January 8th, 2026
Dear Leaders,
Over the holiday break, I wasn’t planning to watch this six-part documentary. Two of my kids were adamant, and I joined in somewhat reluctantly. And I imagine you know exactly which one I’m talking about, “Taylor Swift – The End of an Era”.
But as I watched, I realized I wasn’t just watching a concert documentary. I was watching an incredible, living case study in world class leadership, one scene at a time.
I’ve always been a sucker for documentaries and recently watched both the Billy Joel and Indigo Girls multi-part series, which I loved for their deep storytelling about cultural icons and (of course) the music. But what struck me about Taylor Swift’s End of the Era documentary was how explicitly it functioned as a modern leadership lesson, one I genuinely hope people watch and study as we think about the leaders we should be emulating today.
In the BREAKTHRU framework, Taylor Swift may be one of the clearest examples of a Visionary leader operating at the highest level, who has been strengthened by her amplifier, the Connector, to achieve even greater impact.
This Week’s Reflection: Taylor Swift and the influences in her life
Taylor Swift’s leadership didn’t appear overnight. It was cultivated — across generations of women, across disciplines, and across the eras of her own short lifetime (she is only 36).
Her grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, was an opera singer whose artistry lived in a time that offered women little room to be expansive. She trained her voice seriously. She performed professionally and globally (Cuba, Puerto Rico, Singapore). She carried a discipline and devotion to craft that required both courage and sacrifice. And yet, like so many women of her generation, her talent moved within narrow boundaries. Her voice was award winning, but the world wasn’t built to carry it very far.
Taylor has spoken often about her grandmother’s influence, about growing up with recordings of Marjorie’s singing, about feeling both the beauty of that legacy and the weight of what went unrealized. Carrying her grandmother’s legacy forward seems like finishing something that was interrupted. About building the kind of platform her grandmother never had, and then using it fully.
In the BREAKTHRU SLE® framework, the most powerful Visionaries often need an amplifier, someone who grounds their imagination with a strong relationship, who reminds a leader that leadership is not just about what you build, but who you stay connected to while building it. For Taylor Swift, that amplifier is unmistakably her mother, Andrea Swift.
Andrea embodies the Connector Leadership Type. She didn’t just help Taylor succeed; she helped her remember what mattered while succeeding. She is the one who made the connection to Travis Kelce even. As both manager and mother, Andrea became the steady relational force that kept Taylor anchored, to people, to values, to care. Drawing from her own experience managing her mother’s artistic career, Andrea understands how easily talent can be exploited and how quickly vision can become isolating without someone holding the connective thread.
That’s why you see Taylor hold her mother so close, emotionally, physically, symbolically, throughout the documentary. It isn’t about being overly attached or dependent. It’s alignment. Andrea is a living reminder that leadership without relationship can feel hollow and that success without grounding is fragile. She is the steady voice that always makes sure Taylor says I love you back before she goes out to perform.
In a world that often rewards detachment at the top, Taylor’s closeness to her mother reads as a quiet act of resistance, a refusal to let scale erase intimacy, and a choice to keep relationship at the center even as power grows.
Collective Leadership in Practice
Watching this documentary, I found myself thinking that if I were writing my e-book on collective leadership today, I would rewrite it. Not because the ideas were wrong, but because this series offered such a vivid, embodied example of what collective leadership actually looks like in motion, under pressure, at scale, and in full view of the world.
The documentary makes clear that Taylor’s success is not the result of spontaneity or unchecked ego. It is the product of meticulous preparation, long-term thinking, and an unusual willingness to listen, unite, and empower her broader team, even at the height of her power.
One detail stayed with me: in nearly every scene with her dancers, Taylor stands in a circle with them with locked arms. Not at the front. Not elevated. In the round. That simple, repeated gesture communicates something profound about how she sees leadership, as shared, grounded, and relational. Everyone is meant to see themselves as part of the whole.
Before going onstage, she gathers the team and says, loudly, joyfully, without apology:
“Let’s fuck shit up, up, up!”
And of course, they all say it together, in unison, hands raised.
It’s not just hype. It’s culture. It’s belonging. It’s a shared declaration that this is ours, and we’re doing it together.
There’s a moment where she changes a lyric right before a show after listening to feedback from her mother. The decision isn’t dramatic or defensive, it’s pragmatic. She hears something that could make the song clearer, truer, more resonant, and she adjusts. That kind of openness, especially at this level of visibility and pressure, is rare. It signals a leader who values the work more than being right.
In another moment, she agrees to switch out dancers so that someone who had been waiting, working, rehearsing, hoping, could finally have their shot. It isn’t framed as a sacrifice. It’s framed as an opportunity. As an understanding that leadership includes making space, not just taking it.
At one point during the tour, she quietly distributed $187 million in bonuses to the people who made the Eras Tour possible, dancers, technicians, truck drivers, and crew members. Not as charity. As recognition. As a clear acknowledgment that excellence is collective.
Look closely at the stage itself. Her dance team reflects people of all ages, sizes, races, gender identities, and lived experiences, not as a performance of diversity, but as a lived value. The message is unmistakable: strength is multiplied, not diluted, by difference.
Taylor also speaks openly about the pressure she places on herself to ensure every ticket is worth the price, knowing many fans saved for months, traveled long distances, or made real sacrifices to be there. That level of care doesn’t come from ego unchecked. It comes from leadership that understands its impact.
And it made me wonder, genuinely, what male rockstar has ever put this level of thought, labor, inclusion, and accountability into their shows? And no wonder this show is breaking all records for both attendance and revenue.
What Taylor models isn’t just work ethic. It’s collective leadership.
Why This Matters for Us
Most of us won’t lead global tours or shape culture at that scale. But we do lead in many spaces and places. We lead teams. We lead families. We lead communities. And what Taylor Swift’s leadership invites us to consider is how to build a collective leadership ecosystem.
Who do we keep close as we lead to strengthen ourselves? How do we empower more people to achieve excellence?
Taylor’s story shows us that imagination alone isn’t enough. Vision needs care. Ambition needs connection. That is a model worth paying attention to.
From Reflection to Action
As we step into this new year, consider:
Who is my amplifier, the person who makes your leadership stronger, and how can I invite more of that influence into my life?
How might I create a circle of excellence in my next team meeting or offsite? And, what is your team mantra, the phrase that gets everyone on board and reminds us we’re in this together?
How can I use whatever power I have — time, voice, or resources — more intentionally and generously?
Until Next Year
Next week, we’ll explore The Guide through the leadership of Elissa Slotkin, and what it means to lead with clarity, steadiness, and trust when the path forward isn’t obvious.
Here’s to learning and growing and us all being better leaders in 2026-
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