Let’s Hear it for the Band!

When you walk down the hallway do you really know what is happening at home for the faces you pass? Do you know the struggles of their daily life or if they have hidden talents? As we pass from school into the business world we become more closed off in some ways. How do we connect? How do we inspire and earn trust?? How do we unlock authenticity and cooperation at the office? How do we promote valuable and vulnerable communication so we can BE better?

How do we find ways to let our team’s talent shine under the spotlight to benefit them as humans, the team at large, and also our corporate shareholders?

You can hire experts and consultants who will make gobs of money to help you build your corporate culture, or... you could start a band. A corporate band can be a loud expression of a company's mission and dedication to a culture of authenticity, vulnerability and passion for excellence.

I didn’t happen on this idea by chance. I was led down this path by experts. Have you ever heard the saying that the guitar players get all the girls? Well in this case, with this girl, it was true. I started dating rockstar guitarist and technologist Paul Bullock while he was playing guitar in the Ciena corporate band, OTN Speedwagon.

He had just earned a brick with his name on it at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame not because of Ciena’s telecom innovation, but because their corporate band won Fortune’s Battle of the Bands. Paul encouraged me to expand my evenings singing around the piano with work colleagues into a full corporate band. He told convincing stories about how his CFO and other executives had won the hearts of their team and industry with their cameo performances. He insisted it would celebrate our culture of innovation and risk taking.

I was intrigued but not convinced. Peyton Wimmer , who was the band therapist to Grammy winning bands, came in and told me I should trust Paul, and never ever to fire the tambourine player. Then I lost a bet with my sales team and was handed a microphone and an electric guitar.?The rest was history at the House of Blues in New Orleans.?My onstage parts were sometimes a bit messy, but the corporate culture effects were top of the charts every time. Peyton and Paul were both right! I also made sure to play a little tambourine at every show. Job security?! Am I right?!

Turns out it is “money” to have your leadership team be vulnerable and let it all hang out, figuratively speaking (no wardrobe malfunctions, thank the Lord).

I wasn’t the only one who led by example: Craig D. Smith was comfortable architecting networks and playing guitar in his own band. He did not play the bass. We needed a bass player.? He learned the bass.? Alex Ocampo had played drum line in high school, he had never sat behind a drum kit… we got him a kit and “Boom Boom Ocampo” was born.? Jeff Smith had an alter ego who wrote songs that are played in movies and sitcoms but it was completely separate from his life as a kick- ass Sales VP.? He was and always has been a rockstar in every way.? Jashondra Crockett 's mom has been a professional singer and so was Carolyn Eaton 's. Jim Hopkins and Ed Wolfe each had stints in their careers as professional musicians.?

We had a wealth of talent right here at home in so many ways.? The band opened the lines of communication in a whole new way and allowed cross department teams to connect and share with trust and confidence. They certainly never hesitated to correct or playfully harass me when I played the wrong note or started the wrong verse!

It turns out we also set ourselves apart in a tough competitive set by interacting with our customers in a way that was unique and indescribably fun. Not only did they enjoy getting to know us better by watching the band perform, but we expanded the band with cameo appearances by customers.?We had fun, they fun, we celebrated each other and we made great things happen on and off the stage.

Creating a band led to a fantastic corporate culture who worked and played together, who broke down barriers and not only played, but listened to each other.

We VALUED what was being said by one another and created a passionate anthem to rock our industry and had fun while doing it. That fun helped us to attract and retain amazing talent. The band showed that this is a cool place to work! Who doesn’t want to work with people who have fun and rock out.

The customers were attracted to the energy the band created. It promoted a deeper relationship with customers as they are engaged and entertained and delighted by the unknown talents of the people who are balancing the books, coding, plugging in cables, managing the support center.

The big band energy was a team effort and it helped us grow faster and stronger.

Peyton Wimmer taught us that every person is critical. "Don't fire the tamborine player" was our motto, because while they may seem unimportant, they also might be the cultural cornerstone holding the whole thing together. David A. Simpson wasn't on stage with us, but he was a critical part of the band. He would proudly hand out invitations for weeks ahead of each show and stand as bouncer at the door to gather the coveted invitations and as soon as the music started he was? working the crowd and cheering our success. ?

The net result to us was increased vulnerability as a team and also a positive impact to the bottom line EBITA. The combination of those two things, when combined with the trust of our team and customers led to increased innovation for our product development and deeper customer satisfaction. We put ourselves out there, and it worked.

Ciena’s OTN Speedwagon is having a reunion 10 years after they won the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame trophy. Enseo’s GEM band are still close friends and supporters even though many of us have faded away from where we met. The magic of those practices and performances changed our lives as well as our businesses.

How do you create community and communication with your team and customers? Please share and don’t forget to subscribe to Unplugged above. Follow me on LinkedIn: www.dhirubhai.net/comm/mynetwork/discovery-see-all?usecase=PEOPLE_FOLLOWS&followMember=vanessaogle

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