Nowadays, some of the world’s biggest ‘influencers” are musicians. But how exactly did that happen? It does have something to do with the quality and mainstream appeal of the music, but there is a lot that happens behind the scene in order for a musician to become successful and influential. Believe it or not, many of the principles in the music industry are actually very useful common business and leadership practices. In this article, I go over some of the most impactful leadership lessons (in my own opinion) from musicians.
Leadership begins with a vision/dream
Many big pop stars describe how at the beginning of their career, they would dream or visualise themselves playing in huge venues. In 2010, Lady Gaga tweeted a photo of herself standing in front of the marquee at Madison Square Garden. Later that night, she explained how she would dream that one day her name would be in lights at the venue. She used this to form her vision of the future and share it with her team so that they would always push her to reach that goal. In order to be a good leader, one must have a clear vision of what they want to be or to achieve in the future.
You Need Support
Obviously, musicians can’t have a successful career without the support of numerous fans. musician Amanda Palmer challenged others into shifting the paradigm on how we ask for support: “I think people have been obsessed with the wrong question, which is, ‘How do we make people pay for music?’ What if we started asking, ‘How do we let people pay for music?’”
Just as musicians are building a support network, so should anyone who wants to be a leader. Find your support network, offer them great value for their support and really show that you care about them. Recognise that big dreams require big teams.
Leaders should learn “informed improvisation.”
Everyone just assumes that improvisation in music performances is purely unprepared material without the foresight of how the performance would go. That is not completely true. In order for a musician to be successful at improvisation and dazzle the crowd, one must have a lot of knowledge on the given subject, in order to be able to recognise and foresee possible musical resolutions of the progressions played during an improvisation. When a musician is capable of anticipating notes/sounds, they can take informed risks during improvisation.
There is a lot of talk about leaders needing to take risks and big steps. While that is certainly true, leaders also need to be prepared to make their own “giant steps.” Leaders should study market conditions and forecasting to make better informed decisions.
Leaders make others look good
A lot of big musicians help out new, young talent to swim out to the top, either by mentoring, coaching, or collaborations. True musical leaders help others become better at what they do. That also pertains to on-stage support for artists- Michael Jackson used to oversee and help his crew make the best performance possible.
Leaders should be adept at providing support to make others on their team shine. They listen to their team, take feedback and use that to make the team better.
Leaders understand self-discipline
Stereotypically, most people believe that touring musicians live a very “off the rails” life, party all the time and drink/do drugs. However, when one is touring for weeks, or even months, discipline is absolutely necessary in order to finish the tour and not fall ill during or even die. Simon Tam explains that he and his band have a signed internal agreement about staying sober during performances, as well as keeping up with practicing, equipment maintenance and a schedule that leaves enough room for sleep/recovery. Why is this is necessary? Their usual tours require 4-6 hours of driving every day, 1-2 hour of media/press and then performing until 2 a.m. every night. If they had partied and disregarded their schedule, they simply wouldn’t be able to finish the tour.
A leader should have high expectations for their team and themselves. Just like musicians, they should maintain their skills, develop time for rest, and make decisions for a sustainable career.
Last year, a study confirmed that trees never stop growing. Year after year, they continue to add new rings. In fact, older trees keep growing at a faster rate. The day that a tree stops growing is the day that it dies.
For those of us in the music industry, there are always opportunities to learn, collaborate, and grow. Leaders have similar opportunities for development. Leaders are learners. But whether a tree, a musician, or a leader, there’s one universal axiom: never stop growing.
Sources:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/5-powerful-leadership-lessons-from-musicians_b_6810216
