"Nervous but confident." Bruce Springsteen's mental trick that launched his career

In his recent autobiography Born to Run Bruce Springsteen’ recalls how his career was going nowhere in 1972. He didn’t have a record deal, and other than some devoted fans on the Jersey shore, nobody had ever heard of him.

Things changed in a heartbeat after his agent wrangled a meeting for him with John Hammond, the legendary record producer. Hammond had sparked the careers of Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, and an all-star roster of other folk, jazz, and rock greats.

The day started badly, however. Springsteen didn’t have an acoustic guitar, so had to borrow one with a broken neck from a friend. “He had no case,” Springsteen says, “so I had to haul it Midnight Cowboy style over the shoulder on the bus and through the streets of the city.”

He felt rising panic as he entered Hammond’s building, but while riding the elevator he performed what he calls a little mental ju-jitsu. “I’ve got nothing so I’ve got nothing to lose,” he told himself. “I can only gain should this work out. If it don’t, I still got what I came in with.”

After a few pleasantries, a smiling Hammond said, “Play me something.” Springsteen did an acoustic version of “Saint in the City.” When he was done, Hammond, still smiling said, “You’ve got to be on Columbia records.”

Good that Springsteen had the self-possession to channel his emotions by reminding himself that he’d still be the same person no matter the outcome. “By the time I got there,” he recalls, “I almost believed it. I walked in nervous, but confident.”

But here’s the thing. I don’t think that’s the whole story.

I recall reading, shortly before his book came out, a fuller version of the same incident, also told by Springsteen himself. Maybe I imagined this part, but if so, it’s a vivid hallucination. I was startled not to find in the final text.

It goes exactly as is described above, but in this account, Springsteen mentions one more thing after he settled his nerves by remembering that he had nothing to lose. He held that thought for a moment, then realized that wasn’t good enough. He did one more bit of emotional ju-jitsu by telling himself, “I’m going to blow Hammond’s god-damned socks off. “ And he certainly did.

Maybe things went down exactly as the book has it. Maybe I grafted on this second part from some other anecdote (though I don’t think so).

But don’t lose sight of the larger point: anxiety can be fatal to your performance.

My HBS colleague Alison Wood Brooks, along with other researchers, has shown that negotiators who are nervous make weaker opening offers and give in more quickly. (Watch Shark Tank closely, she says, and you’ll see that the best deals are often struck by the entrepreneurs who aren’t rattled by the bright lights and intense music.)

Alison says that the secret to success in high stress situations is not to calm down. Rather it’s to tapping your nervous energy and transforming it into excitement. Whether you’re in a big negotiation, a job interview, (or an audition for record contract), first and foremost you must want to be there, ready to be at your very best.

One way or another Springsteen got himself into that state when he met John Hammond forty-plus years ago. It proved great for him. (Likewise for us fans, too.)

Professor Michael Wheeler’s Negotiation Mastery course on Harvard Business School’s HBX platform is launching February 2017. Applications are currently being accepted. Version 1.4 of his Negotiation 360 self-assessment/best practice app is now is available for both Apple and Android devices. It includes coaching videos and a new tactics exercise.