She is beautiful, successful, physically fit, not the best communicator, but an undeniable human anthem of hard work. Anyone can be Beyoncé, if you just dedicate every moment of your life to perfecting one task you can deliver better than everyone else. The documentary made it clear, she’s an exceptional talent with an enviable drive.
Anyone who knocks Beyoncé on her singing ability is demonstrating some form of envy, as would anyone who knocks her reign on the art and science of entertainment. If you look to Malcolm Gladwell, it is impossible for someone who has busted past the 10,000 hours of focused work to not be the best. And whether you or not you duplicate her journey, if you want to succeed, her career is a blueprint for reaching mega-stardom in whichever lane you inhabit. Check out these six secrets to “Beying” your best self.
1. When you decide what position you want to attain, study the people who already have it.
Back when she was headlining Girl Tyme, Beyoncé was taking cues from the Black women who ran the music industry before her. Beyoncé obsession with the definers of girl group-dom, like The Supremes and En Vogue, or even the solo artists who shut the game down, like Tina Turner and Ella Fitzgerald,is clear in the way she moves, her style and performances. It is easy to imagine she was a 12-year-old with an affinity for infectious beats, with her left arm (and those of the other four girls) hitting the right mark on the right beat.
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Takeaway: If you work in hair care, can you name the leading companies in that field? Do you know where they are investing and what products are going to be launched? Can you articulate the steps needed to make what’s wrong with your work or anyone else’s, better? Do you know the names of the most iconic people in the field? If you work in retail, what are the qualities that the employees of the month share? Do you know the point behind what you do and the base require to do something well, before you aspire to greatness?
2. Don’t give failure as much attention as you would effort.
Getting three stars on Star Search back in 1993, only to lose as a challenger, could have been the end of the road for Beyoncé and the rest of the members of Girl Tyme, but within 10 years (the time Malcolm Gladwell ascribes to becoming a leader) they had transformed into Destiny’s Child with one of the most iconic debut records of all time, if not of the 1990s. It is clear that they had the look and the performance, but their lyrics and vocals were subpar. As much as Beyoncé probably wanted to win Star Search, she had not earned it. And if she had not accepted that, she would not have adopted the revisions that made Destiny’s Child work. When you realize that, while your emotions and energy are short-term effects, you are living with long-term intentions, you can treat failure as a learning tool and overcome it. More recently, it seems that House of Dereon has been sunset (no active Facebook updates since October 2012)…and then comes the Mrs. Carter collection for H&M.
Takeaway: It is very hard to live without error, but it is impossible to succeed without acknowledging the areas in which you yourself need to improve. t is so easy to be observant of others strengths and weaknesses, but success relies on focusing on what you, and you alone, must do to deliver. Beyoncé knows what happens when her voice does a certain thing, when she looks a certain way, when she makes a certain move. Sports and music are not the only fields for constant training. Whether you are in the food industry or finance, you can replay how you did, how people reacted and whether you reached you desired long-term goal.
3. When you have a purpose, you don’t always keep the same company.
For a while, there was a running joke about the line-up changes with Destiny’s Child. But the Beyoncé of today is different from the girl leading the vocals to “Bills, Bills, Bills,” let alone the girl who debuted on Star Search. While the girl power momentum underlies the personal brand, her strength, desires and style have outpaced those previous milestones, and in the end, family and a few friends have been able to grow with her. It had to be hard to lose connections to people with whom she had shared her formative years, but it is so often that as we change our support team changes. When you consider the adage that you are who you hang out with, you have to be prepared to pivot a lot more than your point of view as you grow.
Takeaway: You will have to decide if being comfortable is better than stretching beyond your comfort zone in your career. This is what makes life hard, but compromise and risk are what we all have to negotiate. Things that make you mad are not necessarily their to hurt you; they are an indicator of a fundamental difference.
4. Be able to play with the best.
Not only does Beyoncé know her musical history, she knows her competition, and in her own way, she embraces it. Beyoncé + Shakira, Beyoncé + Gaga, Beyoncé covers Amy Winehouse. It is an exercised called battling, but throughout her accent to a solo career, Beyoncé has understood that you are only the best if you can perform with the best.
Takeaway: When the new girl comes on the scene and grabs the bosses attention, take note of what you can learn from and challenge yourself to have the focus to play with her. You will learn something, you will teach something, and you will build your confidence to know, despite the images of reality television, most people are not coming after you. Just like people go to the Olympics in teams to run individual competitions, so is true for all. You are the sum of your own efforts, and you will get in the way of them if you live in fear or judgement of those who are achieving around you.
5. Behave as you want to be perceived and know your value.
One of Beyoncé’s best qualities is that she built her brand in her own image. It is very easy for society to sway you to believe women exist in the perimeter of men. The great thing about living in the digital age is the access to the learning that can make you as self-made as it gets. (No one makes it without a dedicated support system and some generous breaks.) But before Jay-Z came along, her name was its own asset.
Her name stood for the strength of women reaching within their own spirit to achieve. And while most women drowned their lyrics in aspiring for male approval, Beyoncé spun it so that life was about finding her own destiny. No matter what happens with her marriage, no matter how debatable “Bow Down/I Been On” is, she had done enough work that her first association is that of a hard-working, girl next door that anyone would enjoy. And this serves her ability to have whatever she wants. So when it comes to releasing a documentary on HBO, and not in the theaters or on Youtube; there is a value assessment being made based on how she has presented herself and how she has delivered.
Takeaway: Know what you want and know the behaviors and achievements expected of people you have what you already want. The employee of the month probably does not put her personality ahead of that of the company. She probably goes for the A+, and she generally plays to what the boss decided what success looks like. Even when you are an entrepreneur, you have a boss, and anytime you deal with someone outside of yourself, you deal with negotiation. What are you going to give to get where you need to be, and what are you saying (from your dress code to your language) about yourself in the process.
6. Work hard like it is as instinctive as breathing.
Beyoncé works hard, she observes hard, she edits hard and she probably loves hard. (Remember that toast from the documentary to Jay on his birthday?) It is her basic instinct. At the end of the day, she probably does not talk about being tired; she probably talks about being better. If you have ever tried to mimic what happens in the course of a Beyoncé concert, let alone a 15-minute Super Bowl performance, it is an exhaustive workout. That is just one element of her work life. There is also producing music, shooting endorsements and photo spreads, managing a staff, observing the industry, negotiating contracts, forecasting and re-adjusting her annual goals and responsibilities, reviewing the performance of all of her products, and on and on. That is an addition to health, love, romance, family, and motherhood. She lives like she is alive. Few of us really choose to compete with that.
Takeaway: When you are reaching for your power, saying you are busy is about as effective as stating that the sky is blue. Work hard at what you do because everything is lesson and a training day for the goal. Life is hard, but there are other things to comment on.
Beyoncé is a universally accepted boss. From urban America to corporate America, she commands attention. And she demonstrates the base competencies of leadership. But she is just #17 out of Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women. The top 10 include Melinda Gates, First Lady Michelle Obama, Secretary Hillary Clinton, and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. Also self-made American women who are half of a power couple, they (as well as most of the women who Beyoncé outranks) hold influence and social impact that Beyoncé lacks.
