The words have an exotic ring to them. The song was an all time best-seller. The movie is a celebration of Queen and their meteoric rise to become one of the greatest bands. I recently watched the movie and found it to be extremely engaging and entertaining. The characters actually look like they are from the band. The editing is slick and the songs are of course awesome. As I walked out of the theatre, I thought to myself that apart from being a great movie, it also had some great lessons for leaders and organizations.

I have tried to summarize below some key learnings.

Think big: Freddie Mercury didn’t want to be any singer – he wanted to be THE singer that the world would sit up and take notice. And it is this BHAG dream that gives him a sense of purpose and direction. And then he works backwards to make that dream a reality. It is important for leaders and organizations to have a larger vision, and then effectively communicate that vision to the larger team, and get them to rally around it and work towards making it happen.

Self-belief is key to success: When Freddie wants to become a singer, and he goes to meet a potential band, they make fun of his teeth sticking out. Freddie responds by saying that the he uses the space created by the sticking out teeth so that he can sing even better. Similarly when the band Queen proposes the song Bohemian Rhapsody to an agent who dismisses it, they take it elsewhere and it then goes on to become a runaway success. The first step for a leader is to have a vision and the belief, and only then can he rally the organization around that belief.

Differentiate or die: When Queen is asked what makes them unique, Freddie responds by saying that they are a misfit band which sings for misfits- people in the audience who don’t fit in. They were very clear that they needed to uniquely slot themselves, and be consistent about it over time. Jack Trout and Steve Rivkin talked about differentiation as a means to survive. I would go on to say meaningful, sustained differentiation is the only way to thrive in today’s cluttered world.

It’s always about the team: Once the band becomes really successful, the success gets to Freddie’s head and he decides to split from the band and go solo. He goes through a tough phase and then realizes that he cannot create the magic just by himself and he needs the band to do it. They then reunite and perform at the LiveAid concert to raise money for Africa and its their best ever performance. No matter how charismatic the leader, how strong the management team, one of the key elements for success for any organization is effective collaboration and teamwork.

As I walked out of the movie hall, I felt energized by the music and inspired by the man and his band, who created the magic with their music. They are truly the Champions!!