Culture Council: What Bob Geldof Can Teach Business Owners About Choosing Compassion Over Competition
As the year draws to a close, holiday standards have taken over the airwaves — delighting with festive cheer and terrorizing with repetition (particularly for those retail employees without reprieve). These hits are among the most successful songs of all time, including “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” a charity song first recorded by Band-Aid. Written in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for the 1983 to 1985 famine in Ethiopia, the song is a compassionate plea for unity and its message still resonates long beyond the initial release.
The making of the hit, which raised £8 million for Ethiopia within a year, was only one of many charitable endeavors and awareness-raising efforts the team would embark on. In fact, throughout Geldof’s career, he tackled various crises and injustices around the world.
There’s a lot that can glean from Geldof’s career, which led him to individual success while never veering from his foundation of unity. Competition is, for many, the bedrock of the corporate world, and certainly, healthy competition can yield positive results. However, there are times at which it may behoove business owners to choose compassion over competition. To create a sense of unity, instill a culture of togetherness and teamwork, and make a brand stand for more than revenue alone.
Do They Know It’s Christmas?
The December earworm, “Do They Know It’s Christmas,” saw Geldof assemble a veritable who’s who of megastars, such as Band-Aid, for recording. The lineup is too innumerable to mention everyone, enlisting Paul Young, George Michael, Boy George, Bono, Sting, Phil Collins, to name a few. Together, they produced the hit track that continues to dominate airwaves some forty years later. The song serves as a plea for compassion, yes, but also a stirring call to action.
Not everyone in the business world prioritizes compassion and empathy, and others may actively oppose it in favor of ruthless competition. But Geldof’s call to action shows business leaders that compassion and strength are not mutually exclusive. On the contrary, they are often one and the same. Internally and externally, successful brands should be greater than the sum of their parts. Businesses may be staffed with their own supergroup of top performers and excellent candidates, but they must be able to harmonize, work together, make each other better every day, and play off each other’s strengths. In the market, it is about forming a cogent identity and showing you stand for something that connects with a global audience.
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“Do They Know It’s Christmas?” is an undeniably catchy song, but it resonates more because it is so deeply human and unifying.
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I Don’t Like Mondays
“I Don’t Like Mondays,” the 1979 hit by the Boomtown Rats (fronted by Geldof), made waves as a number-one single on the UK Singles Chart for four weeks. The piano ballad, ostensibly an ode to everyone’s least favorite day of the week, swept the nation as essential listening at the start of the weekly grind. However, unbeknownst to some, it harbored a darker meaning. The title referenced a shooter’s justification for their crime. Geldof penned the track, remarking on the senselessness of it all. He has since expressed regret owing to the song’s role in popularizing the shooter, but it remains an interesting interrogation of senseless violence and calls to mind the importance of mental health.
Mental health and wellness are prime examples of the importance of establishing a compassionate environment in the workplace, particularly during an often-chaotic holiday season, both in and outside of the workplace. The days grow colder and shorter, and many workers are devoting nearly every waking hour of daylight during the week to the company. Things can feel overwhelming, especially on Mondays. Effective leaders are cognizant of this and make conscious efforts to keep morale high during a difficult period of the year. Let your team know they are appreciated, foster an open and cooperative environment and take steps to ensure they are not overburdened.
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Live Aid in 1985
Following the success of “Do They Know It’s Christmas,” Geldof and Midge Ure would go on to organize Live Aid, a benefit concert to continue raising funds for relief in Ethiopia. Many of the artists featured on the holiday hit appeared to perform alongside other music icons such as Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Queen, Elton John, The Who and many more. The massive show, hosted at both Wembley Stadium in London and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, also included Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath (with Ozzy) reunions. Millions of people around the world watched the live broadcast on July 13, 1985, which inspired concerts worldwide united under the same banner. It represented a staggering worldwide connection and shone further light on a crisis that may have otherwise flown under the radar.
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In the corporate world, it’s easy to get caught up in the idea of competition and rivalry. Whether that is an internal struggle for a promotion, whose idea wins, which firm captures the client. Geldof’s work shows that sometimes it is about lifting others, creating a sense of unity and demonstrating that your brand or company can stand for something larger than itself.
Just as Geldof brought superstars together for a cause, leaders can promote a sense of compassion over competition to build teams eager to help each other out. It is these kinds of winning cultures that people want to be a part of, and together, great things are possible.
