Best of Blogs: Next Level Blog by Scott Eblin

This is another in our series of blog posts by the nominees for the Best Leadership Blog of 2009 (you can see the list and place your vote here.)

In addition to being an executive coach, Scott is also a speaker and author. In his book The Next Level: What Insiders know about Executive Success, Scott speaks with top business leaders and other organizational leaders and then presents the information so that readers may further develop their leadership practices. It is evident that Scott is an incredible source of leadership acumen, since hundreds of executive leaders seek advice and guidance from him every single year.

Below is a post from Scott that examines leadership from a musical perspective:

What Leaders Can Learn from Springsteen
by Scott Eblin (May 18, 2009)

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are coming to DC tonight. Unfortunately, I don’t have tickets but I do have an iPod full of the Boss’s music and great memories of a Springsteen show I saw a few years ago. What is it about Springsteen and the band that inspires such loyalty among their legions of followers? Apart from drifting on rock and roll fantasies, what can leaders learn from the Boss and the heart stopping, house rocking, earth shaking, legendary E Street Band?

In a brief interview with the Washington Post’s J. Freedom du Lac (how’s that for a very cool name?), E Street guitarist Nils Lofgren provides some insights on the Boss for leaders who want to rock the house.

Keep It Fresh: Lofgren says that Springsteen is surprising the band in the middle of shows by calling out classic cover songs that they haven’t worked up ahead of time. As Nils says, “we’re playing songs we don’t even know how to play, which, I guess is taking improv to new heights.” By stretching the band in this way, Springsteen is introducing a fresh element that adds some fun and keeps everyone engaged. What are you doing to keep it fresh for your team?

Experience Matters: Of course, if you’re going to play songs you don’t know in an arena full of people, it helps if you have some experience. As Lofgren points out, “we’ve probably got 300 to 400 years onstage” between the different members of the band. As discussed in recent posts, experience and practice leads to world class performance. As a leader, what kind of experience matters most to the results that you and your team are expected to deliver? What are you doing to recruit and develop that experience?

Read the rest of the post here.

While you will want to read the rest of this great post, the points in this excerpt leave plenty for us to think about. If you have an experienced team, do you trust them to try new things? Are you tolerant of mistakes, are willing to let your team go?

None of these may be the questions that you first think of as a leader, or that you hear in a leadership development training workshop, but they are critical questions.

Consider these questions, and the ones you ask yourself after you read the rest of Scott’s post as your leadership assessment for today. And then, if you haven’t yet make sure you vote for Scott or any of the other finalists here.

Best of Blogs: Next Level Blog by Scott Eblin

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