The Company You Keep
I can tell you the life you‘ll lead in five years by learning two things about you: the people you spend time with and the way you feed your brain (books, magazines, TV, movies and internet).
When I was a musician I knew very little about boards of directors. I knew they had something to do with running multi-million dollar corporations but the whole topic seemed shrouded in mysterious handshakes and clandestine meetings. Then I changed careers.
From my new perspective, I‘ve seen that a board of directors is a team of people with various backgrounds brought together to help guide, mentor, educate and direct the leader(s) of a company. Nothing mysterious, just experienced people helping less experienced people stay on track, avoid dangers and work towards defining and achieving goals.
And this is something every music-business-wanna-be-star desperately needs.
I read a recent article in People magazine about the "new" country star Gretchen Wilson. Other than the fact that she moved to Nashville in 1996 (see the page on You Think You Have Enough Talent where I wrote about overnight successes), what struck me was the story about her first single "Redneck Woman" which she co-wrote with a gentleman named John D. Rich. She went on to say that he has been an advisor to her since they met in a club many years ago.
So, who are your advisors?
This isn‘t anything tricky either. Advisors aren‘t anything more than people who know something important and have your best interests at heart. Do you have people in your life like that. Do they know where you want to be and/or know how to get there? Are you surrounding yourself with people that are in life where you want to be? Folks that can show you how to get there too? Are you pursuing and building relationships like this? What about your friends? Are they helping you or hurting you?
Whoa! Am I suggesting you dump your friends? Am I suggesting you pick friends just for what you can get out of them? No, not at all!
First, we are talking about two different types of relationships here. One is personal, one is business. The lines can be vague, but always make sure you know which line you're crossing. That said, I would suggest you change friends if all your friends are telling you you'll never make it. This business is tough enough without having to deal with that too.
So what am I saying? Make sure you have a personal, business and strategic team of people around you that can support you, educate you, guide you and brainstorm with you until your goals are reached.
This team can help with Keeping Your Company.
