"It’s 12 noon in London and 7am in Philadelphia - around the world it’s time for Live Aid"
These were the opening words that started a sixteen-hour music marathon and a 40-year (and still growing) legacy. Over 160,000 fans attended two live stadiums in the UK and the US, with additional concerts around the world. It was one of the largest satellite linkups and television broadcasts of all time, with an estimated audience of 1.9 billion people in 150 nations watching live - nearly 40 per cent of the world population at that time. It’s singular, clear proposition was to raise funds to alleviate the famine in Ethiopia. The day successfully raised over £150 million and the Trust is still funding international development projects to alleviate poverty and hunger.
Whilst some of the biggest names in music assembled forty years ago this week, the movement that brought them together began much earlier. Bob Geldof and Midge Ure had the big idea and were intent on creating something which would leverage the power of collective action. The movement started in December, with the release of the charity single Do They Know It’s Christmas, then, in July 1985, came the remarkable concert.
Creating a movement is a core feature of a balanced leadership approach. It demonstrates an ability to define, share and build belief in an ambition, to keep people connected to what matters most and to involve them in the journey to achieve it.
When the goal is clear, ideas for how to achieve it can emerge. Not through domination, but through collective action. Not through a hierarchy of command, but a harmony of purpose & network of committed followers.
There’s much reference material on the story of Live Aid, including the current BBC series. All of it presents Geldof as the strong willed, colourfully voiced, leader, passionately and consistently campaigning his non-negotiable goal… and sharing his lack of compromise in reaching it. He inspired and skilfully surrounded himself, with those that would enable the desired outcome - recruiting the best promoter, show producer, stage designer, the most well-known musical acts on both sides of the Atlantic, plus pioneering engineers that could link satellites that had never been linked before.
An inspiring leader with a clear direction and the right talent to work out how to see it through, attracts followers, builds the crowds and spreads the word that brings others in.
This is what a successful movement looks like.
Bringing people together
Arts and Culture are uniquely equipped to create movements. They give us unique moments and shared experiences. They have a powerful and human way of communicating ideas and different perspectives across cultures and social groups. They encourage us to go beyond the surface and to think critically and creatively about the world around us. They bring people together.
We choose to work in the Arts as we feel it’s the place where balance as a leadership capability, and progressive approach can have the greatest impact. The sector is a movement itself.
The world-changing impact and legacy of Live Aid is currently celebrated in the Musical Just for One Day now showing at the Shaftsbury Theatre until January 2026, following an acclaimed run at The Old Vic.
Many of the personalities involved in creating the original movement forty years earlier, gathered this month at a special anniversary celebration. Among those on stage at the curtain call was Live Aid organiser, Bob Geldof.
“It’s the sheer improbable exhilaration of it all” he shared “that’s what resonates’’. “I think that’s why you’ve got this musical. It’s why you’ve got documentaries; it’s why you’ve got whole stations dedicated to that day 40 years ago… when something weird happened!”
A shout-out to our client Jamie Wilson Productions for bringing Just for One Day to the West End.
"This sublime jukebox musical will fill your heart and make you leave the theatre with the feeling that you could change the world too." Rolling Stone UK.
Putting on the big boots
Someone always needs to start a movement.
‘’As soon as he saw Christopher Robin putting on his big boots, Pooh knew an adventure was bound to happen.We’re going on an expedition he said to Pooh, all of us - that’s what an expedition means… a long line of everybody’’
Leading a long line of everybody remains our favourite definition of leadership. But it’s more than one person leading one expedition. Christopher Robin was creating a movement that involved and indeed needed, everybody to come along.
Our 'The Importance of Leadership' blog muses on these wise words from Winnie the Pooh, adding some thoughts from The Harvard Business Review. It explores the ongoing need for Leaders to create effective movements, connecting people to a shared goal, inspiring them to join in and to encourage others to add their support to the journey.
