RockStar Leader: Playing From the Same Sheet of Music
•September 20, 2011 • Leave a Comment
Having played in many rock bands, I can tell you that when you start a band, everyone has similar goals.
- “We want to be rock stars!”
- “We want our music to change the world!”
- “We want to be on the cover of Rolling Stone!”
- “We want to be rich and famous!”
Making Beautiful Music
What’s not so easy is getting all the band members to agree and (more importantly), “buy in” to how those goals are going to be accomplished. The clichéd sex and drugs part of rock & roll often leads to juicy headlines that seemingly kills bands and creates “former” band members.
But not playing from the same sheet of music is what ultimately puts the musical nail in a lot of band’s coffins.
Be Wise, Harmonize
For years I was convinced that my band was playing from the same sheet of music.
We all wanted the same larger goal which was to make a comfortable living playing our own original music.
- Everyone was committed.
- We all showed up for rehearsals.
- We tried to contribute based on our perceived strengths
- And to our credit, had very little conflict or drama.
Looking back, I realize that having the same goals and simply showing up wasn’t nearly enough.
In fact, we weren’t anywhere close to playing from the same sheet of music.
Finding Your Groove
So what does it mean to get everyone playing from the same sheet of music?
More importantly, how do we get there?
There are two critical steps in making this happen so your band doesn’t become a VH1 Behind The Music casualty.
Step One
First, it is necessary to create a set of norms for how you are going to treat each other in the creative and decision-making processes. What does that look and feel like? Try to create a jam-session-like vibe that energizes and inspires band members to feel like theycan contribute AND be heard.
Keep in mind that a great jam session starts with open-minded players, is never forced, and feeds off positive creative energy.
Step Two
Next, you have to get everyone to clearly agreed-upon strategies, goals and desired outcomes. If you send a band into a studio and there isn’t a clear vision of what kind of record is being made, guess what you get?
- You get chaos, arguments that go nowhere
- A project that goes way over budget and takes too long
- And ultimately, a record that sucks.
Sound familiar to anyone?
A Broken Record
It might surprise you to know that the band U2 came dangerously close to breaking up when they recorded the album Achtung Baby.
They spun their wheels into frustration because of a severe lack of direction or vision. So much so, that it made them question who and what they were.
They were literally going to call it quits until the band’s guitarist, The Edge walked in to the studio and played the riff for what would become the song One.
Luckily for the rest of us, they came together in that moment, gained clarity on the kind of record they were going to make and were able to record a great record.
The magic didn’t happen until they all started playing from the same sheet of music.
Playing in Harmony
To determine if your band is playing from the same sheet of music consider the following questions:
Have you ever gotten the band (your team) together to collectively define the creative and/or decision-making process? If asked individually, would everyone in your band describe the record your making in the same way? Do all of your band members clearly understand how their efforts support the larger vision? I would love to hear your thoughts!
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The Intersection of Music & Influence™
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Alan Schaefer is CEO of Banding People Together
He serves his clients with high-end music-based collaboration training
Email | LinkedIn | Facebook | Web | Five Star Iris Band
Image Sources: thetransitionist.com, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Edge. BandingPeopleTogether.com
Related articles
- Davis Guggenheim on capturing an intimate, honest U2 (arts.nationalpost.com)
A Better Man
•April 27, 2010 • Leave a Comment
Music and Lyrics: Kevin Moore / O. Osbourne
Recorded by: Keb’ Mo’
Album: Slow Down
Sittin’ here in my problem
What am I gonna do now
Am I gonna make it
Someway, somehow
Maybe I’m not supposed to know
Maybe I’m supposed to cry
And if nobody ever knows
The way I feelIt’s all right
And it’ll be ok
I’m gonna make my world a better place
I’m gonna keep that smile on my face
I’m gonna teach myself how to understand
I’m gonna make myself a better man
Climbing out of the window
Climbing up the wall
Is anybody gonna save me
Or are they gonna let me fall
Well I don’t really wanna know
I´ll just hold on the best I can
And if I fall downI´ll just get back up
It’ll be alrightIt’ll be ok
I’m gonna make my world a better place
I’m gonna keep that smile on my face
I’m gonna teach myself how to understand
I’m gonna make myself a better man
I’m gonna make my world a better place
I’m gonna keep that smile on my face
I’m gonna teach myself how to understand
I’m gonna make myself a better man
Maybe I’m not supposed to know
Maybe I’m supposed to cry
And if nobody ever knows
The way I feel
That’s all rightIt’ll be ok
I’m gonna make my world a better place
I’m gonna keep that smile on my face
I’m gonna teach myself how to understand
I’m gonna make myself a better man
I’m gonna make my world a better place
I’m gonna keep that smile on my face
I’m gonna teach myself how to understand
I’m gonna make myself a better man
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Image Source: soundunwound.com
Raising the Talent Bar
•February 9, 2010 • Leave a Comment
The moment Sean’s audition was over, the rest of us looked at each other with a single word in mind: whoa. Strong, rhythmic, tight and articulate, Sean’s drumming would be a quantum leap for our band. Our original drummer had left us – the victim of real life intruding – and we’d been conducting auditions for weeks without seeing anyone with half of Sean’s talent.
Better yet, he was an easygoing guy with an abiding love for all the same music we loved – and, it seemed, an encyclopedic knowledge of drum charts. Put simply, Sean was better at his role than anyone else in the band was at his; if we invited him to join, in one move, the drum seat would go from being the band’s greatest weakness to its greatest strength.
Would that be an issue? What would happen to our band dynamic?
2-4-6-8, Everyone Recalibrate
After all, we’d started as a jam band over beers in my basement. Everyone was mutually supportive of everyone else, since we all brought a particular package of strengths and weaknesses to the table. Mike, our singer, is a talented songwriter and guitarist but had never been a frontman before. Jay was just picking up the bass. I’d played on and off for over 20 years, but of late, more had been ‘off’ than ‘on’ – and the rust showed. Our original drummer was in a similar spot – he hadn’t played in years and was contending with a newborn at home. Now we were essentially bringing in a professional to man the drum seat. We talked it out, in fairly frank fashion, among the three original members. We knew what we were getting into: everyone would need to step it up to keep Sean interested and engaged in the band. We decided to go with it, understanding that new demands would be placed on us.
What ended up happening was the best possible scenario. We all felt more supported by a locked-down drum line: Jay found it easier to drop into the groove and work with Sean as a real rhythm section. I found I could count on Sean to be on the right beat at the right time, and I stopped worrying about phrase timing and took the ‘slack’ out of my playing. Mike, feeling confidence in the music being played behind him, stepped out into the spotlight with newfound confidence of his own.
It could have been a disaster. Instead, it was the best thing that’s happened to us yet.
Recalibrate Your Team at Work
Introducing a talented new team member can be a challenge, but it’s also a managerial opportunity. Hiring someone who’s clearly a cut above creates a new dynamic within an organization.
These questions can arise:
- Will other team members support the new hire by working closely with him or her?
- Will they lean on their talented new associate too hard?
- Will they rebel against the introduction of a new talent by undermining his or her efforts?
- Or will existing team members elevate their game?
Much of the success or failure of a talent infusion is on the shoulders of the group manager. It’s a tough task: talking through the situation, as we did, acknowledges the talent level of the incoming hire and tacitly communicate an awareness that the stakes are being raised. Or you can let your new hire shine without a major discussion up front – communicating, perhaps, that ‘this is the new standard.’
Either way, you’re taking on a package of risks and rewards.
Ultimately, however, there are only two kinds of managers; those who go out of their way to hire people better than them, and those who go out of their way to avoid those people. I keep a set of Russian nesting dolls on my desk to remind me of this: if everyone hires someone better than them, we become a company of giants. Conversely, if we each go the other way – hiring someone we’re comfortable with, but who isn’t going to push the talent envelope outwardly – we slowly diminish: in aggregate talent, in accomplishment, and in organizational performance.
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Dave Mayer is EVP & Executive Director of Aristeia, Inc.
He can be reached at david.mayer@aristeia-corp.com
Image Sources: carmencja.artspan.com, rack1.vladstudio.com
Leadership Lessons from Wynton Marsalis
•January 17, 2010 • 1 Comment
Here are 15 lessons to help you become and stay a better leader from Wynton Marsalis.
1- THINK BIG, BUT DON’T BE IMPATIENT. Deferring the rewards of long-term success is difficult but necessary if you are going to have the mental fortitude to achieve them.
2. BE PERFECT IN INTENTION; YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE PERFECT IN EXECUTION. Mistakes, by you and your staff, will happen.
3. YOU CAN ONLY DO THE BEST THAT YOU CAN DO. Keep your goals high, but don’t set yourself up for failure. Be patient.
4. DON’T APOLOGIZE FOR A MISTAKE. APOLOGIZE IF YOU DON’T PLAY. Knowing that effort is what matters gives people the courage to always try their hardest.
5. STAY INSIDE YOURSELF; WHEN YOU DO, YOU’LL TAKE A RISK-BUT YOU’LL MAKE AN INTELLIGENT DECISION. Know your strengths and weaknesses.
6. BELIEF IN OTHER PEOPLE’S CREATIVITY ALLOWS PEOPLE AROUND YOU TO BE THEMSELVES AND ACHIEVE THEIR INDIVIDUALITY. If your staff members have the freedom to achieve as individuals, the returns will be manifold.
7. APPROACH YOUR TASK VERY SERIOUSLY-BUT WITH HUMOR. Discipline should never come at the expense of closing one’s self to new ideas, and vice versa.
8. SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO MAKE TOUGH DECISIONS, AND MANY TIMES THEY ARE UGLY. It’s best to be very direct.
9. IT ISN’T MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY. Learn to compromise and be flexible.
10. WHEN YOU’RE A LEADER, SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW, TOO. Good leaders know they don’t have a monopoly on brilliant ideas. Be objective and willing to follow Insights you may have missed.
11. HUMILITY INSPIRES PEOPLE; ORGANIZATION INSPIRES A STAFF. Always try to give your staff clear plans and goals, but allow them room for self-empowerment.
12. RESPECT THE FREEDOM OF OTHER PEOPLE AND THEIR CREATIVITY. JAZZ MUSIC TEACHES THAT ABOVE ALL ELSE. Giving your staff the freedom to improvise opens the floodgates on innovation.
13. YOU CAN’T LOOK AT ANY PERSON AND TELL WHETHER THEY CAN PLAY. ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE CAN PLAY. Some of the best talent can be found in the most unexpected places.
14. THERE IS A LIMIT TO WHAT YOU CAN DEMAND FROM SOMEBODY ELSE. Nothing erodes the spirit like a boss who can never be pleased.
15. BE FUNDAMENTALLY TRUTHFUL. Without truth, your success will unravel.
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from GottaGettaBLOG!, 12/2007
Image Source: diaporama.ladepeche.com
Book a Bigger Gig
•January 8, 2010 • 1 Comment
You could say that I booked the first major club gig for our band because of the opportunity to play in front of a larger audience. Or because of the massive sound system we’d get to run through. Or because we could finally hand out actual tickets – with our band name on them! – to our friends and fans. You could say any of those things, and you wouldn’t be far off the mark, but in truth, I booked it for another, more fundamental reason: our band wasn’t going anywhere at the time.
We’d played block parties, office get-togethers, impromptu jams for friends, even a late-night (very late-night) supporting spot at an obscure club outside Denver. What I noticed, along the way, was that we made all the same mistakes, over and over again; we were ragged in the same places every time, and no one – myself included – had yet put together an ‘A’ show.
Part of the problem was that we weren’t creating any pressure for ourselves.
Our friends loved to get together and have a few beers while we jammed away on rock favorites, but they weren’t exactly going to begin throwing things at us if we flubbed a rideout or misplaced a lyric. In short, we were playing what soccer teams call ‘friendlies’ – events without a lot of downside if we performed poorly.
After six of these in a row, without making any progress as a band, I decided it was time for an ‘unfriendly’ – a real club date, opening for an established band, with real lights, real sound, and a real crowd. We got it – and in preparation for it, everyone stepped up his game. I certainly stepped up mine – and I knew what my motivation was with this booking. But something about the reality of this moment, stepping on stage at a well-known Denver rock bar with our set, caused everyone to put in extra practice hours, double-check stage gear, and make more time for rehearsal.
All of that extra effort was clear the moment we began our set. Our old issues and occasional raggedness vanished onstage; it was easily the best set we’d played to date, and it’s gotten us invited back again and again.
On Stage in the Office
We’ve all experienced this moment in managing groups and teams: the project has stalled. Uncertainty has killed momentum. Tentative steps have replaced bold strides; there is more frivolous debate than forward progress in team meetings, and, as managers, we move from project area to project area, trying to re-ignite the fire that drove the team in the early stages of work. Deadlines have been pushed out once, twice, even three times, and the message from your own executive management is clear: more progress is needed. At moments like this, don’t overlook the possibility of triggering a uniting event for your team – a ‘deadline within the deadline’ that forces disparate operating groups together for a single intermediate goal.
Often, I’ve invited executives from other areas – sales, marketing, operations, finance – to a project status meeting in which I’ve tasked our project heads with presenting the current roadmap and outcome expectations. Or I’ll schedule an analyst day for project heads to meet with a key industry figure and discuss the project’s goals and progress. Or I’ll ask a project team to get its current progress documentation onto a single sheet of paper.
It’s useful, sure – but it’s got an underlying motive, too.
What I really need is a moment of truth for the team; I need them to pull together for a specific moment in time and feel that sensation of unity and progress again. Often, it’s just enough to get factions talking again and working together to get the project moving forward. Even the task of meeting to discuss a PowerPoint slide for the presentation can be a catalyst to air issues and dismiss old roadblocks. It’s the effect of bright lights, booming sound, and a big crowd; we all get better for those moments.
Trading the comfort of the cubicle for the conference room has the same effect. If your project team or task group is stalled on a plateau, consider booking them a ‘bigger gig.’ You may be surprised at how much progress is made in a very short amount of time.
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Dave Mayer is EVP & Executive Director of Aristeia, Inc.
He can be reached at david.mayer@aristeia-corp.com
Image Sources: blog.nbc.com, screenhead.com, mnn.com
Clean, Crunch, and Lead
•December 21, 2009 • 1 Comment
Clean, crunch, and lead…
They’re the holy trinity of tone among guitarists – endlessly discussed, tweaked, and refined. We’ve all heard dozens of variations on each in popular music.
Clean is the sparkling guitar tone in the introduction to Boston’s “More than a Feeling.”
Crunch is the thick, meaty tone that opens Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water.”
Lead is the soaring, incendiary tone on famous guitar solos – think Eddie Van Halen’s seminal “Eruption.”
Guitarists obsess over these three separate, but related, guitar tones; famous ones are analyzed at ridiculous lengths by guitar magazines, and a billion-dollar industry exists in the trafficking of tone replication gear . Most of the famous amplifiers in guitar history are discussed reverently in terms of these tones.
“How’s the clean? Is it Fender clean? Does it have Marshall crunch? Does it have Engl lead?”
Google any new amp and you’ll invariably find someone reviewing it on the merits of these three basic tones. They’re the foundation of every songwriting session, studio recording, and live performance that uses an electric guitar.
Listen to Tom Scholz transition through his tones on the early Boston albums, or Jimi Hendrix’s seemingly infinite continuum of tones and sounds, and you’ll notice that despite a broad variety of tonal characteristics, you always know who’s playing. There’s unity in the variation, a sonic anchor to the innovation and creativity.
That’s no accident.
Good leadership across a wide variety of business conditions is a great deal like guitar tone. There’s not one fixed style and managerial ‘voice’ that works for every situation you’ll encounter in business. As circumstances change, your leadership style has to change with it – whether the horizon looks ‘clean,’ whether you’re in a deadline ‘crunch,’ or whether things have begun to unravel and you really need to ‘lead.’
There are a few basic questions to ask yourself about your own leadership style in relation to business challenges.
First, have you invested the time to develop a stylistic variant for each of these different situations? What will you change about your core leadership style – your ‘anchor tone’ – for each situation?
Second, will your group, division, company, corporation recognize each of those leadership style variations as different aspects of the same core style? In other words, do the changes you apply to different leadership situations still reflect a ‘tonal family?’
If you can’t answer each of these in the affirmative, there’s danger ahead. Your everyday management style might not work in a ‘crunch’ – and if you’re not ready, with a recognizable and effective ‘variant’ on that style, it’s easy to fail in pulling your team through a difficult time – or keeping their attention and respect.
We’ve all worked with, and for, managers who were fantastic as long as there were clear skies ahead, but came apart under pressure situations or simply couldn’t manage through a crisis. Make sure you’re not one of them by crafting and honing a leadership ‘tone family’ that can meet every business challenge.
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Dave Mayer is EVP & Executive Director of Aristeia, Inc.
He can be reached at david.mayer@aristeia-corp.com
Image Sources: rattana.org, rockinwithremedy.com, mtv.com
String Cheese and Rock Star Leadership
•December 19, 2009 • Leave a Comment
I liked the format of Time magazine’s 12/14/2009 interview with Foo Fighters front-man, Dave Grohl – regular people emailing in questions for Grohl to answer, which he did with surprising candor and aplomb. But something he said really got me thinking about an important element of being a Rock Star Leader (RSL).
First, an excerpt from the interview: To the question, “Has becoming a father changed the way you write music?” Grohl replied:
“I used to tour nine months out of the year. Now I don’t like being away from my kids for more than 12 days. It’s changed everything that I do. When you have kids, you see life through different eyes. You feel love more deeply and are maybe a little more compassionate. It’s inevitable that that would make its way into your songwriting.”
Makes sense, yes?! But what brought it home for me was his answer to a seemingly unrelated question: “How do you manage to scream consistently in your songs and still have one of the best singing voices around?” His answer was this:
“I’ve been destroying my voice for, like, 15 years. My vocal cords probably look like string cheese at this point.”
Exactly! You see, he probably wouldn’t have even known even was such a thing as “string cheese” if he wasn’t a father. (And I’m not talking about the band, The String Cheese Incident, either! )
So under the category of “You Don’t Know What You Know until You Know What You Know,” what DO Rock Star Leaders know about leadership that most “lousy” leaders do not? Here are a handful of possibilities:
1. A Rock Star Leader knows the importance of GETTING “IN FRONT OF” MEETINGS – It’s no surprise that meetings are some of the absolute worst places to get things done! That’s why RSLs work to have key conversations, with key players, in advance of ‘formal’ meetings on the topic. Doing so dramatically improves their views being properly heard, understood, and incorporated into the decision-making process. That’s how “influence” happens.
2. A Rock Star Leader knows the importance of KNOWING HOW TO MOP-UP QUICKLY – Obviously, delegation is an essential leadership skill. But even more important is knowing how to clean-up quickly, efficiently, and satisfactorily, should something you delegate go wrong. So whenever RSLs delegate, you can be sure that they spend at least a few moments considering how to handle things if they don’t turn out as planned.
3. A Rock Star Leader knows the importance of ASSISTING OTHERS ACHIEVE SUCCESS – There’s a real paradox in modern leadership: Individual achievement is, typically, what brings us the recognition we need to get promoted into a leadership role, but it is our ability to help others be successful that ultimately defines our real success as leaders. RSLs understand that if they help enough people be successful, what goes around will come back around.
4. A Rock Star Leader knows the importance of MICROMANAGING … YOURSELF – No one likes a boss who micromanages. Why would they?! It implies that their boss neither trusts, nor respects, them. That might not be what you, as boss, actually believes, but it sure is what it looks like from down below. RSLs know that with good planning, delegation, and communications skills, there’s really no need to micromanage. Being able to consistently providing direct reports with clear, concise, meaningful, and deadline-driven projects and assignments does require the RSLs to micromanage someone, though … themselves!
5. A Rock Star Leader knows the importance of MODELING HOW TO HANDLE FAILURE – Nobody’s perfect. That means that, from time to time, we’re going to do things that make us look a bit … imperfect! So be it. RSLs know that HOW they react to their failures makes a BIG difference – just consider the difference between a boss having good laugh at his/her own expense and an awkward, defensive, hissy-fit! RSLs make a point of modeling the behaviors they want to see from their staff when things go well, and when they do not.
These are just some of the things that Rock Star Leaders know that “lousy” leaders likely do not. Like Dave Grohl and his string cheese reference, he knew what he knew, because he knew what he knew – just as Rock Star Leaders know what they know because they know what they know, too.
Want to know more about how leaders excel at leadership? Visit www.leadershipmoves.com.
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Barry Zweibel is president of GottaGettaCoach!, Inc. (www.ggci.com)
He can be reached at info@ggci.com and followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ggci.
Image Sources: buzzworthy.mtv.com, sargentocheese.com
RockStar Leadership: Commitment, Not Compliance
•December 7, 2009 • Leave a Comment
Songwriting is a lot like cooking blindfolded.
You go in with a general idea of what you’re trying to accomplish, but the end product doesn’t always look (taste?) anything like your original vision. Salt is mistaken for sugar; lemons are fumbled for limes; what felt originally like a jar of salsa was chutney instead.
The result can be anything between brilliantly inspired and wildly unpalatable.
The same goes with my rock band. I’ve brought forward song ideas to our group and watched verses become choruses, choruses become bridges, bridges become intros, and intros become cutting-room casualties. I’ve seen measured rhythm become syncopated and vice-versa. I’ve had a general idea of a lyrical theme in mind and seen our lead singer bring in a completely different idea. Often, what ends up on the session recording is magical. Sometimes, the feedback I get from other band members causes me to see that the original song structure was untenable; then I’m back to the drawing board to try again.
Ya’ know what? In the end, it works – and something truly magical has happened along the way.
A monologue has evolved into a dialogue and then into a musical conversation. Our drummer hooks onto the general idea of the song and asks, “how about a big break here and a double cymbal crash to come out of it?” Our bassist decides – with a little help – to invert a scale progression and add tension to an opening section. I’ll trash an early guitar solo as the piece evolves and rewrite it to fit the new vibe. What began as a scribbled riff in my notebook, or a throwaway recording on my handy Zoom H4, has become something very different; it’s music owned by everyone in the band. Everyone’s got his say, and everyone adds value and vision to the process.
Don’t get me wrong. There are arguments along the way. Occasionally one or more of us will stand on a point; this can’t go there. I don’t feel it. We need that vocal held, because I want to come up under it; you need a different word. The drums need to stay with this line. But we all understand that by flexing where we can, we build something stronger than one person’s monolithic vision – we build music we believe in. I see it when we’re onstage – when Jay is nodding along with the groove he helped build, when Mike goes for the high note he wrote with everything he has, when Sean is pounding away in commitment – not compliance. It’s ours.
Frankly, it doesn’t happen if any one of us comes in with an autocratic vision. Sure, I could hand out sheet music and start counting in. But what I’d get is compliance. Compliance sure looks like commitment in the early stages of a project, but it lacks inspiration, fire, agreement. It’s the shadow of a larger, grander, multidimensional object that exists only when everyone on the team is granted the freedom to give to the best of his or her abilities.
Leadership isn’t always about circling a destination on a map and telling the troops to march toward it.
That’s instruction, but not development; order-giving, not activating. Real leadership is putting people in a place to lead themselves; then, to lead others around them; ultimately, to lead a group. You’re not going to do this forever. (Are you?) Their first efforts on this front aren’t likely to be pretty, but unless we’re willing to accept that as the price of progress of improvement – and, on occasion, have a backup plan ready to quietly share – employees don’t grow and evolve. The next time you’re given a task to carry out, or have an inspiration for a project, keep your sheet music in your pocket. See what your team writes. You might be very surprised at the passion in the music that comes forth.
Are you willing to accept the price of progress in your organization? Do you have the professional courage to invest in people for the longer-term benefit of the team? Or do you frighten more easily under the pressures to produce and shortcut others’ growth? How challenging is trusting yourself and your team in leading development of others? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
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Dave Mayer is EVP & Executive Director of Aristeia, Inc.
He can be reached at david.mayer@aristeia-corp.com
Image Sources: buildingdiagnosticsgroup.com, ui09.gamespot.com
Taking Time With Talent
•December 1, 2009 • 2 Comments
Our bass player struggles at times. There; I said it.
He still sometimes refers to fret number instead of note (“do I play a 3 or a 5 there?”) and gets flustered occasionally when we speed up past about 120 beats per minute. It’s perfectly normal. You see, he’s only been playing for a year and a half, and in the band we play in, no one else has less than a decade on his instrument. I’ve got two decades; our drummer, almost three. Jay’s got a ton of natural talent, strong hands, and a terrific work ethic. He’s going to be a great bassist. We all know it.
All he’s missing is time on the instrument, and there’s no shortcut for that.
What I’ve noticed about Jay in the past two years are the phenomenal strides he’s made as a musician in a supportive environment. It’s easy to forget at times that the “big chunks of getting better” come early, not late, in our careers, and they come only when we feel like we’re in an environment in which mistakes get made and can be safely corrected. Jay’s gotten better – a lot better – since his first tentative steps jamming in my basement studio, in part because of a clear message the rest of us have sent him. What we’ve told him, in essence, is “you’re new to this; you’re important to us; we’re going to wait for you and be there for you.”
He knows that we’re going to raise our expectations as we go – but there’s no point in starting off with those expectations. All they’re going to do is frustrate him, discourage his continuing efforts to practice and improve, and ultimately cost us a good guy. We didn’t try and do a stage show for almost a year after we began; it just wasn’t the right setting for him. Letting him slowly come along in basement jam sessions was a better environment for him to learn his craft. But once he gained his confidence, and improved his performance, he’s been fantastic in live shows.
Making Music at Work
I see this same concept executed well – and, sometimes, executed poorly – at the leading organizations I consult with as a solution delivery executive with Aristeia. Companies recruit top talent from prestigious universities around the country, but all too often forget who they’re bringing on board: kids. They’ve done it all, on paper – but never when it mattered. Do we need new collegiate-age hires to come up the curve quickly? Yes. Do we also need to be patient with them as those “big chunks of better” manifest themselves? Yes.
We also need to recognize the moments when they’re ready to take a step, and allow them to take it safely.
I’ve brought this idea to a number of client organizations, where our engagement team has worked with HR to institute ‘jam sessions’ for new hires. They’re provided with a forum of mentor executives within the organization and encouraged to research and present a topic of potential interest to the organization – a new product concept, an assessment of a key competitor, an overview of an existing process with recommendations for improvement. They’re then given the floor to make their presentation with all the accoutrements; often, the boardroom is scheduled for the event, and lunch is provided. The only rules are that criticism can only be constructive, and anything that needs to be discussed in greater depth is done offline. It’s a safe environment.
The results for our clients have been fantastic. Everyone wins; young employees get valuable face time with senior execs, and they’re less nervous about presenting ‘for real’ down the line if they’ve seen those executives and answered their questions in a less formal setting several times before. Execs get to meet some of the company’s brightest young stars early in their career and develop mentoring relationships with them. And, every now and again, a presentation that was supposed to be a ‘trial run’ turns out to be something of real interest and importance to the organization – a product idea gets enacted, a process gets re-engineered, et cetera.
Practice Makes Perfect-ish
The presenter is almost always asked to be a part of that team working on the project, in a ‘safe’ role. The time involved in preparing a presentation is minimal in the scope of the employee’s week, generally just a few hours’ time scheduled out to work on it, and the process also encourages new hires to meet and interact with other members of the organization in different operational areas.
Talent grows and flowers; it evolves, breathes, and expands. It’s not a shrink-wrapped commodity that’s switched on at a certain point in our lives and remains at a steady state. Carl Jung wrote that “…great talents are the most lovely and often the most dangerous fruits on the tree of humanity. They hang upon the most slender twigs that are easily snapped off.” As we recruit and hire new employees for our organizations, these are important concepts to keep in mind. Rush a new hire along too quickly in the never-ending quest for productivity and improvement, and we risk gaining nothing from his or her tenure. Carefully managing our new human resources and bringing them along at a comfortable pace, however, ensures years – perhaps decades – of productive, creative service.
What steps are you taking in your organization to ensure that your young recruits are protected from harsh elements in the beginning stages of employment? How are you mentoring them with a sense of safety and encouragement? What else is needed to insure that your organization is providing the proper environment for professional and personal growth? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
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Dave Mayer is EVP & Executive Director of Aristeia, Inc.
He can be reached at david.mayer@aristeia-corp.com
Image Source: alispagnola.com, riversidemusic.com
Alan Schaefer
Barry Zweibel
Dave Mayer
Luke Crown
Michelle Kerrigan
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Terry Moshenberg
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