Ego Check On

One of the most successful, star-studded, and celebrated charity projects occurred on January 28, 1985. This was the date of the famed recording of “We Are The World,” the USA For Africa song written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. 

Under the direction of legendary record producer Quincy Jones, arguably the greatest collection of musical talent secretly entered A&M Recording Studio late at night to lend their time, talent, and heart to create a song, build a foundation, and initiate a movement that would go on to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for African famine relief. 

My wife and I recently watched the Netflix documentary, “The Greatest Night in Pop”, which gives an honest and intimate look behind the curtain to see how this historic, creative, and complicated collaboration all went down. And while taking it all in, one scene that stood out to me was a very simple but intentional leadership decision made by producer Quincy Jones.

As the room filled with this mind-boggling array of talent, each artist was greeted with a sign above the entrance to the studio that Mr. Jones put there, instructing them to… 

“CHECK YOUR EGOS AT THE DOOR.”

This simple but profound message set the tone for these amazing, gifted, confident, insecure, and complicated individuals to enter the studio and - like one of the famous lines in the song says – come together as one. 

As soon as these artists understood the purpose of this project, the moment they all realized this was bigger than one person, and when they all naturally arrived at what I like to call “assignment alignment”, they all got it together and the studio session was on.

As leaders, teachers, coaches, and presenters, we all have our offices, classrooms, athletic facilities, and stages where we get it together and share our voice. And as we enter our respective studios to create that sound, just like these incredibly talented, excited, exhausted, confident, nervous celebrities, I encourage us all to arrive at these spaces confident in our giftings while also honoring the other talent, voices, and unique sounds in the rooms who are there to add value to the creative collaboration.

As Quincy Jones so eloquently states at the end of the documentary, “I know and believe in the power of music to bring people together for the betterment of mankind.” On that same note, I know and believe in the power of all of us as leaders, teachers, coaches, presenters, especially when we communicate with authenticity, create with confidence, and collaborate with humility. And I know and believe when there’s alignment in the assignment, and when we respect the sign above the door, it can be a memorable and exhilarating experience to show up with confidence, sing your verse, and share the space, all while having our…ego check on.