Today’s article is by regular guest columist Russ Murphy, founder of Walkabout Consulting.

I’ve been mesmerized by the coverage of Michael Jackson these last few days, and amidst all the hype, sorrow and disdain, I’ve been trying to extract something meaningful.

Jackson was clearly an innovator, engaging what was to become a revolution in music videos, and using it to his advantage, telling stories, creating experiences and pushing boundaries. He created new dance pieces, many of which are still mimicked on dance floors across the world today. He sold more albums than any other artist, at one stage pumping out a million copies of Thriller each day. The man had some talent. Among many of the tweets and status updates over the last week regarding MJ, the most common seemed to be that many of us can mark our memories with his songs.

First dance moves you ever learnt?

Moonwalk.

First Kiss?

Remember the time.

First album you owned?

Dangerous.

Favourite Music Video?

Thriller

MJ was a success by anyone’s standards. He was wealthy enough to build his own theme park, and who didn’t want to do that when you were younger? He was also wealthy enough to buy the rights to the Beatles catalogue; he has been apparently been making money off it ever since. By anyone’s standards, he was a shrewd businessman. MJ allegedly created a fictitious persona around the time he split from the Jackson 5 and went solo. He personally created a media storm and orchestrated the frenzy surrounding him; much in the same way he orchestrated hit music. He wanted to control the press, and protect himself from the watchful eye of the media. He wanted to spike interest in himself, and he became the first A-List celebrity we took an interest in. Before Brad and Angelina, there was Michael and Lisa-Marie. Before the Britney Spears meltdown, there was the Michael Jackson hyperbaric chamber. Bloggers like Perez Hilton owe their careers to MJ for creating, fuelling and monetizing celebrity gossip.

He was also a broken human being. He spoke often of the abuse he suffered at the hands of his Father. He lived under a cloud of racial ambiguity; was he black or white? He escaped charges of sexual twice in his lifetime, and regardless of what happened, he took an unusual interest in children. I think this is where our fascination with Michael Jackson runs deepest; because most of us can’t relate to his spectacular ability, his genius in the studio and on the stage. Not many of us who bought his albums or mimicked his moves would suggest we are as ruthless and shrewd as he was business wise.

But we can all relate to his brokenness.

We all have an experience of feeling flawed, or being used or abused, or of not living up to the standards others have set for us. Whenever Michael Jackson came crashing back to earth, it was a reminder that at the core like one of us; deeply flawed, and keenly aware of it. Statistics reveal that just like MJ, we are the most medicated and mentally ill generation ever to inhabit the earth. It doesn’t matter if it’s ADD, OCD, anorexia, depression, Bi-polar or anxiety…we are well acquainted with the language of dysfunction. We become familiar with our flaws and we go to great lengths to overcome them. MJ is like our ambassador as a fragmented, depressed and recovering generation. Why else are we so fascinated with him?

Where we don’t connect with him is how he lived from his strengths…most of us could learn a thing or two from MJ about living out of our greatness, despite our flaws and failings. Singing, dancing, creating, innovating and managing the media…these were likely his greatest strengths. But his dance moves were perfected after hours of rehearsal. His songs were cultivated through endless hours at a piano or sound desk. His tours involved legendary amounts of brainstorming, choreography and sweat to become the compelling experiences people describe them as. He dug up his talent, and made decision after decision to live from and develop the very best of himself. MJ had to deal with the painful consequences of his flaws; like all of us will. But he never, ever, surrendered from living out of his greatness.

You and I likely haven’t had the opportunities MJ had to succeed; chances are that no one observed our talent from a young age and drew it out of us. We weren’t given stages to show off our talent, offered record deals or beaten into using our talent. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t good at anything. It means we need to do some work ourselves, and shift our focus from our flaws to our potential.

If a man as broken and flawed as Michael Jackson can live life from his strengths, then surely there is hope for the rest of us…

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