Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Channel Your Inner Lady Gaga for a Great Career


What can Lady Gaga and Led Zeppelin teach you about career and business success?
Peter Cook believes quite a bit. As the author of “The Music of Business,” and head of the Academy of Rock in the U.K., Cook looks at artists such as David Bowie and Alice Cooper and finds lessons he believes will transform the way you do business.
In an interview with Anita Bruzzese, Cook talks about how we can glean business wisdom from our music idols.
AB: Why do you feel the connection needs to be made between music and business?
PC: Music and business are traditionally seen as separate subjects at school, yet this is an artificial division.  Music is applied physics and many great scientists and mathematicians are often musically inclined.  Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein and Richard Branson are all great examples of leaders who have a passion for music.
So, I set out to draw parallel lessons between business and the arts, specifically music.  I found many such parallels in areas of business such as strategic thinking, creativity, innovation and the leadership of change.  I’ve set these out in the book “The Music of Business” and it’s predecessor “Sex, Leadership and Rock’n’Roll.”
AB: You say that Lady Gaga can teach us about business strategy. How so?
PC: In the book I have a chapter containing five lessons that we can learn from Lady Gaga on business strategy and social media. While Gaga is undoubtedly a music sensation, it’s also true that she has respected her elders and stood on the shoulders of giants such as Madonna and glam rockers such as Queen and Alice Cooper to craft her music, stage performance and image. This has given her wider appeal across generations and is likely to ensure that she lasts longer than most people in the music business today.  The other clever trick Gaga has used is to (read more here)

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