The Story

In 1966, Bob Dylan was recording a new song to follow up on his iconic Like a Rolling Stone. According to legend, Dylan had a vision in his head for how the song should sound but just couldn’t get the musicians to perform it exactly right.

Frustrated, Dylan left the studio only to arrive a while later with an anecdote to their problems: alcohol. He encouraged the band members to get a little inebriated and switch instruments. He hoped this would loosen them up and allow them to have more fun.

So that’s what they did. While passing around some beers, the musicians traded instruments. The trumpeter played bass. The bassist played guitar. The keyboardist played the tambourine.

Then, they started recording again. Throughout the routine, the band laughed, yelled, and walked freely around the studio. They weren’t as worried about getting the song perfect. They assumed that this was just practice.

To their surprise, the drunken, sloppy version of the song made it into the album Blonde on Blonde a few months later. The song is titled Rainy Day Women #12 & 35, perhaps best known for its chorus: “Everybody must get stoned.”

It was an accidental hit.

Loosen Up

The first leadership takeaway from the story is to loosen up. Often, we can cling too tightly and rigidly to the rules of leadership. This might be OK if you work at an organization that doesn’t employ people, but none of us have that luxury.

For those of us who work with humans, relationships are important. And relationships suffer when our leaders are no-fun stiffs. There is a time for up-tight, no-nonsense leadership. And there is a time to loosen the tie and let loose.

When the tension runs high and progress stalls, take a step back. Press pause and do something completely different to deflate the anxiety. It helps those you lead to relax and helps to build stronger relationships.

Perhaps we’re not all in a work environment that allows us to get inebriated during a project. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun.

Switch It Up

Dylan not only loosened up with his band, but he intentionally switched their instruments. Changing roles and assignments in our work environment might seem ridiculous. But it may just be the thing you need to jump-start productivity.

Too often, we’re blinded by the familiarity of our role. The occasional shift in our perspective could be the thing to break us out of a rut. It may seem counterintuitive, but so is wasting your time doing the same things that aren’t working.

Your switch doesn’t have to be as drastic as changing roles. It could be something simpler, like moving the location of your staff meeting to outdoors. Or calling staff by a new nickname for a week. Or playing music in the office to break the monotony.

Change for the sake of change can be good sometimes. You can always change back. At least you tried something new and have one less option to explore.

How could you switch up your leadership style?

***Brian’s Comments*** This was a guest post written by Robert Carnes.  Robert is incredibly gifted and has even done significant work on this site.  He is also the author of The Original Storyteller: Become a Better Storyteller in 30 Days.  If you need help with writing, editing, marketing or web development, connect with Robert.  You will not be disappointed.

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