Here's how you can showcase your leadership skills to excel in the music industry.

Trust is a two-way street, but it is more billed for meditatively in the sense of work ethics, commitment, and standing by your word. A lot of artists deal with a constant day-to-day trust issue because there is always somebody trying to get one over them. In my personal experience as the owner of a music studio and dealing with clients from all classes and genres, trust is a two-way street.

Communication is not just core to leadership, it is also core to the music industry. After all, songs are communicative in nature. The biggest problem that is experienced broadly with communication is that we conflate conversing with communicating. Communication is a skill to be acquired beyond “talking” and it pays dividends in investing in it. Communication is about understanding your audience, yourself, your message, and the variables that impact those things. The clearer you are on those things, the better you are at communicating.

As Big Daddy Kane says, "Show & Prove"! Demonstrate the truth or validity of your claims through actions and results, rather than just words. Emphasize the importance of backing up statements with evidence and performance.

Empowering our leaders is more critical than ever. Recently, I've had the privilege of working closely with one of our managers who showed remarkable potential but needed an extra boost of confidence in decision-making. Through open communication and targeted coaching, we identified areas for growth and provided personalized development opportunities. I'm thrilled to see their progress as they step into their role with newfound confidence and competence. Empowerment isn't just about giving authority; it's about fostering a supportive environment where leaders can thrive and grow. I'm proud to be part of a team that prioritizes the development of our people, and I'm excited to continue empowering leaders for success!

I have encountered numerous situations similar to this one, in which many of the men I work with are incapable of initiating open dialogue or feeling secure enough to offer their opinions and criticism to a producer or artist because they fear that their chosen mode of expression will offend the other party. I was able to begin instructing them on appropriate conversational techniques while upholding my professionalism and offering expert criticism. It is all in the language. It all comes down to knowing the person you are speaking with and the general environment you work in in the music industry. There are many murky areas, so you have to become educated. Take up the skill of navigating it.

As a certified change management professional and coach, I will tell you that the ability to change well AND quickly is rare and valuable. Adaptability at its core is all about your tolerance and capability for sustained and advantageous change. Because of this, it a skill every human should pursue and develop. This skill is a boon to business but also personally as well. Quite simply, the faster you are at making changes that improve your life, the faster your life improves.

Every relationship will encounter conflict, regardless of its nature and that’s not a bad thing. The definition of conflict is “a condition in which a person experiences a clash of opposing wishes or needs,” and is simply an opportunity to negotiate the best outcome for the goal that we share. Whatever is the basis and common ground for the relationship has to be the focus. Conflict is less about a fight and more about building stronger relationships and better outcome for that common goal that minted the relationship in the first place.