November 17, 2008

How to become a great boss by watching TV

Every day my DVD player automatically tapes the best show in the world. It’s a show that if I miss an episode there is a chance I will sink into a deep depression! It is a show that is crazy, silly and totally random. Yep, the Ellen De Generes show is a HUGE lovemark of mine. In NZ it is on TV1 at 3pm weekdays. The first time I watched it though, I thought it was very weird…. I’m sure lots of first time watchers feel that way…. I’d never seen dancing on a talk show before! She comes out, does a short spiel then dances with her audience before taking her seat on the stage! She also interviews awesome celebrities, has hilarious games, finds everyday people doing amazing things to get on the show and does things that I say “would only ever happen on Ellen”. They have a DJ and have awesome music (she had Obama and his wife in a ‘dance off’); they also have lots of live performances – singers, talented kids, magicians etc. She often leaves the studio during live filming to wander over to George Clooney’s office which is next door. She wants him on her show, but is having trouble tracking him down. She set up a cage to try and trap him, sent all the Miss USA contestants over, a troop of sexy dancers and more – hoping to entice him! She also randomly buys her audience lotto tickets and gets the newsagent to deliver them – who is now a bit of a regular on the show.

Bosses that want to be awesome could learn A LOT from the Ellen show:
It is fun and so engaging, viewers aren’t just viewers – you feel 100% part of it
Very fast paced, ready to adapt
Innovative, borderline crazy at times, full of original hilarious ideas – not scared of breaking the mould
Very very LIVE – anything can happen; she just rolls with it and makes fast decisions
Ellen is totally authentic; you know she is always honest – she shares what is happening in her world. One day she started the show in tears as something terrible had happened in her life, and she couldn’t hide her pain so she didn’t.

I think Ellen viewers see life differently. They feel they can take anything on – and with a huge smile. Ellen’s team and show have an AMAZING culture which you feel as you watch and see when she interacts with her camera men and stage manager. Any boss that can create what Ellen has within her team would be a bloody awesome one!

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