The Five Laws of Vuvuzela Leadership

Despite the U.S.'s recent loss to Ghana, the Worl Cup has been a nice kick to America's lazy summer sports schedule. obscure futbol stars have galloped into our homes in HD brilliance. But the true star of these World Cup games hasn't been a soccer player.

It's been a three foot long piece of plastic.

The vuvuzela—the buzzing instrument blasted by South Africans at soccer matches. In only a few days, the vuvuzela became a sensation with sales on Amazon rocketing 1000%. Social networks were buzzing too. And the buzz wasn't positive. The Twittersphere nearly melted down with vuvuzela angst when the games began. 29% of people tweeting about the instrument used the word "annoying" to describe it. Nevertheless, the vuvuzela has been frequent guest in Twitter's trending topics for a couple of weeks now. Love it or hate it, people can't stop talking about it.

But the vuvuzela isn't all bad. We can actually learn from it. In honor of the World Cup's true power player, here are the Five Laws of Vuvuzela Leadership:

1. Create simply - The vuvuzela is not exactly a complex product. It's a single piece of plastic. The vuvuzela requires no instruction manual and no explanation. Because it's simple, it's intuitive. A cave-dweller could figure it out.

When leaders create, they begin adding, adding, adding. Features, footnotes, and supplements grow like kudzu. "And we can do this! ..." is fun. It's the battlecry of a leader drunk on ideas. Those bubbly swigs of innovation
taste good, but they can be lethal. Leaders must fight for simplicity. They must engage the heart, and the heart doesn't play nice with complexity. The heart likes simple.

The pull towards addition is strong. Subtraction takes discipline.

2. Plan epic experiences - Vuvuzelas have become famous for the experience they create. A stadium full of vuvuzelas all buzzing in unison emits a chest-rattling, 360-degree blanket of sound. Vuvuzelas are at their best when they're all doing their thing to create this haunting experience. This experience is a piece of culture that makes a soccer match in South Africa what it is.

Great leaders create memorable experiences for their teams. Boring, black-and-white, by-the-book leaders will have a tough time engaging the hearts of their people. Fun experiences—shared together—are the building blocks of a great organizational culture. It's the leader's job to architect and initiate these moments. Epic experiences create epic stories. Epic stories create epic cultures. Epic cultures change the world.

3. Link to great stories - The vuvuzela is buzz-worthy because it's linked to great stories. Great stories have conflict and drama. A quick scan of the vuvuzela's Wikipedia page oozes with such drama. The words used soar like an Indiana Jones screenplay: controversial, history, dangerous, locusts, satanic, annoying, elephants, drowning, weapon. The beauty of the vuvuzela isn't in its ingenious design—it's noteworthy because it's linked with repeatable stories—stories of prohibition, hearing loss, and farting elephants.

Mere managers spew edicts, lists, and policies—expecting robotic compliance from their people. But strong leaders know to connect everything to a greater story. Story fertilizes the soil of communication.

4. Lead amongst the people - A vuvuzela stationed behind a computer is worthless. A vuvuzela sitting in an isolated office is pointless. A vuvuzela with a cell phone can't accomplish much. A vuvuzela can only do its job when united with a person—people activate the magic. Leadership is the same way, leaders must lead amongst their people. The best leaders are uber-relational—talking with their people, affirming their people, and making their people feel part of a team. Leaders lead in person knowing that distance can breed resentment and suspicion.

But technology can give leaders a sense of false connection as they're tempted to replace the face-to-face with more emails, tweets, and Facebook clutter. This is like trading a filet mignon for a steak-flavored jelly bean. You can lose yoru eeys and pretend it's the same, but it's not even close.

Of course the blessing of digital blips, blurts, and burps is that they provide a great opportunity for leaders. As people default towards e-communication, connecting face-to-face is that much more meaningful and rare. Email me, and you might get my attention; look me in the eye and you'll get my heart.

The vuvuzela without the human touch is just a hunk of petroleum. Add a little humanity, and it becomes a buzzing sensation. Leaders lead amongst the people.

5. Do one thing well - A French Horn plays lots of notes, and a flute makes a lovely cornucopia of sounds. The vuvuzela plays one note—a B flat—and it's darn good at it. But no matter how hard the vuvuzela tries to be a French horn, it'll never be a French horn. The designer of the vuvuzela gifted it in a certain way.

Good leaders don't mope about what they're not gifted at. And they don't dabble in what they're merely good at. Once they identify that one dominant skill, they flood it with their time and resources. Everything else gets dished, demoted, or delegated. What's your B flat?

Solomon said to "consider the ant." If he were watching the World Cup today, he might tell us to consider the vuvuzela. Even the simple (and annoying) things in life can teach us something.

What other leadership lessons do you see in the vuvuzela?

2 Comments »

1. I remember getting those at Catalyst a couple of years ago.  It was hard to silence them.  We brought them home to our kids and the sound would richocet down the stairs as they blew them from their upstairs bedrooms.  The vuvuzela reminds me that I must be an encourager of those in front of me.  I cannot simply sing the praises of the pastors and worship leaders on stage at Catalyst.  I must find a way to sound the horn, beat the drum, sing the praises, and tweet the message of those God has put right in front of me.

   Comment by Quinton Runyon - Jun 30, 2010 @ 10:46 AM

2. AMAZING PIECE! I’m still breathless LOUD leadership, vuvuzela style

   Comment by BarbE - Jul 15, 2010 @ 03:29 PM

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