“Pick up the Pieces…” – let me guess, you liked that song better in 1974 because you never thought it would pertain to your business, right?
Well, as it turns out, the Average White Band was right on the money, and that’s exactly what we must do now: pick up the pieces! Interestingly, if you listen to the shout chorus in the song, the AWB tells you what to do – they just don’t tell you how to do it. So, let’s look at a few thoughts on how we pick up those pieces.
But first, a word from our sponsor: Leadership!
Is there ever a better time to witness leadership in action than during a crisis? Absolutely not. Whether you are talking about national, state, local, or business levels, leadership is really exposed during a time of crises. Let’s focus on the characteristics of leadership itself. If you check online to find the definition of “leadership,” you will find many characteristics that are applied to the word. What you will not find are the adjectives decisive and brave. Inquisitive, resourceful, and compassionate are also missing in the list of descriptors. What you will find are the words transparency, passion, and communication, and according to Forbes those are the most important traits.
It appears to me that some truly unique qualities are now missing from the corporate definition of leadership. At first glance, the corporate definition of leadership seems a bit weak. However, if you ponder it long enough, you will realize that the problem with the current definition of the word leadership, is perhaps the understanding of the word itself. We have lost the courage to delve deeply into what leadership really means. Honesty has become inconvenient. Responsibility is now just jargon as opposed to action. Conviction is a word we reference with the penal system; seldom is it currently used with clarity of intent.
As you look at the crisis in front of us, just ask yourself, “Are there any qualified leaders in this moment who are comfortable?” Great leadership is uncomfortable most of the time. Leadership is not a feeble word, nor are true leaders feeble. It is not faint of responsibility, nor are the genuine leaders. When leadership is defined via corporate speak, is it leadership? Or simply a paper tiger?
Now back to our regularly scheduled broadcast regarding how to pick up the pieces
What’s the best piece of advice you have heard in the past six to eight weeks, while pondering how and when to reopen your business? The best advice I heard came from a NAMM webinar with Bob Phibbs. Bob’s advice: “Re-open your business as if it’s a new business, and you’re opening for the first time.” When I heard that, I thought it was a truly good strategy.
If you take a second to think about it, it is true. We can’t really get back to where we entered the conversation, so why try? Maybe there’s a better way to look at the idea of our business and the core values it represents. Some people believe that perhaps there’s a chance that folks may not want to go back to the way things were: fast, demanding, all give and no take. I may be going out on a limb here, but I believe civility may come back into vogue.
Of course, just as I was getting comfortable with this thinking, a BMW blew by me at 80 miles an hour on a two-lane road today, so I guess we will land somewhere between the two ideas. But I think we all agree, there is no “normal, “and in the strangest of ways, that’s actually good news.
So, what should today’s thinking be? It should be what has always worked, but something that we, as a society, have recently taken for granted: service, service, service! Courtesy, kindness, civility, specialized knowledge, the idea of “going the extra mile,” or “embracing empathy,” “doing something extra without being asked,” and the big one: “winning the customers’ trust again” – as if you’re opening for the first time.
I do believe online education becomes a tool that will be more accepted and more prevalent. However, I also believe that true, high quality, one-on-one music education will now become more respected and honored for what it really is, a valuable apprentice system. I have no facts to support my opinion, and I could be completely wrong. But there are hints that I may be right. What did we lose in the last six to eight weeks? Human interaction.
And if you take something from someone, it usually becomes a very sought-after commodity. The truth is we had begun taking music for granted. There ya go – I said it. We had become obsessed with gadgetry and technology. Of course, technology is not necessarily bad, but on its best day, it is artificial. That’s not too different than changing the definition of a word for convenience.
The new normal will be a marriage of all our best ideas blended with the leadership necessary to execute that understanding in the new frontier. Something tells me we’ve had a little time to think about that.
Menzie Pittman is the owner and director of education at Contemporary Music Center in Virginia (CMC). Following a performance and teaching career spanning more than 32 years, he founded CMC in 1989 and continues to perform, teach, and oversee daily operations. He has 50 years of musical experience as a drummer and drum instructor. Menzie is a frequent speaker at NAMM’s Idea Center, and a freelance writer for MMR’s “Small Business Matters” column.
