If you didn’t catch the news, Bruno Mars won in all 6 categories that he was nominated for at this year’s Grammys. That’s a huge win – regardless of whether you love his music or not.
This was the first time that the winner of the best R&B album also won the top (pop) award – best album of the year.
And that, to me, is the biggest takeaway for leaders. It’s the need to have influence and impact over a broader audience rather than one that’s more narrow. Broad appeal gives you a lot of different ways to have the impact that you can’t have if your power/authority comes from a smaller base.
In larger organizations leaders come up thru one division or another. Your leadership team may tilt heavy towards sales, marketing, operations, or finance – depending on what business you’re in. What I’ve seen across organizations of all sizes is that the people who succeed are connectors. They do more work, more often, to build relationships across the various departments and divisions so that they have the trust and appeal of a wider base.
If you want to take home all of the awards, I recommend doing the same.