5 Reasons We All Want to Work for Jimmy Fallon

Loveable goofball and Saturday Night Live alum Jimmy Fallon might have been a surprise choice when the time came for Jay Leno to pass the torch for The Tonight Show on, but he’s proven that he the perfect choice. Here are five lessons for business leaders that want to lead like Fallon.

5 Ways to Lead Your Business Like Jimmy Fallon

Greatness in leadership isn’t reserved for managers and CEOs who work in Wall Street type workplaces. Here are five leadership takeaways that make us all wish we worked for someone like Late Night talk show host Jimmy Fallon.

The genius of Jimmy Fallon’s leadership may well be summed up in his own quote, when he said “Don’t keep reaching for the stars, because you’ll just look like an idiot stretching that way for no reason.”

Initially, his selection left some experts scratching their head, surprised that he had been chosen to take over the Late Show and fill the shoes of comedic legends Johnny Carson and Jay Leno. Now nearly a year later, most skeptics have to admit that not only was he a good choice for the role, but a great one.

Although Fallon had made a name for himself in comedy, including six years on the cast of Saturday Night Live, few could have predicted how quickly he would not only take on the role of Late Show host, but take it over, in his own unique style. Defying critics who predicted the show would tank, Fallon not only kept the show in first place in its time slot, it extended its lead over the rest of the field.

In particular, Fallon has remade the show in such a way that it has become much more relevant to younger viewers. Though he has continued with the tradition of standup monologue, Fallon has also successfully integrated sketches and music performances which have gone viral, taking the show beyond the TV viewing audience to reach today’s digitally connected viewers on any device they choose to use.

Take, for instance, these 14 ‘Late Night’ Videos That Prove Jimmy Fallon Rules the Internet featured on mashable.com. Filled with big name guests that are willing to laugh at themselves, his sketches take on topics from hashtags to first lady Michelle Obama’s call for physical fitness, with Fallon himself showing just how fearless he is when it comes to his craft. Perhaps most famous for his music videos, performing popular songs with big name artists in a dressing room acoustically, with nothing more than grade school classroom instruments, night after night he proves why he’s probably going to be sitting behind the Late Show desk for years to come.

Unlikely as his success might have been thought initially, a closer look at the way Jimmy Fallon leads in front or behind the cameras provides some key insights about why his show is working so well.

Here are 5 Reasons We All Want to Work for Someone Like Jimmy Fallon

1. He’s not going to ask for anything he’s not willing to give himself.

Jimmy Fallon might ask a lot of his staff, but night after night he proves that no one is going to work harder or risk more to make his show a success than he is. Fallon said, “Anything I learned was just work hard. Just keep working hard and don’t worry about the outside stuff. Whatever happens will happen.”

2. You’re going to buy in, because he’s going to put you on the pedestal.

Still unpretentious after all these years, Fallon seems like the kind of guy who would shrug off a compliment and make those around him feel special, rather than pretend to be a big shot himself. Fallon has a talent for making other people feel good, on and off the camera. Last year after learning that no one in his office had received flowers on Valentine’s Day, he bought out a local florist and personally delivered flowers to everyone on his staff.

Clearly, he understands the concept of buy in. In fact, Fallon himself once said, “If you’re a sports fan you realized that when you meet somebody, like a girlfriend, they kind of have to root for your team. They don’t have a choice.” While his employees may not have a choice about whether or not to root for the success of the Late Show or Fallon himself, it’s clear that he’s not going to leave it to chance.

3. He’s going to put the spotlight on others.

Much to the point, Fallon’s sketches and songs may poke fun at his guest stars and artists, but never in a way that takes away from their success, only in a way that points to it. Small wonder that superstars like Justin Timberlake, Paul McCartney, Neil Young and even the President and First Lady have trusted the formula, which Fallon himself describes this way, “I just really don’t like being the center of attention that much.”

4. He’s going to break the mold, with respect.

Rather than trying to emulate either predecessor Leno or Johnny Carson, Fallon has broken the mold of what the Late Show “was,” while preserving enough of the elements to pay homage to the legacy. To paraphrase our opening quote, it’s as if Fallon realized that to try to reach for the same style that his predecessors had used would only make him look silly.

5. He’s going to have fun.

There’s no denying that Jimmy Fallon has determined that he’s going to have fun, and that his show is going to be a fun place to work. In his own words, “’Have fun’ is my message.”

You might also like: 4 Ways to Become the Business Leader You Always Wanted