We're big Queen fans at home, so when I heard about the IMAX showing of a 1981 concert in Montreal I knew we had to go.
The experience was amazing - a larger-than-life immersion directly into the stage, which made us vibrate and rock and roll for almost (too short!) two hours.
But this is LinkedIn, so other than encouraging you to go see it, I wanted to bring a few reflections on #teamwork.
1. #Connection: I'm not an expert on rock bands, other than being happy in the audience, but I couldn't help noticing how well the four members of Queen interacted with one another. Freddie Mercury would go to Roger Taylor and you could almost put your finger on the exact moment they "connected", and magic happened. Brian May would be doing his (amazing) gig, and Freddie would connect with him and they'd perform even better, instantly. John Deacon was there on his own, but you could see he was paying attention to the general vibe and responding to it, too.
How important is it in our teams that we know how the others are feeling, so we can connect in the same vibe, or help bring them to a better place? That's how magic happens!
2. #Support: I don't know how you call that function, in concerts, that is responsible for bringing the microphone / taking it out, depending on what the lead singer needs; but the guys on that concert were amazing! To the point where it actually got my attention. Again, this is an IMAX Queen concert I'm talking about, and I'm focusing on how effective the guy was! Freddie Mercury would not wait a millisecond, and the microphone would be in his hands exactly when he was starting the movement from the piano to front stage. That's not a function on the spotlight, but that part of the team was as important as everybody else for the success of the concert. And that includes all the technical crew!
3. #Spotlight: sure, Freddie Mercury is everyone's favorite and he really steals the show. But you could feel how balanced that team is, how each one of them knows they shine on their own, and they shine even more when they're working together. That's the essence of good teamwork, right? We're all good performers on our own, but when we're connected, supporting each other, each one is great, and the end result is amazing.
And I'd add a 4. #Resilience: it was a breathtaking concert of a band in its prime, and still... when you looked at the audience (in all its early 80's fashion splendor!), you could see that some people were simply not impressed. It was really funny to see; and a great learning => you can be one of the greatest bands in rock history, perform marvelously, and still not get the appreciation you deserve! And that didn't, as it shouldn't, impact the team; they were grooving on their own vibe, they were happy to be performing together and they knew they were doing great.
From now on, whenever I tell someone in the team that "hey, YOU ROCK!", you can bet that I'll be thinking of that concert and these learnings! 😉
Manager at Red Light Management
2moHootie & Blowfish + Collective Soul + Edwin McCain