Roots Asylum

DIY MUSICIANS - Build Your People Management Skills

(c) 2024 James McMillan

Introduction 

In the music industry, when they talk about managers, they are talking about operational managers (not people managers).  They rarely speak about how to take good care of working musicians.  This may be among the first documents to speak about people management in the music industry.

Build Your People Management Skills

Perhaps you were a great bartender and promoted to a management position with no training and fired a bus boy for stealing but now face resentment from the staff. Maybe you’re a construction worker who was injured, promoted to a desk job and lost all respect from your team. Or maybe, you started a rock band and your drummer is struggling while the keyboard player is discontent. They’re all looking to you for answers.  

What dynamics are in play? What tools exist? What does a manager do and as importantly, NOT do?

The same skills that make a great musician are not those that make a great manager. Like it or not, you started the band, so you’re probably the manager. You invested time and passion into the music and can’t do it alone.  To avoid the mistakes above, you must learn how the wheels are greased. A manager’s toolbox contains leadership behaviors, creative solutions, coaching and wisdom. Sort of like the bartender, you were promoted without training. So… Lets just get all your training here in 3 or 4 pages.

To be a good manager, you’ll want to be the least reactive person in the group. Avoid catastrophic behavior and “hot takes”.  Others may come to you with drama, and a good response is to remind everyone that this is about being creative with music.  Try to put everyone in a situation where they are treated the way you and others want to be treated.  Even if you don’t have an immediate answer for the drama, or even if an answer doesn’t exist, find a quick pathway to quickly move the conversation back towards having fun.   

If something negative occurs and requires discussion, take that person aside and speak privately in a one on one conversation. A public discussion might embarrass them and it might be taken personally. For example, “Let’s take this outside and discuss after practice…”  Allow individuals to explain themselves.  Make those who you value feel important.  Your goal is to bring people together, not drive them apart.  

Give your band mates words of encouragement and ask how you can support them.  Wear the shoes of a man who is giving service to your band mates.  Enable them to make music.  Remove obstacles for them where possible.  For example, implement flexible practice times like “Tuesdays primarily or Thursdays if Tuesday doesn’t work”.  Or accepting that they will be out of town and will practice on their own.  

That being said, it is important NOT to take on things that you don’t have control over.  For example, if Joe can’t make Tuesday or Thursday practice, then that’s on Joe, not you.  Another example, if Tom is driving 20 minutes to practice and wants to meet up at his place but doesn’t own a PA, that’s not your problem.  Know where to draw the line.  You don’t have to say anything; say nothing.  Master the art of saying nothing when appropriate.  Move on.

As the manager, you must have an ability to recognize when someone is being manipulative.  It may take time to break through the gaslighting.  There are a lot of narcissists who are really good at hiding it.  They’ll covertly pick on one guy and make him look bad with clever scenarios.  The narcissist will have established trust with a band mate in private, and then betray that trust in a very public way.  It will seem innocuous to everyone else (because they don’t know the context of the private conversation).  The person who is the victim becomes upset and perhaps even unhinged.  Yet the narcissist stands with jaw dropped as if it was unexpected, seemingly the victim even though they secretly and maliciously triggered it.  And since you are the leader of the band they will work very hard to make sure you see them as a victim and a good person.   

It is not easy to find a simple solution.  A narcissist will be discontent if they cannot exercise manipulative behavior within the band's dynamics.  If you suspect you have one, get on the internet and search for solutions.   A narcissist will eventually give up when they are not getting their secondary rewards.  I was able to fend off a narcissistic coworker once by sitting in my office cube and only engaging with short concise points; being sure not to bite on any drama.  But in a band, you can’t recede into a cubicle.  Try your very best not to blame the wrong guy.  And if you have to let someone go, do it for the right reasons.  List your reasons and be certain, then do it, preferably with agreement from a majority of your band.

There is something else about human nature that we all face.  A tribal algorithm that is hard wired in our brains.  Where a lot of management mistakes are made, a tribal judgement is reciprocated from the group and it can become personal.  The construction worker got promoted and began bossing his team around in inaccurate ways until too many mistakes were made. Look, you can be a hard driving jerk and it might get the work done, but they won’t sit at the pub with you at the end of the day.  

Hopefully you have a band of individuals who are good hearted.  Everyone needs coaching and time for their musicianship to grow.  Be that coach. Give everyone time for their talents to grow.  There is plenty of time for a good band to grow into a great one. You need 5 years just to get to a certain point anyway.  If you sincerely love them as friends then your heart is surely in the right place.  Give them electronic documents including tabs, set lists, links to youtube videos or mp3s, provide demos of original songs.  Prep them for success to the best of your ability.  Be the manager and create a culture of having fun.

When you’e a high functioning people manager, you will find community in your neighborhood, region and online.  Be kind to everyone, even when the odds are against you.  Even if you’ve been a stand-off punk rock non-conformist in the past.  Fight and win over one person and one gig at a time.  Enjoy the challenge and keep moving forward.

Highlights

• Be the least reactive person in the group.  
• Avoid catastrophic behavior and hot takes.  
• When drama arises, remind everyone that this is about having fun and being creative with music.  
• Try to put everyone in a situation where they are treated the way you and others want to be treated.  
• When serious negatives surface, step aside and speak privately.  Don’t call out friends publicly.
• Do not take ownership of things you don’t have control over.
• Master the art of saying nothing when it’s appropriate.
• Learn the ability to recognize when someone is being manipulative. 
• Get on the internet and search for sound solutions where an answer is needed.
• When someone is asked to leave the band, do it preferably with agreement from a majority of your band.
• Be a coach; Provide electronic documents, song tabs, set lists, mp3s and any tools to succeed.
• Find community in your neighborhood and online.
• Win over one person and one gig at a time.  

Recommended Reading:  

Dale Carnegie: How to Win Friends and Influence People

Brianna West:  The Mountain Is You