Manage to Engage

CHAPTER 3Manage to Engage: Building Street Cred

And then, I thought, how could I possibly be better for you? I want to say and sing the right things for you, and I want to make that one melody that really saves your spirit that one day.

—Lady Gaga, musician¹

Looking to pop icon Lady Gaga as a potential role model for engagement might seem odd. But, if you are serious about transforming your engagement levels at work, you need bold thinking.

Lady Gaga called her multimillion-strong army of fans “Little Monsters” – and they loved it: the definition, that sense of belonging, that confirmation that they have been seen and appreciated in return for their investment of passion. One research study interviewing her monsters found that “Identification as a Monster… moves beyond an interest in Lady Gaga's music…their interest in Lady Gaga [has become] ‘a way of life.’”² Because they feel she is interested in each of them, and she creates a feeling of closeness through social connections (reciprocal communication – despite the vast scale), Lady Gaga's fans are among the most engaged of any popular artist. It's the kind of passion and devotion employers and managers dream of.

But perhaps what really sets Gaga apart from her peers is her belief in how she should use her influence, and it is this that makes her an interesting model for engagement. In her early days of popularity, she was often quoted as saying that what drives her is making a difference, rather than making money.

It’s ...