WHAT LEADERSHIP AND RHYTHM & BLUES HAVE IN COMMON

If you don’t know where you are going any road will take you there

George Harrison

I play guitar and sing background vocals in my band Boomerang (check us out at www.boomerangband.ca). We play vintage soul and R&B overs from the late 60s and early 70s. What was coined “soul” music back then came mostly from the Motown, Atlantic and Stax music labels. It was THE R&B of that era. However, it is a timeless generation-crossing music genre that is still distinctive today, even among the dozens of niches that populate the musical spectrum.  The essence of R&B is a groove created by the interplay of unique drum, bass, guitar, and percussion riffs which on their own can be very monotonous, but when integrated together creates a soul-stirring “stew” that lifts people off their feet and onto the dance floor. You can’t sit still once you let a good R&B groove get under your skin. It generates movement. It creates a kind of elation. It even helps overcome personal inhibitions or self-consciousness about dancing.  So you could even dance like Seinfeld’s Elaine with no inhibitions! It doesn’t even have to be a live band. You are alone in the car with your smartphone or radio and that Stevie Wonder R&B tune comes on and suddenly you are singing at the top of your lungs, your spirit is lifted, and maybe you are even brought to tears. Good R&B does that….and so do effective leaders.

Now think of a time when you were influenced by an effective leader. Effective leaders, through their actions and behaviors, create a groove that gets under your skin and moves you. Of course moving others means they are accessing your discretionary energy – the energy that only you can personally choose to give.  If you as a leader (and remember leadership is an activity rather than a position) don’t create the groove that stirs the soul, then people won’t be lifted to the dance floor of your team or organization.  What is that elusive groove you ask? That is for you to discover. Gain mastery of your instrument, know your part, listen to your other band members, and let ‘er rip. Warren Bennis once said “Leaders must encourage their organizations to dance to forms of music yet to be heard.”