The other night, some friends of mine gave me some tickets to go see Angels and Airwaves in concert. I haven’t really seen Tom Delonge (the lead singer) since he was in his freshman band, Blink 182. His popularity has grown tremendously, even to the point that the music industry as a whole follows him closely. Anyway, I happened to be one of the first in line and when they finally let us in, I was at the front against the stage, looking up at the infamous Angels and Airwaves. As the concert started off, I was a little taken back at the reactions of all the people that were there. People went crazy, trying to just get noticed by the band. Some even cried. As I held on for dear life Tom finally stopped to acknowledge the crowd and say a few words. He went on to say how great his band was, and then he told us that we should go do whatever we want in life, as long as it is great, as long as it is big. He said, believe whatever you want, as long as you think about life different. As he kept blabbing on about things I didn’t quite understand, it hit me. People would do anything this guy says. His influence was so huge that he could have probably told people to do anything and they would have done it right then. I began to think about this. This guy has great influence with people. When he talks people listen, when he walks people follow, when he plays people sing along. Yet here I stood listening to someone telling me to do whatever I want in life… just do something great. For some of us, that was encouraging, but for most it was dangerous. As I watched desperate people trying to touch the band, I thought about them and what he said. Pretty much what Tom said was, “I don’t know what I am here for, so I do whatever I want. I happen to be in a popular band, so it is great. You should do the same.” I was thinking about the power of his words. This is the guy that people showed up 5 hours early to see, to sweat over, and to cry for. They would do anything he said. That is exactly what influence, or leadership is. It is the power to take people to where you are going. The two most powerful things we have in leadership is our actions and our words. Our words can usually outweigh the other. Our words are powerful. They can lead people to true greatness and at the same time lead people down a path of lies and disappointment. I thought about these people at the concert and how they were going to take his words. Some would probably go and attempt to find greatness through music or popularity, while others would try, but end up at another concert just like this one. As leaders and people of influence, our words have huge impact on people. When we are in our places of influence, whether it be a stage or just a friend in someone’s life, know that our words matter. That what we say should never be taken for granted. People are watching, they are listening, they are following…what will you say?
