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VOLUME 16
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Welcome to E-zine #16. A quick bit of business before we get right to this month's story. We're please to be offering a 25% discount to any CCGD or MPI members who book The Mark of a Leader before September 30 for any conference held before the end of 2007. It is our way of saying thanks to both organizations for their support! Also if you are at the Incentive Works Tradeshow in Toronto on August 22 and 23, please come and see us at our booth! This month we're featuring one of our favorite brands in the world. We raved about their new show LOVE last month, and thought we'd give you their amazing story this month in the E-zine. The brand, of course, is Cirque du Soleil. We know you'll find their story as fascinating as their shows. We hope you enjoy it, and the rest of the summer. Yours in leadership
Please visit our website at www.themarkofaleader.com |
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FEATURE
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QUOTABLE QUOTES "The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it." Michelangelo |
CIRQUE DU SOLEILLogic will get you from A to B. Imagination will get you everywhere. 
There are two approaches to creating an enduring and powerful brand in today's competitive market: Be the best at what you do, or be the only ones who do what you do. Cirque du Soleil has done both. With constant innnovation, risk taking, a commitment to the highest standards in the world, and impeccable storytelling. This is their story. It is a dream that started like so many, from almost nothing. Eighteen year old Guy Laliberte, an otherwise ordinary middle class kid from Quebec, was traveling through Europe, armed with little but his accordion, some spoons, and his backpack. Somewhere along the way, he fell in love - with the art of street performance, and the rich history of the European circus. 
When he returned to his native Quebec, he settled in the tiny town of Baie St. Paul, where he found other young people who shared his passions: jugglers, clowns, stilt walkers and fire breathers. They became a loosely knit troupe, performing on the streets, sleeping in the youth hostel or wherever else they could find a room. Living, literally hand to mouth, while refining their skills. They had no money, but they had passion. 
A 56 km stilt walking stunt between Baie St. Paul and Quebec City got the attention of the media. This brought a pittance of money, which was used to stage a small street festival. Its success got the attention of the Quebec government, who gave the troupe $30,000 to create a homegrown circus. Inspired by the power of the sun, they called it 'Cirque du Soleil' (Circus of the Sun). |
It was a circus unlike any other. It had no animals, no red-nosed clowns in little cars, no ringmaster in a bad tuxedo. Instead it had acrobats, clowns who were skilled at mime, and hip musicians, all dressed in extraordinary bright costumes. This new circus was a big hit in Quebec. But it failed in Toronto and flopped miserably in Niagara Falls. They almost went bankrupt. But guided by a consuming passion and belief in themselves, Cirque reinvented. They came back a year later with an all new show called La Magie Continue. It was a huge hit again in Quebec and, more important, a resounding success in Toronto. Word began to spread. 
And then young Guy Laliberte and his team made a decision to spread outside Canada. In fact, they gambled their entire future on one moment: the opportunity to appear at the Los Angeles Arts Festival. If courage is one of the marks of a leader, Laliberte showed it in spades. He had enough money to get his circus to LA, but not enough to get it back home. The deal with the festival was for the gate receipts: if Cirque was successful, they would make money and be famous outside Canada. If they failed, it was all over. All of us in business talk about taking risks. But how many of us would be the whole enchilada on one opportunity? Cirque du Soleil was a huge hit in L.A. and thus began what I think of as their global domination of the human imagination. They followed with a string of hits - starting with Saltimbanco - that ran through the 1990s. Soon, additional troupes were formed to take the show to the rest of the world. Their blue and yellow tents were modern versions of the traditional circus tent, minus the dirt floor, the ring, and animals. 
By eliminating those basic ingredients of a traditional circus, Cirque opened up their shows to new possibilities and new interpretations. Was this really a circus, or something else? Aerial performances, contortionists, jugglers, acrobats, mime artists, comedy and tragedy - all found a home in a Cirque show. To give them drama: theatrics, elaborate sets, a live "fusion" band, and rock show lighting effects. All executed to perfection, at tremendous levels of difficulty and risk. The stars? Brightly costumed, strangely made up characters unlike anything the world had ever seen. They did not talk. They used their faces, gestures, and a made-up language that communicated equally well with any audience, anywhere. Ladies and gentlemen, call it what you will, but it's no circus. It has completely transcended any concept of circus. |
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QUOTABLE QUOTES "Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now." Goethe |
But when you're already the best in the world, what do you do to challenge yourself? That is the challenge Cirque faced in the 90s. Entrepreneur Steve Wynn provided the answer by offering Cirque a permanent home in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand in 1993. Freed from the challenges and complexity of having to pack and unpack a tent, their new spectacle, Mystere, pushed the limits of what they could do even further. And audiences just couldn't get enough. 
So new shows were created. O, the show that is largely done in water, and then Ka, have set a new standard for live entertainment that will likely only be surpassed by Cirque themselves. They recently open a new show, LOVE, using images and music from The Beatles in a multimedia display unlike anything in the entertainment world. Like everything Cirque, it is impeccable. Today, in Las Vegas, the most competitive entertainment city in the world, there are 5 permanent Cirque shows which are sold out most nights. Around the world, millions of people see a Cirque show every year. And they come back and back again. Given the awesome power of the Cirque brand and their team, it is a safe bet that they will expand into new areas of entertainment soon. Based on their track record, we can only wait with eager anticipation. 
And what is the Mark of Cirque du Soleil? Well they have achieved something that few other corporations have. They have created an environment where the imagination is encouraged to flourish and constantly stretch, while also exercising the discipline required to mount an incredibly complex undertaking. By setting the high bar they have set for themselves, they have attracted the best performers in the world to their team. With the best talent comes the best end product. They are a model global corporation. They have created an incredible sense of team among performers from around the world who must work together; yet often do not speak the same language as their peers. They work together in the most stressful environment there is - huge live events. And they work with impeccable precision - because any mistake could easily mean serious accident or even death. 
But I think Cirque's most important mark is this. Cirque du Soleil has never forgotten what their business is really about. It is not about theatrics, it is about people. Inside every human being lives a child. For some of us, the child is forced to grow up too soon. Its imagination is stifled. Its sense of wonder is beaten away by an often cold, harsh world. But every time Cirque du Soleil takes to a stage, that child inside each of us is allowed to come out and play. And we come face to face again with the incredible magic - of being human. |
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Please visit us at www.themarkofaleader.com. Copyright 2006 Mark of a Leader |
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