the boss

One of my favorite videos on leadership is a live concert with Bruce Springsteen (The Boss) and the E-Street Band preparing to play a song they have not played in years.   The band is famous for taking song requests and playing on the fly in front of tens of thousands of screaming fans.  At this particular concert, they take a request from a fan to play “You Never Can Tell.” With no notice and no preparation, this song certainly shows their mastery of live music, but if you watch this video through a “Leadership Lens” you will see something very special.  

Think about the following items that caught my attention and then enjoy this video:

•  The Boss starts practicing and (at first) admits he is struggling. 

  • Learning - this leader shows vulnerability in front of his team.

• The Boss gets overly ambitious and is ready to start the song, but Steven Van Zandt (his long-time band mate) steps in and strongly disagrees with him…multiple times.

  • Learning - the team is comfortable telling the leader when they are wrong.

• Once they have a better plan, The Boss starts off with a small part of the band and shows them exactly what he wants.  Meanwhile, the rest of the band gets a few extra minutes to prepare.  

  • Learning – start small and give the team time to develop a plan.   Even if it’s only a few minutes!

• The Boss uses this impromptu song to let each of his band showcase their individual skills.

  • Learning – Let your team show what they can do.  High-performing teams are made up of skilled individuals with strengths that complement each other.

So how did they do?  The Boss showed he was a leader and the band showed they are a high-performing team.   The end result?  They rocked it, of course!

Click below to watch the video: