Everyone is an alien somewhere

Everyone is an alien somewhere.

And sometimes those aliens come together in a football stadium to be entertained for two + hours by a rock band.

That happened to my wife and me a few weeks ago in Frankfurt, Germany. A Santa gift that still needed to be redeemed.

The band is Coldplay, and the tour name is “Music of the Spheres.”

What a show!

From the very first song to the very last, the band can keep the audience engaged with their music packed in a whirling show.

Words can’t describe it, so click the video link here to give you a bit of an impression.

It was my second Coldplay concert, and it was also the second time I started looking the next day where they would perform next so that I could repeat.

I wanted to experience it again.

This time it was Warsaw, then Berlin; those were the options. Followed by Paris, Brussels, London, Glasgow, and cities in South America.

Lima, Peru, in September, anyone?

That’s how much I feel part of the experience there. I want to experience it again. It’s not just a rock concert. It’s an experience that immerses you.

Every little piece is incredibly thought through, based on a compelling vision.

Coldplay’s clear purpose is to make this a better world for everyone with their music.

You feel included in their journey.

And I’m pretty sure that’s precisely what they want you to feel when you’re in it and afterward.

It’s fantastic to be in a stadium with thousands of people and still feel they’re singing their songs only for you.

Of course… this is a mass production; I get it.

But their songs, messages, concerts, and graphics are focused on the uniqueness of each individual on this planet.

We’re all aliens somewhere.

We’re all tiny creatures in this big fragile world, and our time is limited. And if we’re not careful, we’re wasting our time, and on top, we’re also destroying this big earth.

Coldplay tries to engage their fans in making a difference, and you can hear it in their songs.

“Am I a part of the cure
Or am I part of the disease?”

Coldplay, Clocks

As always, there’s a business meaning in my insight.

I’ve been talking a lot about the purpose of all of my insights, and this is another one.

I tried to describe my experience from a receiver’s perspective to demonstrate what good purpose can do to those on the receiving end.

As employers, leaders, and even individuals, we can engage the people around us with good purpose.

When we can convey a higher meaning beyond the profit we’re trying to make, people will gravitate toward us more easily.

Erikjan Lantink

Read that again.

Higher meaning will have people gravitate toward us.

It’s not profit first. It’s not people first. It’s purpose first.

We just need to understand how to develop a good purpose, embed it in our organizations, and communicate it properly to all of our stakeholders.

And then we must live by it as leaders, which is the hardest part.

Your turn: what’s your purpose?

Do more of what makes you happy!

Erikjan