3 Leadership and Life Lessons We Can Borrow from Grammy winner Brandi Carlisle
Photo via Tennessean.com
“Pressure keeps your blood flowing which is good for you,” offers singer-songwriter Brandi Carlisle. She should know! The talented artist with Billboard ranking hits such as “The Story” and “The Joke” just took home her 9th Grammy award! Blazing onto the stage as the opening act for the 2023 ceremony, Brandi soon had music royalty audience members like Taylor Swift and Lizzo rocking out to her award winning song, “Broken Horses.”
I know the feeling. A few months ago I played groupie at one of Brandi’s concerts myself. Sitting up front and center in an outdoor theater surrounded by a sea of other adoring fans, I got kidnapped by the “Brandi magic.” Not only was I captivated by the singer’s incredible voice, but also her ability to mash up a bunch of musical genres– rock, folk, country, pop and Americana–and make them all spill out together beautifully.
Bookmarking her own catalog of original music with songs from some of her musical heroes, including Elton John and Joni Mitchell, I watched as the iconic singer strutted across the stage, alternating between guitar and piano, as the stage lights flickered from her glittery suit. She belted out both rock songs and ballads with such joy, I imagined Brandi would have played just for her own enjoyment even if the audience hadn’t shown up that night!
Brandi’s song lyrics rattled around in my head for weeks following the concert. In addition to her music, Brandi’s personal qualities and unique leadership style also stuck with me. The way she carried herself on stage, talked about her fellow bandmates, and shared how she views herself as a voice for change inspired me. The list of leadership qualities I could write about the singer is long, so here are 3 that stood out. Perhaps they’ll inspire you too!
She has mentors and is a mentor for others. I mentioned Elton John and Joni Mitchell as two of Brandi’s. Her musical mentors are so important to her that she often pays tribute to them during her performances by either singing their songs, crediting them with giving her inspiration for her work, and even inviting them to perform with her. Big on collaboration, she pays the mentoring forward by finding new talent and bringing them into the fold. Brandi did this for newcomer vocalist Britney Spencer who warmed up for her the night I saw her. As a leader in her field, Brandi takes the time to coach, nurture, develop and champion others to grow. She’s not threatened to share the limelight with emerging artists. In fact she routinely shines the spotlight on other artists and looks for opportunities to remove obstacles and pave the way forward for them. Love that!
She acknowledges others and gives them credit. If I had a dollar for every time a client said, “My boss never acknowledges me,” I’d be a gazillionaire! Often that lack of acknowledgment is a driving force for people wanting to leave their positions and make a career change. Many of Brandi’s teammates stick by her for years. Perhaps genuine acknowledgement is a part of that. Her wins are always shared wins. At the concert, I noticed Carlisle frequently “gave chops” to her bandmates, background singers, and instrumentalists. She even gave a “gratitude shout out” to two people who happened to be in the audience that night; Bernie Taupin, Elton John’s legendary song-writing collaborator, and talk show host, Ellen Degeneres; both whom Brandi credited for their contributions as role models in her life.
This approach to acknowledgment carried through at the recent Grammys, where Brandi enthusiastically thanked everyone from her longtime co-performers, “the twins,” aka brothers Phil and Tim Hanseroth, to her other bandmates, collaborators and family members who she credited with contributing to her ascent to the top. At the end of her speech she even added a final thank you “to everybody in Seattle that made us want to strive for this incredible accolade;” giving a nod to the town where she got started.She leads by her values. In her extraordinary memoir Broken Horses, (which I highly recommend listening to on Audible) Carlile describes herself as a “mean, scrappy little trailer girl with the wrong clothes.” A high school drop out from a poverty stricken family, Carlisle has strived for something more than just fame, fortune and a steady paycheck. She writes and sings about tolerance, equality, forgiveness, family, love, human rights, motherhood, non-violence, connection and collaboration. On stage at the concert she put that forward, sharing her struggles as a wife and mother of two young girls and how she juggles that role with her career. It was also Pride month and she used the moment to talk about tolerance, her own identity as a gay woman and to pay tribute to the LBGTQ community by singing a soulful rendition of “Over the Rainbow '' and casting the stage in rainbow inspired lighting.
Her agent of 20 years, Duffy McSwiggin says of the singer, “Brandi is fearless with a strong, golden moral compass.” I suspect operating from that compass hasn’t always been easy.. Taking a stand and leading by example in an industry known to be tough and competitive is ripe territory for values conflicts. Yet, despite the fancy clothes, waiting limos and busy concert schedules, Carlile spends most of her non-working time on her homestead in Western Washington surrounded by her family and closest friends. And early on, when she was still newly minted as an established musician, she founded the Looking Out Foundation, a non-profit that provides funds to many different organizations supporting the issues and ideals she cares most about.
For more inspiration check out Brandi’s non-profit work at www.lookingoutfoundation.org or listen to her self-narrated #1 New York Times bestselling book on Audible.
