Making the magic happen
There’s a risk these weekly blogs are going to become a book review series! I am currently buried in “Leaders, Myth and Reality” by General Stanley McChrystal and it is far from what you’d expect from a retired ‘4-star’ writing about that subject.
The format is great. Each chapter takes two unconnected individuals from points in history, and compares and contrasts what made them ‘leaders’. I mean, how do you compare Albert Einstein and Leonard Bernstein? It is such a counter-intuitive way of approaching a subject that fascinates us all, but it seems to work.
One ‘pair’ so examined are Walt Disney, and Coco Chanel. Their individual stories are incredible; Both were disruptors. Disney took the concept of animation from a short ‘filler’, to the status of a full, stand-alone motion picture. But the traits we might seek from a great leader in modern parlance seem to be scarce in him. He was an obsessive, and to some he might have appeared a narcissist. Even his most senior and talented animators weren’t credited on the end rolls, and their work was often criticised and never praised. It was all about “Walt Disney”, but he explained that that was just his name; “Walt Disney the Brand” was something far, far bigger. And he wasn’t a businessman, leaving his brother Roy to do that stuff. For him, it was all about the product.
But his staff followed him religiously. They would work late into the night for low pay and little reward. Similarly, Coco Chanel was an enigma. Her ‘break’ in life was to become a courtesan to Etienne Balsan, a wealthy former cavalry officer. This gave her access to the higher end of society, and almost to while away the time, she started making hats. Soon she took up with a wealthy Irishman, Edward Capel, who financially supported her as well as building her business acumen. But again, Chanel was focussed almost solely on the product, and throughout her ascent to icon she really took the part of Artistic Director rather than CEO. And just like Walt, she was obsessive with detail, ripping up inadequate workmanship, and having her live mannequins stand for hours as she pinned her new designs upon them.
In both cases, they were clearly‘difficult’ people to work for. But employees were fiercely loyal. Even after strikes, hiatus and closures, former workers would flock back when asked. Both ‘Disney’ and ‘Chanel’ were things that were bigger than their naming founders. People recognised that there was something beyond the individual – a mission worth achieving. And even today, it’s a dream of many in their own industries to work for iconic brands such as these.
Hopefully such organisations are now better led, with a healthier internal culture than in those early days But both are clear examples of when something is bigger than the leader, and when it almost leads itself. On the face of it, they are great examples of something happening in spite of great leadership, rather than because of it. On the other hand, if Walt hadn’t created Snow White, or Coco the little black dress, would there have been anything to lead in the first place?
Today, things are perhaps more challenging. Its been a long time since we’ve seen the likes of these two, and I’d argue it might be harder to replicate their somewhat unique success today. How many of us in our working lifetime will get to be part of something truly new, and magical? And would today’s workforce actually stand for the treatment that was endured in the early days when these two creatives established their greatness? Its quite likely that before the breakthrough had come, there would have been a massive turnover of staff and more than a few employment tribunals.
Make sure you create the right conditions for today, for the next big thing to flourish. You might just make the world a more magical place.
Derek Flint Cert.Ed., MCIPR
MCCHRYSTAL, S. A., EGGERS, J., & MANGONE, J. (2018). Leaders: myth and reality.