During my career I have been fortunate to have been a member of some really great teams - you know the type, the one’s where you feel the members have truly ‘got your back!’ It was those teams that made me feel that I wasn’t alone in my role as leader - as a team, we could achieve anything and get through everything!
We live in turbulent times and the future is likely to hold more challenge than we can imagine. These challenges will take new levels of leadership thinking in order to find solutions, and as Einstein once said - “we will never be able to solve the problems of tomorrow with the thinking of today.” This means that leadership is beyond the scope of any one individual - long gone are the days of the leader as superhero! Leadership today requires more effective collective leadership as an effective team will always perform better than the sum of its’ individual parts.
So what makes a team effective? What are the secrets of a great team?
Steve Jobs wrote:
“My model for business is The Beatles. They were four guys who kept each other’s kind of negative tendencies in check. They balanced each other and the total was greater than the sum of the parts. That’s how I see business: great things in business are never done by one person, they’re done by a team of people."
So what was it about The Beatles that allowed them to become the best-selling music act of all time? Popular theories have usually pointed to the genius of the individual members of the band, to fate, luck and destiny. But ‘Beatlemania’ did not happen by chance and there’s an awful lot we can learn from the ‘fab four’.
1. The four really looked out for one another, “they were tight”, they inspired one another and got energy from one another, they were open and honest with each other, and although they could argue a lot they were always close and would stick together in the company of others.
2. They were as dedicated to each other as they were to the team. It was just as important to help develop each other’s talents as it was their own and the outcome of the team was valued greatly. The sheer amount of songs they dedicated to one another is testament to this devotion and they were totally committed to their little band from Liverpool in taking over the world.
3. The creation of their music was a truly collaborative effort. One of the four would come up with an initial idea that would be bounced around and developed amongst the four. Through a process of brainstorming and collaboration the song would take shape and then instrumentation and rhythms would be explored, trialed and examined. Each individual would rehearse their individual parts to perfection before bringing the parts together for further collaboration and fine tuning (forgive the pun!) until it met with the expectation and approval of all. Paul is known to say, “The thing is…we’re really just all one. We’re four parts of one person”. But I would argue that the success of The Beatles is much greater than any of the four individuals would ever have achieved.
4. They listened to and showed appreciation of the sounds of many traditions, religions and cultures and incorporated these sounds into their music.
5. They were extremely innovative in business and strategy. They were relentlessly imaginative, creative and experimental: they were one of the first music groups to have their own production company, Apple; they pioneered new recording techniques and ideas, deciding to forgo live tours to develop a more sophisticated studio sound; they revived film musicals and their songs became political, social and cultural soundtracks.
6. Whilst being innovative, they never lost their ability to communicate their increasingly sophisticated ideas to a mass audience.
7. They touched the hearts and minds of their fans.
So, to summarise, what can we learn from The Beatles? Within an effective team each individual is driven to achieve their own personal best, devoted to the development and growth of each other and totally committed to the purpose of the team. There may be constructive conflict amongst the team as they thrive for innovation but they will stand united in front of all others. The team was a safe place, the emotional container and energy source where they could support and challenge each other.
Although they were as one as a team, their performance and success was so much greater than the sum of their individual talents. They had nailed the process of collaboration down to a fine art - each knew their role and carried it our to the very best of their ability. They listened to the views, opinions, desires and values of their stakeholders and aimed to meet those needs while still delivering something new and better. They were co-creative, imaginative, experimental, but while they took risks, they would reflect and examine their decisions and continually communicate their development journey with their stakeholders.
And there we have it - The Beatles - the ultimate demonstration of teamwork. A team effort that still lives today as one of the greatest music success stories of our time.
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