3 Key Soft Skills You Can Learn From Record Label Bosses
Learn how the patience, cultural awareness, and conflict mediation skills of record label bosses can enhance your career.
Since starting my company, ArtistConnect, I have had to work on deals with dozens of record label bosses and their artists. In the beginning, I struggled to handle the artists’ personalities. They were extremely sensitive, eccentric, spontaneous, and unreliable.
I couldn’t understand how the record label bosses managed to work effectively with them. However, through observation, I realized that the record label bosses exhibited three key characteristics that made them the best allies for these artists. These characteristics are valuable for anyone dealing with “special” personalities at work.
Patience
It gets hard to keep your temper when artists constantly change plans, visions, and directions. Record label bosses have dealt with this for decades. They know they cannot direct artists anywhere. The best they can do is provide them with the resources they need (most often budget) and let them create their art, even if it seems like it’s going nowhere.
“You can’t rush the creative process. Patience is essential in allowing artists to find their true voice and vision.” — Clive Davis, Former President Columbia Records
They truly have patience with the artists they initially believed in. In your day-to-day work, stay patient with people who don’t follow your exact instructions. If you provide them with the resources and freedom they need, they will likely deliver the results you want.
Cultural Awareness
Respecting an artist’s cultural background is crucial. So is understanding how the artist puts it into their songs. Culture, especially from childhood, shapes every human being. Artists create songs based on their cultural background, and record labels do not judge any of that. More importantly, they try to empathize with the culture and understand it better without claiming to fully comprehend it.
“The soul of a label is its artistic output, its people, its aura. To prosper you must survey your own territory.” — Martin Mills, Founder of Beggars Group
At your workplace, go beyond respecting other cultures. Do this by actively learning about them. Understanding your peers better will make collaboration easier. It will also increase the chance that they will appreciate and like you.
Conflict Mediation
Artists often think everyone else is the problem, but not themselves. This is usually not true. The record label boss is responsible for mediating these conflicts. Typically, the boss empathizes with the artist’s opinion but works in the background to find compromises. The artist feels heard, while everything is resolved in a way that is acceptable for all stakeholders.
“Mediation has been a very big part of my freedom, because it allows me to watch all the things going on and allows me to focus.” — Russell Simmons, Co-founder of Def Jam Recordings
Make your coworkers feel heard while you work on finding solutions in the background. First and foremost, they should sense your empathy.
Bring These Skills Into Your Own Life
By embracing patience, cultural awareness, and conflict mediation, you can effectively manage and collaborate with “special” personalities at work. Provide resources and freedom, respect and learn about cultural backgrounds, and make others feel heard while finding solutions. These strategies will not only enhance your working relationships but also lead to better outcomes for your projects and team.
