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Leadership Journal 
June 2, 2004
A Great Lesson from American Idol

I am sure most of you are familiar with the television hit, American Idol , where aspiring young singers compete for the prize of a recording contract. Week after week, they prepare and perform, and like another well know program, Survivor , one person gets voted off after each show, until a single winner is crowned.

 

My ten-year old daughter has become a big fan of Idol and with only a little coaxing, we have watched the program together, talked about how well each contestant performed, and tried to guess who would not make the cut. Because it was television, there were a few surprises along the way. Some who appeared very talented, were unexpectedly voted off, while others were able to hang on longer than they should have, at least according to our assessments! But that is another story.

 

The last two contestants were a couple of young ladies named Fantasia and Diana. From the very beginning, we expected Fantasia to be around until the very end. She was already a talented performer, with her own style and a distinctive edge. More often than not the judges raved each time she sang. Perhaps in their minds Fantasia was clearly above everyone else in the program, and they made several references to her as the likely winner.

 

Diana was different. At sixteen, she was not the polished performer. Early on there were a couple of times when my daughter and I agreed she would be the next one voted off. The judge's comments to her ranged from very good to horrible. In their minds, she was inconsistent. And if I remember correctly, there was an episode or two where she barely survived. But whether it was from sheer luck, or talent we did not recognize, she did survive - all the way into the final.

 

I observed something very interesting and reaffirming over the course of the competition. What I saw was a sixteen-year-old girl become remarkably better over the period of a few short weeks. Through some pretty pointed feedback, great coaching, and obvious hard work, Diana dramatically improved. She was enormously better, by almost any measure, at the end of the competition than she was at the beginning.

 

My observations about Diana's growth got me thinking about the workplace. How many Diana's are out there? Think about your own circumstances. How many people are there in your organizations that today are inconsistent and clearly not as skilled or capable as some others - but could soar to the top, with the right kind of coaching and inspiration? Do you even know who they are? Do you believe that some who struggle today might, in fact, be able to become great, or have you already permanently labeled them as losers?

 

While working with one of the country's largest retail grocers, I heard them share the story of how one of their former presidents started out as a bagger in a store. I have come across other examples in a number of companies about executives who began their careers in a similar fashion. So if I were to ask you which of your entry-level people might one day be president of your company (or of another for that matter), how would you respond? Can you even envision the possibility?

 

The journey of young Diana must serve to remind all of us that people can become better than they are today. They can learn to sharply hone their skills. They can learn to do entirely new things. They can accomplish more than they themselves or others ever expect. But, it is doubtful they can do it alone.

 

When you accept the responsibility of a leader, part of your obligation is to help other people fully develop their capabilities. You have to be genuinely interested in them. You have to spend time with them, work with them, give them candid feedback (both positive and constructive), and work with them some more. You have to teach, coach and counsel. And then you have to give them continuing opportunities to show what they can do. If conversations with your people are mostly about growing numbers and seldom about growing them, you need to recognize that you are managing a lot more than leading. Delivering results to grow the bottom line is clearly an indisputable responsibility of a leader. However, it is not a leader's only responsibility. If you are unable to also fulfill the responsibility of increasing your people's capabilities to produce more, you will find they won't produce more, and the results you will get will be stagnant at best.

 

Oh, one final reminder. Don't ignore your great performers just because they are already great. Fantasia was not left alone, nor did she sit back and coast. She, too, was offered the advice and counsel of great coaches, and she worked very hard to take full advantage of them. Like Diana, she was able to take her game to an entirely new level.

 

As a leader, isn't that what you want for all of your people?

 

 

Reflection Questions:

 

  • How much time do you spend really thinking about what your people, individually, might be capable of doing?

 

  • What is the one piece of coaching that each of your people, individually, would most benefit from?

 



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