cars, climate-controlled homes, and pockets of over-designed paradise protected by deadly accurate 24/7 security systems. In a consumer culture dedicated to pleasantness and conformity, who really wants anything so harsh as the truth? Who really needs it?
From the very start, Bono and U2 have not flinched from holding up a mirror to our culture, singing out the secrets of the age, focusing in on war and civil rights and consumer culture in a way that few other artists have matched. Furthermore, because his art has not avoided the harsher truths, we are not completely incredulous when Bono addresses those same truths outside of his domain of rock and roll expertise. The same cannot be said of many other celebrity entertainers turned public activist. So – not only do Rock Star Leaders face the harsher truths – but they build credibility by being true to themselves and their beliefs, on and off the stage.
A is for Action, as in “Take Meaningful Action”.
So--We Are The World, Live Aid, started me off on this journey. It was an extraordinary thing and really that event was about charity. But 20 years on I'm not that interested in charity. I'm interested in justice. There's a difference. Africa needs justice as much as it needs charity.
Rock Star Leaders understand all about pageantry and stage effects, making them acutely aware of the fact that more often than not, nothing really changes on New Year’s Day. The years roll by, and children still die from stupid, preventable disease - debt and economic underdevelopment continue to plague entire populations, while indifference and denial grips the rest of the world like an old coat. Having stood center stage in the midst of manufactured vertigo and swayed to “We Are The World”, true Rock Star Leaders begin to gravitate upstream to the source of problems, working to actually prevent problems in a structural sense, rather than merely working to get on TV at a charity event. Of course the paradox of this kind of leadership is that the more effective it becomes, the more invisible it becomes – until few if any even realize who is responsible for the quiet and substantive changes that are occurring. Rock Star Leaders learn to take meaningful action, not credit - to work for justice, not charity - to strike a chord for change, not strike a pose.
R is for Rage, as in “Rage Against Complacency”.
Few (if any) models of leadership can carry the mantle of righteous rage like Rock Star Leaders. It is this undercurrent of anger with the status quo that is perhaps the most powerful difference between Rock Star Leaders and other leadership types.
Seven thousand Africans dying every day of preventable, treatable disease like AIDS? That's not a cause, that's an emergency. And when the disease gets out of control because most of the population live on less than one dollar a day? That's not a cause, that's an emergency. And when resentment builds because of unfair trade rules and the burden of unfair debt, that are debts by the way that keep Africans poor? That's not a cause, that's an emergency.
Armed with little more than a red guitar, three chords, and the truth, Rock Star Leaders such as Bono can sound the shrill, angry alarm against our own indifference and try to rock us out of our lethargy. Sometimes, they even succeed.
Post Production
Be Real, Be Original, Be Caring, Keep on Keepin’ On, Keep things Simple, Be Truthful, Take Action, and Rage Against Complacency – not your everyday recipe for leadership success, and certainly not suited for all audiences. If your audience is expecting Dixie Land Jazz, don’t come on strong with the drums and guitars. Certain audiences simply don’t respond to Rock Star Leadership, so don’t hurt your cause simply because growing up you secretly wished you could be Jimmy Page or Pat Benatar.
Furthermore, consider if your cause warrants the level of emotional intensity inherent with Rock Star Leadership? At the end of the day, there is no need to get that fired up about your Cub Scout Den, or local block party. By all means, bring your total energy and talents to bear on these types of tasks, but be careful not to position yourself as a Rock Star Leader in these small, community-based organizations. It will simply annoy people. The same can be said of many corporate environments as well – if you work in a starchy, buttoned up type of bureaucracy – a Rock Star Leader might be exactly what the organization needs – but be careful it doesn’t end up limiting your overall effectiveness.
Here are some rough guidelines for identifying potential Rock Star Leader situations:
1. Substantial change is required.
2. The change is going to require sustained intensity.
3. There is a current lack of momentum and general cultural indifference.
4. The culture will respect and respond to a little Rock n’Roll attitude.
5. The project has simple, easy to understand, emotional elements that people will respond to with enthusiasm.
The final element to consider is whether or not you are really suited to be a Rock Star Leader? Do you have reckless abundant original energy? A thick skin? A well-honed, lyrical rage? A giant ego roped in by disarming humility? A cause worth singing about? Can you carry a tune? Do you really care? And honestly, do you look cool in sunglasses?
About the Author:
Jim Walker is President and founder of Mind Palace, Inc., an educational publishing company in Philadelphia, PA. He has been a U2 fan since the early 80s, and according to his four kids, he definitely does not look cool in sunglasses.
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