July of 2025 something happened that united the world when one jumbotron moment at Coldplay concert went viral. This moment highlighted the importance of leadership and the impact leadership has on our organizations.
A promising AI company caught in the cross fire of a jumbotron video – once focused on ‘DataOps’ automation, with recent Series D funding to the tune of $93M, now scrambling to respond to a preventable PR nightmare.
That viral moment turned the lives turned multiple families on their heads. It is a viral moment that will live in infamy for many years to come.
While the lessons and warnings for IT leaders to be gleaned from this one viral moment are plentiful, there are key lessons that can lead to viral impact that we should all take to heart.
#1: Choices have consequences. We must choose well.
In leadership it is easy to focus on the seemingly pressing issues within our organizations. Things like revenue growth, margins, operating costs and achieving more with less can permeate the entirety of our focus and day-to-day. Getting that next promotion, making investors happy and achieving the next big version release…go, go, go! At what cost?
In leadership we make decisions every day. Are we focused on making the most meaningful ones? Organizational growth, customer success and improving efficiency are important for every organization. However, personal growth as a leader is even more impactful.
Leaders, hear this reality: Those you lead will always reflect you. Not a clone or carbon copy, but the truth is everything from attitude, response to adversity, daily priorities, and focus on customers…will be a direct reflection of what you demonstrate.
I will not pretend to know the personal life, challenges, relationship or business pressures or struggles of anyone, viral moment or not. The reality for every leader (and human for that matter) is this – life is more than the role we have.
Who we are is more than the output we produce. In leadership, we must take seriously our own growth. Every choice we make – whether it’s how we approach cost savings or if we are complacent in developing our skills, growing our network or investing in our relationship…every choice will have consequences. Not many of us will have those consequences broadcast for millions to see. Yet still, those we lead and the trajectory of the outcomes we produce will all start with our choices.
Action: Take ownership of your growth.
#2: Being a leader worth following starts with being a human worth admiring.
Building on the importance of our choices, it’s also crucial to recognize a leader worth following, starts with being a human worth admiring. Perfection is impossible. This is not limited to leadership skills but this reality echoes into every aspect of who we are as humans. While we will never achieve perfection, if we are privileged enough to be asked to lead others, who we are matters.
Every one of us is leading someone, even if we don’t realize it. Maybe it’s a junior service desk agent watching how we handle our tickets, maybe it’s a co-worker in a different department who observes how we lead our meetings, it could be a peer watching as we handle business stakeholder frustration or a friend who listens to us talk about the work we do. Every employee is leading, title or no title.
How do you show up every day? How do you respond to challenges, opposition, stress or change? Do you demonstrate a genuine care for the people on your team, your organization, customers and the mission you are serving?
Leadership isn’t about authority, it’s about impact. Lasting impact doesn’t start with our title, it starts with how we care for those around us.
Action: Be a kind human – to everyone, in everything, all the time.
#3: Every leader needs a circle of trust.
“Only creepy things grow in the dark.” This is something I heard as a teenager and it has stuck with me for decades. The truth is the idea that “leadership is lonely” is only a true idea, if you let it be.
Find mentors and peers that are of high character, give them permission to speak into your life. That is the first step. The next step is to let yourself be known. Be transparent. About everything.
The reason the first step is so key – leaders need to trust that those who are in their circle, who have permission to speak into their lives in meaningful ways, must also trust that that circle has their best interest at heart. Finally, when that trusted advisor and confidant speaks into your life, take it seriously.
This is valuable step in life, business and everything in between. We are better together. We are even more so when ‘together’, includes a trusted circle who are willing to call us on our crap, pull us up when we fall and celebrate in our wins.
Action: Never lead in isolation.