“I’m not watching Netflix in the middle of the day. I’m doing leadership research.”

On Tuesday, my friend Clarence texted me, “You watch the We Are the World documentary yet?” I intended to check out just the first 15 minutes while eating lunch, but couldn’t turn it off. 

The Greatest Night in Pop documents the all-night studio session to create We Are the World. It’s a delightful documentary, in part, because of the interesting characters involved. There’s a cameo by Michael Jackson’s pet monkey, Bubbles, and a pet snake he somehow lost in his home. And at one point, Stevie Wonder volunteers to show Ray Charles where the bathroom was, leading everyone to joke that it was literally a case of the blind leading the blind. 

Beyond the interesting characters, the documentary is a fascinating story when seen through the lens of leadership and team dynamics.

Everyone Gets Imposter Feelings—Everyone

The distinguishing feature of the creation of We Are the World is just how many music superstars participated. The immense collection of talent made for a great song, but it also made the participants feel uncomfortable. 

Here are just a few of their comments:

Sheila E: “I almost felt like I was in a dream. Everyone was a legend.”

Bruce Springsteen: “It was intoxicating just to be around that group of people.”

Cyndi Lauper: “I felt like I was underdressed. I was worried.”

Bob Dickinson, a lighting engineer, described the environment this way: “Celebrities can be very difficult when they are surrounded by [their] managers, agents, and glam squad. But they were not in that environment. The biggest stars in music found it disarming. They seemed almost timid.”

Lionel Richie said, “It was like [the] first day of kindergarten.”

These are reminders that imposter feelings are completely natural. If you’re working with Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, and Diana Ross, and don’t have any doubts about your abilities, you’d surely have the unhealthiest ego in the world. 

Generals Aren’t the Only Leaders of a Group

Tom Bahler, the vocal arranger of We Are the World, said of his longtime collaboration with Quincy Jones, “We artistically fell in love, and we became brothers, but Quincy was the General.”

But while Jones was the General of the effort, Lionel Richie, who wrote the song, played a different role in the recording session. He described it this way: “We’re flying by the seat of our pants. The clock is ticking. Quincy is worried about the big picture. My job is ‘if there’s any problem on the floor, solve it.’” 

Sheila E. described Richie’s impact on the group as, “He has stories to tell. [He says,] ‘Let’s do this.’ [And,] ‘Let me tell you something.’ He’s making people laugh. He’s just making the water flow in the right way.” 

We often remember the generals, yet the leadership role of stitching together a group is often undervalued. Without Richie’s role, the recording session, which started after 10pm, lasted until nearly dawn—and at least two people walked out—could have easily gone off the rails. 

Every Group Needs Psychological Safety

At one point, the great Stevie Wonder had an idea of including some Swahili lyrics in the song. Of course, none of that was in the music and no one had prepared for it. 

Most importantly, adding the Swahili lyrics wasn't working. It was too complicated for the group to pick up on the fly. Michael Jackson proposed a simpler version—vaguely African sounds—but that too was more complicated than the group could handle.

But no one spoke up right away to say, “This is not a good idea.” 

Smokey Robinson described why: “Michael is one of the greatest artists we’ve ever had. [He’s] one of the greatest songwriters—ever. So people were afraid to say ‘No, we shouldn’t do that. That don’t sound good.’”

He was able to step in, however, because he had a different understanding of how the work should get done. He said, “When you grow up in Motown [Records, of which he and the Jackson 5 were a part], that’s how we did each other.”

Put another way, because Robinson and Jackson worked in a culture that promoted open feedback, and because they had built trust, they could problem-solve effectively. Because the full group didn’t have those attributes, it was set up for the loudest and most powerful voices to win the day, with everyone avoiding conflict.   

Defining Leadership

At one point in the studio session, Bob Dylan was struggling to figure out how to do his solo. This was just one instance of him having trouble in the setting. Earlier, David Breskin, a journalist who was invited to the recording session, said “Bob Dylan knows himself. He’s not a singer like Stevie [Wonder] is. So Dylan was probably more uncomfortable than anyone here.”  

Quincy Jones’s leadership moves in that moment were great. He coached Dylan through how to sing the part—the technical solution—but also helped Dylan see how he could play the part and make a contribution by doing it in his unique way. 

Huey Lewis remarked, “Quincy was amazing. Production is interesting...You gotta be more than a great musician. You gotta be a psychiatrist.”

That’s a really good definition of leadership. It wasn't just that Quincy Jones had a command over the technical parts of the problem and utilizing everyone’s talents, he understood how to get them to feel great about utilizing their talents. 

Dionne Warwick made a great testimonial to Jones’s leadership in describing why she flew in for the event on blind faith. She said, “I knew nothing about what the project was until I got to Los Angeles. Quincy [Jones] means a lot to people. When he’s doing a project, it’s something well worth being a part of.”