One of the key skills and priorities of a cultivational leader is spotting potential, putting people in the right positions in an organisation and giving them the chance to shine. Thinking back over my leadership career I can see the faces of those that I have, in the opinion of some colleagues, 'taken a risk on', dealt with negative feedback about as they developed in their roles and then seen flourish and become important members of our team. When that happens it is right up there with the best parts of being a school leader.
For my own personal leadership inspiration I often look beyond the field of education and today I am going to write about someone who spent their career developing the talent of others to great effect in the field of music. Although he was not considered to be the greatest singer, guitarist or pianist, John Mayall is thought of by many at the greatest band leaders, and most significant figure in British blues music, of all time. His band, The Bluesbreakers, was formed in the early 1960's and they had moderate success initially, including supporting American blues artists on tours of the UK.
Then in 1965 things started to change. Mayall asked another performer to join him, someone who was unhappy with the direction the band he was in was taking, as he was a blue purist and his band were becoming a pop act. That performer was named Eric Clapton.
For the next two years the profile of The Bluesbreakers increased with Clapton as part of the team, and they even had an album reach number 6 in the UK charts. In 1966 though Clapton left the band to form the legendary 'Cream', so Mayall had to recruit another guitarist full-time to fill his shoes. He chose someone who is perhaps less well-known than Clapton, but someone who is held in equally high regard amongst fans of the blues. That man was Peter Green.
Many people only know Fleetwood Mac as the 1970s US outfit fronted by Stevie Nicks, but in reality they started out as a British Blues band, led by Peter Green. But that was after Green had developed under Mayall's leadership in The Bluesbreakers, which he did until 1967. Mayall was then left searching for another lead guitar player, his third in four years. How was he going to keep up his streak of finding and developing such amazing talent? Surely he couldn't do it again, could he?
The man that he chose for Green's replacement in his band was an 18 year old guitarist named Mick Taylor. Taylor stayed with The Bluesbreakers for two years before he left to join a little known band called The Rolling Stones! Taylor would also return to the band in the eighties and although these three were perhaps the most significant finds of John Mayall's career he worked with many other greats, right up to his death this year at the age of 90.
As a school leader I don't think we can have as much cultural significance as John Mayall did during his lifetime, but we can and should certainly make it our mission to spot potential and develop the skills in others around us just as much as we work on our own career development.
As I am writing this on a Monday (albeit not a stormy one), I will sign off today with this
Comments
Post a Comment