Learn What it Takes
to Succeed in Music and the Arts
Before I worked in Corporate America, I believed something about Chief Executives of companies despite the fact that I didn’t know any of them personally. I believed they were incapable of performing the day-to-day tasks of most of their employees and had ascended to their positions by clawing – or worse – their way to the top of the corporate ladder.
After I got my job and began to learn how a big company works, I was immediately struck by the beliefs and perceptions of all my co-workers. Everyone of them supported my prior assumptions by complaining that they knew twice as much about how to do their day-to-day job as those “fat cat” Chief Executives and Senior Managers.
Imagine my surprise when after only six months on the job, I became a Manager over those who did their jobs better than me. Huh?
Perspective
This experience, and the fact that I got seven more promotions in the next eight years, taught me that the knowledge, skills and attitudes it takes to climb the ladder are completely different than the knowledge, skills and attitudes of performing day-to-day work. What does this have to do with you?
Everything.
What it Takes to Succeed
Just like my co-workers at the time, I have found that most musicians spend their lives devoted to becoming great players, singers and songwriters with the mistaken belief that these efforts will lead to promotions through the ranks of the music industry. I should know: I did it too.
But my experience at the company taught me that there is much more to learn if you want to succeed – yes, I said learn.
How to Learn
You don’t have to be put on the fast track of a company to learn everything you need to know.
- Online: Check out blogs and online magazines for 24/7 access to some of the greatest minds of our time. Search by topic and ask your friends for referrals
- Podcasts: Same thing with podcasts and you can listen on the go.
- Books: Visit the business section of the bookstore, library or Amazon.
- Workshops: Look in the paper or online for local seminars, workshops, discussions and speeches at colleges, community organizations and adult education businesses.
What to Learn
Since you will spend your career – and life – interacting with them, it should come as no surprise that the first and most valuable area of study you can commit to is people.
Learning how to communicate effectively, listen well, understand and negotiate with people is actually not hard. The difficult part is putting what you learn into practice in real life. Why? Because no one ever responds like they should!
Don’t worry, stick with it. Nothing will contribute to your success more than your ability to get along with and work well with other people. Even the smallest changes in what you do can yield huge results.
The second area of study is business itself. You don’t have to become a marketing or financial guru, but the more you understand about the ins and outs of business, the more success you’ll find.
Learning about business will help you understand the interactions and integrations of everything in the music industry and how you need to respond in order to have the career – and life – you want. Over time, this will help you develop confidence in your yeses and nos.
You will become a far more confident decision maker because you’ll know how and why your choices affect all the parts of your career. This will ensure you’ll make effective decisions about what you should or shouldn’t do. And once made, you won’t waste hours second guessing your choice.
A More Peaceful Life
Learning how to get along with people and increasing your business knowledge will give you an additional and unexpected benefit too: a more peaceful life.
Your people skills will dramatically reduce the stress in your life for obvious reasons and you’ll be able to rest in the knowledge that you’re consistently making the decisions you need to make to build the career of your dreams.
After 20 years as a professional drummer, Steve Grossman left the music business for a career in the “Real World.” Learn how NOT to follow in his footsteps atwww.whyifailed.com
