Live Aid and Leadership.

Live Aid and Leadership.  I wouldn’t have known that Live Aid* was 40 years ago except for an email from a high school friend.  He reminisced to a group of 10 of us who had been close friends all those years ago, having served as the leaders of a youth organization in the northeast (NEFTY).  As everyone chimed in and shared their current life updates, it dawned on me that we were all leaders back in 1985.  

Today, we have lawyers and consultants, hedge fund managers, authors, teachers, and even a Naval Rear Admiral among us.  We serve and work in the public and private sectors.  There have been celebrations and loss, transformations and evolutions.  Who we are today very much reflects who we were as teenagers.  The leadership attributes were planted in the 80s and have been growing ever since.

1. Get Sh*t Done.  We were the kids who conceptualized and executed on a curriculum of fun and Jewish learning for hundreds of synagogues and thousands of our peers.

2. Inclusive.  Everyone mattered and was included.  It was our job to ensure that every participant felt seen and a part of the activities.

3. Organized.  High-achieving students who were active locally, the youth group leadership carried a full academic schedule, participated in school clubs and sports, and our youth group work often involved weekend travel.  We had to be organized to get it all done with high quality and on time (all without computers, cell phones or current technology).

4. Culture Keepers.  Culture started with us.  This group set the tone and often led by example.  Our enthusiasm and dedication emanated throughout the organization and we knew that we were impacting our peers.

5. Mission-driven.  As leaders in a values-based organization, we all knew that our work mattered.  We engaged with adults, in spaces where we were Ambassadors for our constituents, and we lived our values.

6. Lead with Fun.  We never took ourselves too seriously.  We had so much fun as a group and our reminiscing this week took us all back to a time where we truly enjoyed the work we were doing.

   
   

As I think about the leader I am today (and the leadership this cohort has experienced), it does remind me that our formative years are just that:  they form us.  Live Aid was a core memory of a time where I was becoming the leader I am now.  How can that possibly be 40 years ago?

*Since I am intentionally dating myself, Live Aid was the concert where Bob Geldof (Boomtown Rats) persuaded many of the world’s top artists to play for free, including Queen, David Bowie, Madonna, the Who, Elton John, Tina Turner and Paul McCartney. The shows (London and Philadelphia) were seen by about 1.5 billion people in more than 150 countries and would go on to raise more than $140 million toward Ethiopian famine relief.