No, not the school band, or marching band, or not even drum corps (though DCI Corps are pretty cool). There were definitely solid lessons on teamwork, leadership, relationships, and workflows in all of those experiences, however, today I want to focus here on “the band” as in: “we’re getting the band back together”, “dude, my cousin is in a band that opened for Aerosmith”, and “your dad plays in a rock band?” Yes, THAT band. I’m inspired to write this post today for a couple of reasons. First, I’m spending this week at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, which if you have not done (irrespective of your feelings about bluegrass music) it is something you should definitely include on your bucket list. It’s an amazing festival in one of the most beautiful spots in the country. Over the past week, I’ve had the opportunity to see, interact and play with many musicians, fans, and support staff. Secondly, my SkyeTeam partner in crime, Morag Barrett, had written a fabulous post about Leadership Lessons From The Ballroom that got me thinking…so, with that, let’s jam!

Check Your Ego, Even If You’re The Lead Vocalist

I’ve played in and around bands since 1982. I began life as a drummer. You know the drummer, the guy who’s not a “real musician”? The world is full of awesome drummer jokes (How do you get a drummer off your front porch? Pay him $10 for the pizza). Drummers get a bad rap, especially at the hands of lead vocalists and guitarists. I’ve seen many bands fall apart because the biggest egos on the stage couldn’t accept the fact that, quite literally, it actually took everyone to create the show (or record, or song). I watched a fantastic documentary last week about background vocalists called Twenty Feet From Stardom. It makes this point in spades. When you look at a performance through the eyes of a background singer, it’s pretty quickly apparent that without them, the complete aesthetic is blown. Just try to imagine The Rolling Stones’ Gimme Shelter with out Merry Clayton’s vocal. It would be a completely different song. I could argue that Clayton’s vocal is more impactful than Mick Jagger’s vocal line. Interestingly, in the movie, both Jagger and Sting talk about that necessity of the background vocal. We have a saying at SkyeTeam, and that is, “you cannot high perform alone”.

Lesson: Working with a prima donna is never fun, don’t be that that person. Even if you are Freddie Mercury, Bohemian Rhapsody is a different song without the rest of Queen.

Leadership From The Riser

Drummers as leaders? What? But I thought that you checked to see if the stage was level by seeing if the drummer was drooling out of both sides of his mouth? Historically speaking, though the drummer “holds the band together”, the drummer isn’t typically seen as the leader of the band. There are the obvious examples of bandleader drummers: Buddy Rich, Art Blakey, or Max Weinberg on the old Conan O’Brien show. I don’t necessarily mean leadership in the most obvious sense of the word. For example, Neil Peart is the chief lyricist for his band, Rush. Without that sort of leadership, who knows if Rush would be regarded as they are today. Sometimes these players, who are not the main focal points of the band are responsible for some pretty important stuff. Perhaps they book all the shows, or take care of all the art & design elements, or are the principal songwriter.

Lesson: Let those on the team gravitate to their strengths and lead where they fit best.

Bassists Are People Too

The only guy in the band who might get more ribbing than the drummer is the bass player. As far as paths chosen, it’s generally accepted that drummers made a conscious choice. Bassists are largely regarded as guitarists who just couldn’t cut it. This is simply not true. Bass players have a very important role to play…and they know exactly what that role is. Bands that work well, that just blow people away with a live show are bands in which everyone knows (and is comfortable with) their roles. Singers that don’t have to always be drawing attention to themselves (see point #1), guitarists who know when to reel it in, drummers who know when to go for it, and when to open that pocket up, and yes, bass players who know the value of a well placed run all help the team get where it needs to be. This goes for ancillary roles too. Set up and tear down are important activities that require some knowledge and effort. In my current band, my guitarist and I have this down to a science. It’s not that we don’t welcome help from the others, it’s just that we have a system. I always do certain things. He always does certain things. When someone else gets in the mix, it slows down productivity and causes rework. Fortunately, we are able to have the conversations that reinforce what these secondary roles are, and why we do it the way we do. This way, no feelings are hurt, and no “stories are written”.

Lesson: Everyone on the team needs to know what their roles are, and how to play them appropriately. If you’ve got something to bring to the party, and the rest of the team doesn’t know (or you feel stifled), have the conversation.

Post Gig Analysis

We tend to be our own worst critics. I missed that chord change. The ending to that tune was supposed to be a triplet. I was flat on that one chorus. Here’s the thing: No One Noticed…and if they did, it doesn’t matter. There is substantial value on capitalizing on what worked. When the band takes 10 minutes after the gig to look back at what worked really well, the show gets better. When the band takes 10 minutes after the show and beats themselves up, tell each other that the show was terrible and comment on how “we need to practice every day”, the environment can get toxic pretty quickly. I’ve been in a band with that guy, and I hated it.

Lesson: Learning is important. Make sure you take the time to learn from what worked really well. Capitalize on, and play to the strengths of your team.

Like Brothers and Sisters

After playing music for over thirty years, I’ve been situations that were really good, and really not so good. In the good ones, you’re not always going to agree (and that’s ok). In the not so good ones, things can get ugly. Close quarters make things tough as well. Working on a team that’s producing something creative (and sometimes largely personal) raises the stakes. Situations like these remind us that relationships are important. Many times we make sacrifices for talent. Do you know how hard it is to find a keyboard player? What do you do when he or she is just not the right person? Well, often times, you keep that person around longer than you should because talent is scarce. Take the time to invest in your relationships. They matter. At the core, it can be argued that they matter more than anything else.

Lesson: Relationships matter, they are the “glue” of the team. Take the time to cultivate them appropriately.

What lessons have you learned in your hobbies/extracurricular activities that are applicable to your teams at work?

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