On Sunday 9th of June, I was one of the more than sixty thousand people that attended the second consecutive sold-out concert of the British alternative pop-rock band Coldplay in Athens. Coldplay have been present in the world music scene for more than twenty-five years, with many albums and numerous hit songs. They are certainly among my favourite bands, so I was excited when I booked the ticket nearly a year ago and looked forward to seeing them live on stage for the first time.
Α week later, I can say in a definite way, that their show absolutely met my expectations and even went above and beyond them. Although I have been standing for nearly five hours in the arena with the temperature exceeding thirty degrees of the Celsius scale, I can say that without a doubt, it was the best concert that I have ever attended, a mega-show from all aspects, that will live in my memories for the years to come.
Yet, as this is a blog that we talk about Sales, I believe that you are all wondering how the Coldplay concert is linked to selling? Well, surely is linked, as the band managed to achieve two back-to-back sold outs, with nearly one hundred and twenty thousand people attending in both days. What I would like to focus on, though, are the impressive Sales leadership traits (apart from the obvious presentation skills) that Chris Martin, the frontman of Coldplay, has displayed during their two-hour show, something that gave me the inspiration to write this article.
First, he connected with the crowd and did maintain this connection throughout the two-hour concert. He managed to do this by initially greeting the crowd in Greek, not with some typical words, but rather with a string of complete sentences. In between songs, he continued to personally interact with the people, he brought two fans on the stage that sat next to him, while towards the end of the show, the whole band moved to a much smaller stage, exactly opposite to the initial one, to play a few songs, so that they come closer to the people standing to the other side of the stadium.
Second, Chris Martin has proven to be highly influential, when during the song “A sky full of stars” he asked the audience to put down their cellphones, as most of them were filming, so that they appreciate better the song and the whole atmosphere. Instantly, most of the phones disappeared, the song started from the beginning and the minutes that followed were among the highlights of the concert, as people danced more freely, enjoying every second.
Moreover, he showed humility, when he asked a young Greek artist to take the stage with him, in order to perform a song. The lad took center stage, while the singer of Coldplay stayed in the background, accompanying him in the piano. Apart from modesty, this was also a gesture of empowerment, by letting a junior to take the lead.
Another thing that made an impression to me, was when in the initial stages of a song, Chris Martin missed a note and he immediately apologised to the rest of the band, asking them to start over again, in front of more than sixty thousand people. I believe that a leader should always admit when a mistake is done and assume responsibility. In my eyes, this is not a sign of weakness, but on the contrary, it creates a culture of transparency, honesty, and trust. It also helps to build an environment where continuous improvement is seen as a collective effort.
Finally, an effective Sales leader must have the ability to improvise and to be flexible. These traits were also displayed from Chris Martin, when at the final stages of the concert, the cameras were focusing on different people from the crowd and based on what he was seeing, he made little songs on the spot. With regards to flexibility, when the show was suddenly stopped due to an accident that occurred near the stage, the group gathered around for two minutes, deciding during that time what to play next.
From the above, it is evident that people who, at a first glance, are not related to Sales can be masters in selling and in displaying traits of Sales leadership. These people are around us, we may be interacting with them on a daily basis, so the only thing that we need to do is just to be observant and to pay attention. With regards to Coldplay, I look forward to seeing them live again in the future and have the chance to learn even more from them.