Ok I am having a virtual and intellectual headache at the moment since watching Beyoncé’s Netflix Special on her Coachella 2018 performance.
I have never listened to her music intentionally before though I can recognise a couple of her old songs with Destiny’s Child and one or two singles from air play.
My intention wasn’t the music and still isn’t, I dare say I was actually shocked at the language she used in her lyrics never knew she was that ‘raw’, I am still flustered (wouldn’t have known without the subtitles).
It is wisdom to cherry-pick, as it is said:
Eat hay and spit out sticks; Eat meat and spit out the bones.
My intent for writing this blogpost is drawn from the excerpts, interviews inserted in the concert and lessons learnt.
But first, some statistics from Coachella 2018, according to Launchmetrics: total Media Impact Value (MIV) of over $116 million was realised on the first weekend. Beyoncé and her fans generated over $45 million in MIV, that’s about 30% of the total MIV and she did this with only 9 Instagram posts in the first weekend which represented 40% of her total MIV posts for the entire festival.
Do you know that, Ariana Grande was paid $8million to headline Coachella 2019 double what Beyoncé was paid for headlining 2018? But Beyoncé is set to make in excess of $100million as a fallout of her performance in Coachella 2018 including the Netflix special.
And yet Beyoncé still managed to turn Coachella into Beychella by a single announcement made by the ‘hype man’ during her performance (which of course was in the script)
She is skilled in branding and her entrepreneurial ingenuity is out of this world.
All these don’t come easy, I will list some lessons learnt that struck me and I believe if anyone practices these, they will succeed as well.
Success can be duplicated.
Vision
Have a picture bigger than where you are at the moment. Dream way bigger than your current ability.
Articulate your Vision
Let this vision be clear and concise. Break it down into little parts.
Hard work and work hardest
Have I mentioned how hard she worked? She was supposed to do this in 2017, but the unplanned pregnancy with the twins appeared to extinguish the dream. The road to Coachella 2018 started effectively 8 months earlier. 4 months of intensive rehearsals with the music crew, another 4 months with the dance and creative crew. She had 3 sound stages in the same facility for music, dance and creative teams and shuttled from one to another. She had to lose over 60lbs of post pregnancy weight in the process as she weigh in at about 218lbs when she gave birth. She had an emergency C-Section because she had a difficult pregnancy with all kinds of complications. Remember she is a wife, mother, nursing mother and had to juggle all these responsibilities and yet met all her goals within her set deadline. She held daily meetings with departmental heads everyday to run through the day, as she pressed for excellence.
Focus
Her focus was razor sharp and computer guided. She was unflinching.
Virtues
Consistency, hard work, dedication, doggedness, sacrifice, denial, excellence I can go on and on...
Be hands-on
Attention to detail. She was on top of everything. She directed the show herself, nothing slipped through her fingers. She knew about everything and got the people skilled in every aspect of work needed, at work, to assist her achieve her goals. She supervised everything.
See opportunities in an opportunity
As an entrepreneur, she recognised the opportunity from headlining Coachella as the first black woman and took it and converted it into tens upon tens of millions.
Turn the stage into a platform
She used this stage to address her beliefs, culture and what she stands for.
Take charge of your stage
She only let her husband, sister and her trusted best friends (Destiny Child) on stage with her though she performed her songs which featured other artists, but she didn’t give them her stage.
Never pass up an opportunity to train the next generation
You can see her young daughter in the rehearsals, in the front row of the stage in Coachella. The next generation is already in class.
Share the spotlight
Finally, as every great leader, she knows as an artist, you are nothing without the fans and she dedicated the last song to them. And she recognised every member of her team and shared the spotlight with them.
You can’t be what you can’t see - Marian Wright Edelman
One of her dancers, a Nigerian, Edidiong Emah, in one of the interviews made an important statement I want to leave you with.
I toss it up, catch it in my spirit first then in real life second.
This is a classic Law of Faith, until you see it with your mind’s eye, you can never see it with your physical eyes. Without Hope, Faith is hopeless.
And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I. And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see.... - Genesis 31:11-12 (KJV)
💗
See you at the next One!
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