Watching TV recently (including Bridesmaids, 30 Rock, and Community) got me thinking about how much great talent Lorne Michaels has discovered and cultivated. I googled him and found some management tidbits:
In Oprah’s Master Class with Lorne Michaels he says: “My only real plan was to find the most talented people I could find. It had to be people that made you laugh, but it also had to be people that you could drive across country with and not kill.”
These quotes are from an interview with him done by Alec Baldwin for the radio show Here’s the Thing:
LM: “…so you know you try and get the best out of people. If you look around the room and you’re the smartest person in the room, then you’re in the wrong room.”
LM: “Yeah, the only way you can manage creative people is with very loose reigns. I think if you’re all over everything between dress and air, you know what that meeting is like and it’s just – there’s no more appeal then.”
Baldwin concluded about Lorne Michaels that “He’s a rare producer in that he’s truly involved in all aspects of production, yet he says when he does his job right, he leaves no fingerprints.”
What a beautiful way to manage.