11 Leadership and Management Lessons From Guitar Playing

The cover story of the May 2006 issue of Guitar Player magazine is titled, "99 Ways to Play Better Now: Tips from your Favorite Guitar Players!" and it struck me that are many similarities with gutar playing and life.

See if you can connect the dots between what several of them said about music and what you already know to be true about life, leadership, management and success at work or play:

• "Incorporate the feel of what someone plays into your style rather than the actual notes." - Bonnie Raitt


• "The best performances are completely unselfconscious - where you're inside the music, and it's leading you and you just follow where it goes." - Bill Nelson


• "Don't spend more time worrying about what it is you're supposed to be doing, rather than just doing the work. Once I was stuck while trying to write some new music, and I asked my friend Wayne Horvitz how he did it. He gave me a pencil sharpener. The moral? There are no short cuts, so stop whining and get on with it!" - Bill Frisell


• "Tone has more to do with touch than gear." - Eric Johnson


• "Get in touch with your uniqueness." - Ty Tabor


• "All it takes is to hear a little improvement in your playing, and that little bit of inspiration is often enough to push you even further." - Wes Montgomery


• "Don't be precious about anything - much less a certain guitar sound. There is always another interesting sound or effect just waiting to be discovered." - Robin Guthrie


• "Listen more to the other players on the bandstand than you do to yourself," - Bill Kirchen


• "Remember that the reputations of some of the greatest jazzmen ever are built on eight-bar solos. Too many guitarists play solos that are way too long." - John Hall


• "Remind yourself that you're free to feel great instead of reserved or insecure. You automatically become a better musician in becoming a more aware individual." - Eric Johnson


• "The enemy of inspiration is self-doubt." - Nels Cline

It all resonates with what is covered in the LMC - apart from being good stuff to remember.