At first glance music has nothing to do with me. I don’t listen to music on the radio. I listen to sports talk or POTUS. I failed piano lessons and grade school music class. I could not sing on key if my life depended on it and I was perhaps the only cheerleader in history that could not feel a beat or clap on beat.
And yet I find myself commenting on COLDPLAY.
When COLDPLAY was first announced as the Super Bowl’s half time entertainment I was surprised at the negativity with which social media met the news. As a person little interested in music, the reaction surprised me. I thought they were a very relevant band that would be met with a positive response. Social media said they were not a visual band. My ears perked up. As soon as I can look at a challenge from the lens of verbal, vocal or visual, I can weigh in.
Chris Martin’s dance moves will never be confused with Michael Jackson’s dance moves. BUT here is where we can all learn a lesson. Knowing the visual was not his strong suit, he invited Bruno Mars and Beyoncé to share his spotlight. How often does anyone share their spotlight? By sharing his stage, his 15 minutes of international fame, he actually made himself bigger not smaller.
3 Lessons We Can All Learn
1. Identify both your strengths and your weaknesses. You can’t grow your strengths or decrease your weaknesses if you don’t know what they are.
2. Pay attention to the visual. EVEN IF YOU ARE COLDPLAY, your verbal and vocal is not enough. Even though COLDPLAY won 8 Grammy’s and many other awards, it’s all about the visual to the audience.
3. Get the right help. In this case, getting help made COLDPLAY bigger and better. COLDPLAY has sold 60 million without the help of any other group. You have to look in the honest mirror and ask self when good is not good enough.
You probably can’t ask Queen B to help you out. You can look in the honest mirror and figure out how to make the good even better and compliment where you are weak.
One last lesson, even Beyoncé bobbles. She did not fall but she sure did wobble in those 5 inch heels. Remember, perfect is not our goal, effective is.
