34. How to herd pop stars: A case study in collaboration

An insiders' view on how to attract, inspire, and focus a diverse team to produce meaningful work that impacts millions of people

Audio version of the post

About three weeks ago, a familiar image popped up on my Netflix feed. I recognized the faces of iconic stars like Bob Dylan, Diana Ross and Michael Jackson in front of a white banner with USA AFRICA printed in large blue letters.

When I hit play, I had no idea I was going to get a master class in group collaboration.

We Are the World, January 28, 1985 (The Guardian)

In January 1985, I had just turned 11 years old when a supergroup of musicians released a charity single titled “We Are the World”. I remember being in awe of the mix of stars assembled side by side in a small recording studio in L.A.

A new documentary on the story behind the making of this song has garnered a lot of attention and views (over 11 million downloads in its first week).

The Greatest Night in Pop recounts the events leading up to the release of the We Are the World single which sold over 20 million copies and raised more than $80 million ($214 million today) for humanitarian aid in Africa.

To be 100% honest, I remain a much bigger fan of Band-Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas” which still gives me goosebumps when I hear it played on the radio from late November through Christmas day. This song also inspired the American version.

But, putting aside my personal feelings about the song We Are the World, what stood out for me from this documentary was not the music or the celebrities — it was the powerful lessons in team building and facilitation on display from start to finish.

A master class in team facilitation

The documentary captured key moves orchestrated by Lionel Richie, Quincey Jones, Harry Belafonte & others who put on a master class on how to guide a highly diverse and talented group toward an ambitious, common goal without imploding during the process.

Here are 5 lessons I found especially instructive that could apply to any group process or project:

1. “Check your egos at the door” was a sign Quincey Jones placed on the front door of the recording studio on the night of January 28th, 1985, as world-famous artists filed into the building. From that moment on, Jones and Richie reminded their rock star team to invest in the greater good. This included inviting Bob Geldoff (leader of Band-Aid) to help frame the WHY behind the project to put aside any lingering need to feed celebrity or fame that could potentially derail the project or its aims.

2. Blob tag & location. Lionel Richie, Quincey Jones, and Harry Belafonte leveraged personal relationships and capital to attract musicians at the top of their game to join the project. Once they secured one star’s commitment they lured another. According to Ken Kragen (one of the lead organizers and Richie’s manager), a turning point was when he convinced Bruce Springsteen to show up at the tail end of a draining nationwide tour. Richie also capitalized on an opportunity to corral the era’s hit makers by scheduling the recording session on the same night as the American Music Awards (which he also hosted!) just miles from the studio. The location made it easier for artists to say “yes” to participating.

   

   Quincey Jones, Michael Jackson, and Lionel Richie produced We Are the World (source: Netflix)

3. Infusing humor to break the tension. Richie leaned heavily on his natural sense of humor which was tested during some odd and semi-threatening encounters with a boa constrictor and chimp (Jackson’s pets) during writing sessions at Jackson’s residence. Richie also masterfully coached up legends, such as Bob Dylan, to awkwardly (at first) sing a few lyrics of the song. He connected Dylan with Stevie Wonder at a piano in one scene to help break through Dylan’s shy nature. There are also moments of levity sprinkled throughout the recording session with a spontaneous sing-along (to Belafonte’s Banana Boat Song) and Cyndi Lauper discovering her jewelry was the culprit behind a mysterious jangling interfering with the studio recording. Humor helped to propel the group forward over obstacles such as fatigue or frustration with the creative process.

4. Phone calls (low-tech & direct). Early on in the documentary, set in the mid-1980s, a car phone is featured in a scene along with landlines and walkie-talkies. This reminded me of what it took to literally “call in a favor”. There was only one option. Today, it’s likely many of the A-list artists sought for a similar project would be impossible to reach by phone. It was clear to me that having in-person conversations and building connections via phone calls was part of the secret sauce that enabled We Are the World to come together. Our digital communications are far more accessible today but seem to lack the direct and personal touch that can be unlocked through a simple phone call.

   

5. Holding on to the big picture. As tensions and opinions in a packed room of creatives began to heat up, Richie recalled a piece of advice that helped ground him as he oversaw the process.

   One line you can never use in life, I’m not sure about this, what do you think? We have 47 artists, if you say that, you will have 47 different versions of We Are the World. So my job, was under no circumstances do we veer off what it is (the song).

   Of course, that’s not exactly what played out in reality…Moments later in the film, Stevie Wonder belted out a verse in Swahili, adding an entirely new and unscripted wrinkle to the song (according to Richie, this was enough to turn off the country legend, Waylon Jennings, who walked out of the studio shaking his head in disbelief).

   Suddenly, the whole creative process began to stall and unravel until Michael Jackson began humming a melody to reflect Wonder’s last-minute contribution. Then, within earshot, Ray Charles and Smokie Robinson gently re-direct Jackson (leveraging their relationships with him) and the project magically got back on track.

   This was a clear example to me of the group holding on to the big picture and holding one another accountable.

   Richie’s, Jones’, and Geldoff’s messages to unify around a common goal had taken hold.

Bob Dylan & Bruce Springsteen

“I sang the best I could”

There are plenty of other nuggets scattered throughout The Greatest Night in Pop, including Bruce Springsteen and Huey Lewis struggling to hit notes but being vulnerable enough to embrace limitations and accept feedback.

As Springsteen’s voice quivered and broke, he recalls, “I just started to sing, my voice was not great, but I sang the best I could.” It became clear with Richie’s and Jones’ encouragement that perfection was not going to be the enemy of good enough — or getting to the finish line.

Another lesson in how to get stuff done.

At the end of the documentary, Richie reminisces, tearfully, about being “in the room” on January 28, 1985.

As a big music fan, I can only imagine what it must have been like to be in the presence of such talent.

Yet, the real gold for me in this story was not the dizzying array of artists who showed up to perform, but the powerful mix of coaching, facilitation, teaming, vulnerability, and collective effort reflected in the words, actions, and gestures of Richie, Jones, and the 47 humans who joined forces for one night.

It was this collective will and process that resulted in a powerful, impactful, simple, and selfless song that ultimately benefited millions of lives outside the room.