What Lizzo's Grammy Speech Can Teach Business Leaders About Community

I was eyeball deep in a content creation session with my Chief Creative Officer the first time I heard the name “Lizzo.”

“We need a jam session, check this girl out,” my CCO said as she pulled up a YouTube video of Lizzo at the VMAs. Within seconds Lizzo was bounding around the stage, empowering the audience to tell themselves they were confident and beautiful while an inflatable derriere twerked in the background.

I’ve loved Lizzo’s tenacity and authenticity from that moment. She bares an unapologetic vulnerability that we as business leaders can learn from. As a Chief Inspirational Officer I’m enamored by anyone who embodies confidence and has a great time doing it.

While the world is buzzing about Lizzo and her “sudden” rise to stardom, I think it’s important to mention a few key things about her past and how her current message can help us as business leaders to fix a major issue we are witnessing it today’s business landscape.

What we know about Lizzo

• Seemingly overnight success has failed spectacularly at multiple points in her life and is not afraid to talk about it
• The song she just won a Grammy for was published back in 2017 and was a breaking point for her, not topping the charts until it was picked up as a track in a Netflix movie in 2019.
• Since "Truth Hurts" hit number one she has sang at multiple award shows, sold out concerts, and appeared on the covers of British Vogue and Rolling Stone.

What can she teach us about business?

In addition to Lizzo’s musical accomplishments, she has also created a platform to promote her mission of empowering plus size women and authenticity. The development of this platform comes not only comes through social media, but also strategic choices in the diversity of her backup dancers, costume choices, and interactions with the media.

Why is Lizzo’s Grammy speech so unique?

In the past we’ve fallen in love with celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence who unapologetically portray themselves as the “anti-celebrity”, falling down or cracking jokes, allowing us to identify with them and imagine what it would be like if we were in the spotlight. Lizzo’s genuine reaction to winning her first Grammy is similar to how anyone would react to suddenly reaching a goal they’ve likely been striving for most of their life. But what makes Lizzo’s speech truly unique is the message.

During her speech she begins by crediting other artists in the room, empowering them to take this opportunity to “get back to making music that makes people feel good.” I love this statement and how much it resonates for those of us who lead others. How often do we get caught up in hitting the numbers and nailing the strategies that get us closer to our goal, and then find ourselves burnt out before we get there? When we focus too much on metrics, we fall out of alignment with our original purpose of serving others. That misalignment causes the burn out and fatigue that all too often prevents us from reaching our goals.

She then continues on to say that had she not taken the opportunity to reach out to others in the industry, she would not be where she is today. Too often I hear of fellow business leaders being intimidated by making connections with other leaders due to their accomplishments. If you gain nothing else from this article, you should know that your value does not come from what you’ve accomplished, but by the ferocity in which you’ve tackled your goals so far. That energy is what will attract the right people to your circle and help you serve each other in a way that benefits everyone involved.

Finally, she called on artists to continue to support and lift each other up in the days to come. In business, we frequently view others in our industry as competition. It’s easy to get caught up in what others are doing and wonder if we’re doing enough to move ourselves forward. Even the common methods for overcoming this problem like networking events and mixers are only minimally effective. The truth is that we need to stop networking and start supporting one another. We all have unique talents that do not require power hour luncheons and scheduling tools to discover. 

In a world where there are more resources for businesses than ever, we need to get back to building communities that inspire members to work with each other rather than in spite of each other. 

Do you know of a business leader who is building this kind of community? Tag them in the comments below and let's move forward together.

In 2020 I’m on a mission to transform 250 business and build the kind of community we so desperately need. If you’re ready to be part of that mission, I’d love to discuss it with you. You can find out more information at www.successboarding.com