Taylor Swift, song-writer, singer, producer, director etc. is one of the most multi faceted, talented and followed artist worldwide. In the business of music since the age of 17, when she started writing songs commercially, Taylor Swift has come a long way and though she is just 32, her career has been exceptional to say the least. Though I have not followed Taylor Swift much, I heard one of her songs titled ‘ Delicate ‘ from her Album ‘ Reputation ‘ a few weeks ago. The Album, released in November 2017 was a raging success across the world and on social media and digital platforms too, the album and particularly the song ‘Delicate’ was a mighty hit.
Taylor Swift had taken a one year break after a brief controversy which she successful fought and triumphed in. The Album ‘ Reputation ‘ was released after this one year hiatus of Taylor Swift and without doubt the songs in the Album carried a clear message. The song ‘Delicate’ too was written and filmed on similar lines. However, I have a completely different assessment of the song and particularly the video in my opinion has a very strong hidden message on People Management. Surprising isn’t it, but today’s post is motivated by ‘Delicate’.
My description and understanding of the video is as follows.
The video begins with Taylor Swift, an extremely popular celebrity, being interviewed by the paparazzi and basking in the attention of her over zealous fans. The crazy fans appear to be a problem too but are taken care by her bodyguards. As the story unfolds in the video, from all the chaos around, someone hands over a piece of paper to Taylor Swift which has a spell in it and by the time she realises Taylor Swift becomes invisible. The invisibility gives her that freedom away from all the glare and spotlight and helps her be herself. However, this new found freedom does not go down particularly well for long, as she starts feeling the pangs of being unrecognised everywhere. That craving for recognition and existence begins to claw back so much so that the invisibility becomes more of a drain on her mind, body and soul. Eventually the spell ceases and releases Taylor Swift of its clutches. She becomes visible again and heaves a huge sigh of relief, with a wry smile.
The proposition here is critical. Every human being has a natural craving for recognition and acknowledgement of his/her existence. Not being recognised for who you are, not being recognised for the work you do ( either be big or small ) and not being recognised for the contributions you make (either big or small), may be at times extremely demotivation and deflating, similar to the emotions experienced and expressed by Taylor Swift in the video. Conversely, a bit of recognition, a bit of acknowledgement of even the tiniest contribution made, may lift the spirits of an individual and sometimes these few words of recognition and positive vibes may turn out to be pure gold dust. Great Teams are made in this manner only.
This ability to recognise your team always and appreciate and acknowledge the contributions made by each and every individual of this team, is priceless. Effective leadership demands this ability and It is only through these leadership virtues that good organisations turn into great organisations and eventually script a phenomenal future..is a lesson learnt.
‘Delicate’ the song may not sound all that similar to my perspective. It is just my way of looking at things differently. The song is riveting and not surprisingly it has millions and millions of views on YouTube and still counting. The video is attached and you are requested to look at it from my perspective too.
Enjoy ‘Delicate’ and stay….recognised !!!