Great Leaders Know When to Move to the Back of the Stage

A leadership lesson from Vince Gill and 50 years of making music

In August, I had the privilege of attending a Vince Gill concert at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium. My wife and I have always appreciated Vince’s extraordinary talent, but I left that evening with something more than an appreciation for great music. I left with a powerful reminder about great leadership.

Vince is celebrating 50 years in the music business with his 50 Years From Home tour. For more than two and a half hours, without an intermission, he entertained us with his remarkable voice, extraordinary guitar playing, and stories about the people and experiences that have shaped his career. He was funny, engaging, occasionally sentimental, and clearly having the time of his life.

About two hours into the concert, Vince began introducing the members of his band. Some had been playing alongside him for decades, and you could hear the genuine affection and admiration in his voice as he talked about them. Then he made a comment that I’ve been thinking about ever since:

“If you don’t play with people who are better than you, how do you get better?”

Think about that. Here’s a man who has won 22 Grammy Awards, sold more than 30 million albums, and earned a place in the Country Music Hall of Fame. Yet he’s intentionally surrounding himself with musicians who challenge him to become better.

What happened next made his point even more powerful. Vince picked up one of his guitars, walked toward the back of the stage, and sat down on a stool. For the next several songs, he let members of his band take center stage, showcasing their talents as singers and instrumentalists. He seemed perfectly content sitting in the background, accompanying his friends and enjoying their musicianship.

What a picture of leadership.

Great Leaders Never Stop Learning

One of my Four Leadership Necessities is Competence. Effective leaders have a responsibility to continually develop their knowledge, skills, and abilities. But competence also requires recognizing how much you can learn from the people around you.

As leaders advance in their careers, they can become increasingly insulated from people who challenge their thinking. Experience earns them authority, and that authority can gradually create an environment where others hesitate to question their ideas. Leaders can find themselves surrounded by people who look to them for answers rather than people who challenge them to find better answers.

Who are the people in your professional life who make you better? Who challenges your assumptions, introduces you to new ideas, or demonstrates skills you haven’t yet mastered?

If you’re consistently the most knowledgeable or capable person in every room you enter, you may need to find some different rooms.

Great Leaders Share the Spotlight

Another of my Four Leadership Necessities is Character, and one of its most important expressions is humility. It takes confidence to surround yourself with exceptional people, and humility to celebrate their abilities without feeling threatened by them.

I’ve worked with leaders who are uncomfortable when someone on their team demonstrates greater expertise than they possess. They feel compelled to have the final answer, make every important decision, or receive the credit for success. That eventually limits both the leader and the organization. Your job as a leader isn’t to prove you’re the smartest or most talented person in the room. It’s to bring out the best in the people in that room.

Vince could have remained front and center throughout the concert. Everyone had purchased tickets to see him. Instead, he used part of his evening to celebrate the people who helped make his success possible.

Great Leaders Help Others Become Better

That brings me to Covenant, the leadership necessity that emphasizes our commitment to the people we’ve been entrusted to lead. Great leaders create opportunities for people to develop their abilities, assume greater responsibility, and receive recognition for their contributions.

Sometimes that means coaching someone through a difficult assignment. Sometimes it means letting someone else present the idea, lead the meeting, or receive the recognition.

And sometimes it means moving to the back of the stage.

Here’s a question worth considering: When was the last time you intentionally stepped aside so someone on your team could shine?

Vince Gill gave us a wonderful evening of music at the Ryman. But the leadership lesson I’ll remember most came when he stopped being the center of attention. After 50 years of extraordinary success, he still surrounds himself with people who make him better, and he’s willing to make room for them at the front of the stage.

The best leaders surround themselves with people who make them better, then create opportunities for those people to shine.

Fellow leader – how can you demonstrate that with your team moving forward?