A lesson from GLEE….Seriously

by Kevin Urban

I just finished watching the season finale of GLEE! A surprising hit that I have to admit drew me in because I randomly caught a clip posted on Facebook. I had no desire to watch the show, but as I watched a bunch of football players dance on a football field, (to Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” mind you!), I cried laughing! I appreciated the ridiculous commitment of it as both a former football player and choir member. It appealed to my inner athlete and my inner geek - I was hooked. As I watched GLEE each week, there was a part of me that was giddy with anticipation of how they'd best themselves from the previous week.

On a broader scale, I’ve come to realize that GLEE has reinforced the importance of being true to yourself. The truth is that GLEE has become a success because it’s managed to stick to its core premise – its Brand Promise. In so doing it has created a successful Musical Comedy for television (something that has been tried but never fully succeeded on TV.)

What I love about Glee is that not only is the show an example of Brand in motion, but its characters demonstrate the power of Brand. We have a setoff expectations attached to each character. We expect Puck to be the tough guy and sing tough guy songs. He does. We expect Rachel to be the powerful singer with awkward drama filled social skills. Well…she is. The music on the show is successful because of this - everything stems from the truth and essence of each character’s core. It’ not about being a musical theater show - it’ about remaining true to the creative spark at hand and going for it full out!

As an actor, you can look to the success of GLEE to see the advantage of being true to your essence or core and sticking to it. Look to your spark to lead you in the “right” direction. Sometime it’s easy for actors to not see results and give up. However, if you remain true to who you are and what you do best – your spark of creativity will always burn bright and take you far.

So…. lessons to take from Glee:

Stick to your Brand – let us know you and root for you.
Let your Creativity lead the way – it’s that spark that makes you unique.
Keep on being true to your Brand and listening to your creativity week after week – that will give you longevity in this business.

Side note: As a business coach and teacher, Glee has even reinforced the power of social networking. My Facebook friend Kara, who posted the clip lives in San Diego. I know she’s got pretty good taste…so I clicked and away we went. She’s West coast. I’m East coast. Yet Facebook has opened up that ‘water cooler talk’ between cohorts and people you don’t see everyday. In other words – it has the power to influence and do so in a matter of seconds. Remember that.