I had the envied opportunity to see Hamilton in London this weekend, and while the play itself was a masterpiece, I couldn’t get out of Evil HR Lady mode. So many management lessons stood out to me, so I just had to share.
Your ensemble makes or breaks you.
I had no doubt that the stars would be outstanding and they were. (Special shout out to Rachel John, who played Angelica Schuyler. Wow.) But what amazed me more was the perfection of the ensemble.
While the stars were off stage from time to time, the ensemble was practically always there, always dancing, and always singing. And their dance moves were so well done it was hard to believe this was live theater with no chance for re-shooting.
If the ensemble hadn’t been perfect with their performances, the stars would have fallen flat.
Lesson: You may be the star and you may want to hire stars, but the show–and your company–will be a disaster if your support staff doesn’t have it together.
To keep reading, click here: 5 Leadership Lessons from Hamilton
I’m not very interested in Hamilton, but may I say I am supremely jealous that you can just nip over to London any time you like. I have family there and it’s my favorite city EVAH.
*jelly jelly jelly jellyyyyyyyy*
Good article, by the way. 🙂
Would you believe I lived her 8 years before going to London for the first time? This weekend was my second trip. I fly back to London tomorrow for an HR Tech (now called Unleash) conference.
I adore London.
A 6th lesson: don’t be afraid to entertain possibilities, however unlikely they may appear to be of success. Who — other than Lin-Manuel Miranda — would have ever thought there could be a smash rap musical about Alexander Hamilton? Even a Miranda fan like Barack Obama confesses he was highly-skeptical when Miranda proposed performing at the White House a single song from a rap musical he was composing about Thomas Jefferson. And, the rest is history.
Yes, that is another good lesson. Because really, a rap musical about the Founding Fathers? Could it possibly be more boring?
I’m sure he got a lot of that.
Suzanne! I love this article. Especially #5. If only my ex lived by “Ever heard the statement “Everything happens for a reason and sometimes that reason is you’re stupid and make bad choices?”” Hahaha. Also applies to most managers/owners – literally anyone with even a bit of power.
My long-term plan is to spend six months out of the year somewhere in Europe, preferably Scotland. The possibilities of weekend getaways is ENDLESS. And living in California, Europe just isn’t as much of a hop, skip and a jump as I’d like. I’m so jealous of your fabulous adventure in Switzerland and happy that we get to learn so much by hearing about it from you. Thanks.
Effective lesson!
Thanks for the sharing.