The Baddest Thing I'd Ever Seen
"The reason I went to Carter (Beauford) was not because I needed a drummer, but because I thought he was the baddest thing I'd ever seen."
The hidden power of excellence and high standards is that they are contagious. Dave Matthews has often said that Carter Beauford's brilliance on the drums makes him a better musician, songwriter, and performer. Excellence doesn't just add to a team; it transforms it, creating an environment where mediocrity can't survive. The best leaders understand this magnetic effect of brilliance.
"The reason I went to Carter (Beauford) was not because I needed a drummer, but because I thought he was the baddest thing I'd ever seen, and LeRoi, it wasn't because I desperately wanted a saxophone, it was because this guy just blew my mind. At this jazz place I used to bartend at Miller's, I would just sit back and watch him. I would be serving the musicians fat whiskeys and they'd be getting more and more hosed, but no matter how much, he used to still blow my mind. And it was the sense that everyone played from their heart. And when we got together and they asked, 'What do you want the music to sound like?' I said, 'I know this is a song I wrote and I like what you guys play, so I want you to play the way you react to my song.' There was a lot of breaking our inhibitions."
This reflects a truth that applies well beyond music: excellence attracts excellence, and when given room to operate, it compounds.
Most people get this backward. They hire for specific skills to fill specific roles, and then micromanage the process. But big-time outcomes rarely come from ordinary approaches. What’s equally important to the Dave Matthews Band's success, is that Carter Beauford and LeRoi Moore weren't just virtuosos, they were also great teammates and collaborators. The band's chemistry comes from this rare combination of exceptional skill and high character. In addition to being wowed by their skill, Dave had spent time with them at Miller’s getting to know them as people.
When you hire people for their character and competence, you create an opportunity for the magic elixir of trust and freedom to do your best work. I think there's a lot leaders can learn from studying great bands who have sustained excellence for decades.