What the Grateful Dead can teach CEOs about succession planning

That’s why I was so happy that day seven years ago as I watched Mayer and Weir defy the odds on stage. While my husband laughed as I excitedly told him about my epiphany (okay, I admit, having a career breakthrough at a concert isn’t “the mood”), I couldn’t help it. I kept returning to my exposure – and to Dead & Co shows. I was determined to dig deeper to better understand how these artists were able to do this process so well, while some of the world’s most successful companies seemingly couldn’t. And I’ve found that there’s actually a lot to learn from this most unlikely succession story.

Everything starts with creativity and courage. What do I mean by that? Mayer, whose previous work portrayed him as more of a chart-topping heartthrob than a counterculture hippie, was not the obvious choice to follow in Garcia’s footsteps. Mayer first met the original band when he was a guest host Late Late Show in 2015 and invited fellow guitarist Weir to a studio performance. Despite the 30-year age difference, the two hit it off straight away. (Coincidentally, despite being three decades apart, the duo share a birthday: October 16th.) While they jam Altheaone of the Grateful Dead’s most famous songs, it was clear to both of them that something magical had happened.

Mayer, who had discovered the Grateful Dead’s music only a few years earlier, began poring over the band’s songbook. For his part, Weir knew he had to do more with Mayer. Since the older guitarist had already co-founded several spin-off bands, it was no problem for him to integrate new artists. But he also knew that some of the Dead’s die-hard fans might not like this new lineup.

At a recent Dead & Co show at the Las Vegas Sphere – where the band returns for another performance in 2025 – I had the opportunity to meet Bernie Cahill, their co-manager alongside Azoff/Moir. The former IP attorney, who also oversees the Grateful Dead’s legacy, says Weir immediately got over the superficial differences. Even though the mashup may not have seemed obvious to outsiders at first glance, the longtime musician knew he was on to something.

“On paper it might have seemed kind of incongruous, but on stage you could see the sparks,” Cahill told me later.

In fact, there were critics of the decision to bring Mayer on board and form a new band that would take over the Grateful Dead’s songbook. (The full lineup also included former Grateful Dead members Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, as well as new artists Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti – Jay Lane also joined later.) But that’s because it was a creative and bold decision, not one simple.

The more obvious choice would have been to hire another frontman from a similar genre and era – just as the obvious replacement for a leader at Coca Cola is to hire a manager from Pepsi. However, today’s talent solutions require companies to go beyond their traditional comfort zone, even though this is perceived as a greater risk. Because current corporate environments require constant change, which in turn requires agile and versatile managers – and with diverse experiences. This diversity of experiences? It usually doesn’t come from those already in your orbit.

Weir saw something in Mayer that others might have missed: a musical genius who could integrate successfully into a new iteration of the original band precisely because he didn’t come from the same world. But something else had to happen to make this integration work.

A leader entering a new organization must have both knowledge and appreciation of what came before, and Mayer had that in spades. Here the process became bidirectional, and it is crucial that this happens at a deep, deep level. From the beginning, Mayer was intensively involved with the Grateful Dead songbook. He wanted to understand the music on both a technical and philosophical level, delving into what made it so attractive and enduring over the decades – and so ripe for live improvisation, which is what the Dead are known for (both old and new). are. At the same time, he wasn’t trying to be Jerry Garcia – just as an outside CEO shouldn’t try to copy the outgoing founding CEO. In fact, Mayer was cautious when he began playing with Weir and the band not to emulate Garcia, avoiding the late musician’s specific guitar “licks” and finding his own ways to express the original music. From what I saw on stage, it’s like he’s in service of the music, not in service of his ego.

Of course, this is easier said than done. Many new CEOs take months to get used to their new company. But it depends on what they do with this immersion process. Can they stick to the organization’s core principles while developing their own leadership style, making changes while bringing everyone along? That’s what Mayer accomplished. He delves into the band, but also brings his own uniqueness and highlights the collective.

“John’s reverence and respect is so obvious,” Cahill, co-manager of Dead & Co., told me. “Once people felt that, I think they opened up to the (new) band, and now they’re sitting down “They’re all on the bus.”

At my last Dead & Co show – believe me, there will be many more in the future – it was clear that even the most loyal Dead Heads were fully committed to the new band. Not only that, but also the younger, newer fans. In fact, the cross-generational appeal of a Dead & Co show is palpable. Such a bridge is not easy to create, even for the most successful brands. But it’s also key to building a sustainable business model, which Weir in particular has a lot to say about – even if he doesn’t think of it in corporate terms. The longtime musician has a 300-year plan to ensure that the Grateful Dead’s music continues to be interpreted and reinterpreted and brought joy to future generations of fans.

“This is his dream,” Cahill told me. “And for that to happen, he has to have the next generation of artists who can join in and take the baton.”

Keeping the music going is harder than it sounds. It requires an understanding and appreciation of not only the Grateful Dead’s actual songbook, but also their original ethos. At the core of The Dead’s values ​​is a focus on music that is both live and improvised and therefore constantly changing. This is what fans have come to expect. No two concerts are the same and the length of individual songs can vary as the musicians jam in real time and do not stick to how they played a particular hit the day before. There’s a lesson here for all types of companies, too: while many companies strive to become more agile and less rigid, this mentality is embedded in the Dead’s “business model.” Flexibility is the key, not only for transformation, but also for the successful integration of new managers.

With the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary coming up in 2025 – coinciding with the 10th anniversary of Dead & Co – it’s clear that both bands play a unique role in our country’s musical history. They are legends old and new. But maybe, just maybe, the legacy of the dead can be even more than a songbook. It’s a guide for businesses – at least for those who are flexible enough to look for inspiration in the most unlikely places.

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