FYRE Festival and Leadership
The Oscars had no host!? How could they possibly function without a charismatic leader at the helm of the ceremony?!
While I considered writing about the hostless-Oscars and its implications for modern leadership, I've been itching to write about the Fyre Festival documentaries for some time...
For those unaware, two competing documentaries (one on Netflix, one on Hulu) about the now-notorious "Fyre Festival" premiered to significant fanfare in recent months. The documentaries chronicle an entrepreneur's attempt to create a glitzy music festival in the Caribbean that ended in disaster. Wealthy millenials flocked to the Bahamas, only to find themselves victims of a massive fraud: a festival that wasn't.
One of the key themes I took away is the tightrope walked by many in entrepreneurial organizations. There's a tug of war between remaining positive about a quixotic vision and being realistic enough to know when to throw in the towel.
Documentary interviews with many of the team members talked about following their leader's vision and charisma right off a cliff (strangely, the man didn't seem all that charismatic to me...).
That made me think, what are some of the mechanics that ensure leadership success when we're shooting for the moon?
1) Look for dissent. Make sure your leaders (or yourself!) are actively seeking disagreement. Do they weed out people who don't fully support their vision or do they demand devil's advocate perspectives? Effective leaders recognize that dissenting opinions are constructive and often lead to better decision-making. They can divorce themselves from the need to be right. If leaders aren't actively looking for constructive disagreement, beware of groupthink.
2) Decide 'No-Gos' ahead of time. Before embarking on a project, decide on certain milestones that must be met by certain dates/times. If everything isn't squared away by those dates, pull the plug. When we're in the thick of things, it's easy to heed the Siren's call and simply rationalize the current circumstances. By delineating specific milestones with precision ahead of time, we won't fall victim to the curse of sunk cost and poor decision-making.
3) Process over outcomes. Conversations with leaders ought to be focused on sustainable processes, not outcomes. We should aim to be like the basketball coach who applauds his team after a well-executed play, regardless of whether the ball went in the basket that particular time. If leaders are too focused on the grand-vision of the outcomes, they're likely to miss out on the data along the way that serves as a real indicator of feasibility.
I'm not saying that these would have prevented the Fyre Festival disaster, but they were certain key features of strong leadership that were noticeably absent! We'd do well to take notice.
On a different note, I am thinking about putting more active information in this newsletter to help you with your career progressions.
Right now, I know of a few senior folks looking for their next home in the learning and development world. I'd like to try and help!
A question for you.... what is your appetite for my highlighting known positions and/or known job seekers as a part of these newsletters?