What I Learned from Prince About Leadership

This is my 24th post on leadership.?None have been more emotional nor more challenging for me to write. Yesterday, April 21, 2016, Prince Rogers Nelson died reportedly from complications of the flu* and the world lost one of the most creative, most daring, most prolific, and most iconic musical geniuses ever to grace our presence. Yesterday, Prince Rogers Nelson died and I lost my favorite musical artist in the history of my life.

Prince was a true leader?in his chosen profession - the music industry.?In addition to being a lover of his music - I have a collection of?roughly?700 of his studio recordings - I credit him for some?of what I have learned and apply in the area of leadership. Perhaps this is a surprising statement for you. However, below I highlight four lessons of leadership from His Purple Highness that I learned from his behavior and/or actions.?There are others I could list. But these four?personify what the man was about. They tell his story. They tell the story of the man we all knew simply as?

When one thinks of leaders, iconic CEOs like Sam Walton, Steve Jobs, Henry Ford, Lee Iacocca, Warren Buffet, Lou Gerstner, J.P Morgan, Katharine Graham, Bill Gates, Andrew Carnegie, Jeff Bezos, and John D. Rockefeller may come to mind. Perhaps you think of superstar athletes such as Michael Jordan, Steve Yzerman, Derek Jeter, Ray Lewis, Tom Brady, Franz Beckenbauer, Ervin "Magic" Johnson, Larry Bird, Cheryl Miller, Wayne Gretzky, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, or?Peyton Manning. Rarely when thinking of leaders and leadership does one think of pioneering rock musicians. That truth ends today because the leadership exhibited by Prince transformed his industry every bit as much as the aforementioned transformed?business and athletics.

Prince was an artist who mastered the mechanics of his craft. On his first studio album, For You, released on April 7, 1978, he is credited with composing, arranging, producing, and playing all?27 instruments on the album. He was only 19 years old. What elements of leadership did I learn from?this?

Master your craft!

Prince's craft was music. He was an expert musician. He was a master of percussion, bass, and keyboards. He was a virtuoso on guitar. He played guitar like few others ever have. If you did not know this, please devote a few minutes of your time to have a peak at Prince's 2004 solo of George Harrison's, "While my Guitar Gently Weeps" commemorating Harrison's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Prince's solo begins at 3:27. The look of awe and amazement on the face of George Harrison's son at 4:44 says all that needs to be said. My favorite part comes at 6:10 when Prince throws his guitar to his plant in the crowd, checks to make sure his guy catches it and then confidently exits stage left in a "my work is done here" strut. You go boy!

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Prince had an eye for talent.?Many may not know this fact, but Prince helped launch, accelerate, extend, or revive the careers of countless artists, including percussionist Sheila E., fellow Minneapolitans Morris?Day and Paul Peterson and their respective bands, the Time and the Family, sultry girl group Vanity 6/Apollonia 6, bassist Larry Graham, R&B vocalist Mavis Staples, saxophonists Maceo Parker and Candy Dulfer, super producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, former band mates Wendy and Lisa, fusion jazz band Madhouse, R&B legends Chaka Khan and Patti Labelle, and TV personality Carmen Electra to name only a few of them. He also wrote and/or produced songs sung by other artists such as?80's girl group The Bangles, 80's?pop star Sheena Easton, 90's pop songstress Sinead O'Connor, rock icon Stevie Nicks,?R&B artist Tevin Campbell, rapper M.C. Hammer, and music legend Madonna. What leadership lesson did I learn here?

Cultivate your top talent!

Knowing who your top performers are, developing their skill sets?and advancing their careers is job number one for every leader. If you can identify and harness the talent that surrounds you in a way that is similar?to how Prince found, developed, cultivated and leveraged the talent around him, you will likely be a highly successful leader.?

In 1993, Prince changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol and appeared in public with the word "slave" penned on his cheek.?Why? He felt the music industry was corrupt and controlled by a few very powerful people. He wanted out of his contract with Warner Brothers and control of his master recordings. In this regard, he was a crusading pioneer for artists' rights to control their music. However, per his contract, he owed Warner five?albums. No problem. At the time, Prince had about 500 completed, unreleased songs in his vault. He wanted to release all five?albums containing songs from his vault simultaneously?to satisfy his contract obligations.?Warner, concerned of having the market flooded with Prince's music, wanted spacing between those releases, advertising, and promotional tours... think maximum revenue generation.?

By changing his name to "the symbol", Prince could argue that music created after his name change was not by Prince, and therefore not subject to the terms and conditions of his contract with Warner. In addition, because the symbol is a stylistic combination of the universal symbol for male and female, it was not a part of standard font packages and could not be reproduced. Thus, Warner, who was receiving significant negative publicity, had to distribute floppy disks to thousands of media outlets around the world just so that the outlets could print Prince's new name. Of course, this was an expenditure and serious irritant for Warner. In the end, Prince satisfied his contract with rapid succession releases, rather than simultaneous releases, and returned to making music under his given name in 2000. In a strange twist, he rejoined Warner Brothers in 2004 following an 18 year split to record a?re-mastered version of Purple Rain for the 30th anniversary of its release that saw Warner release all of his Warner-era master recordings to him in return. What a pioneer! Before then, record companies essentially never handed over an artist's master recordings.?What was?the leadership lesson I gained from Prince's actions?

Have conviction!?Be an innovator!?Take risks!

Prince was a staunch advocate for recording artists' control and rights. He felt artists should have control of their master recordings and he felt free downloads of music undercut the value of music artistry. Because of his conviction, he took an innovative stand. He took a risk. He took on his record company. He kept his music off of downloadable internet sites like Napster, and music streaming sites like Spotify, Pandora and YouTube. He distributed and marketed his own music. He pioneered several changes that give today's?music artists the ability to self-release and control promotion and distribution of their music. Just ask Kanye West, Drake and others who now?release music in unconventional ways that maximize their control of distribution. Prince was truly a pioneer; so much so that he even had guitars made in the form of "the symbol", which I think is innovative?in and of itself.

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Prince was widely considered to be one the greatest live performers of all-time. I think he was THE?greatest. Elton John, a music great in his own right agrees, having posted a photo of Prince on Instagram calling him "the greatest performer I have ever seen" and "a true genius." I had the pleasure of witnessing his artistry and musical genius in person five?times; the first in January 1985 during the Purple Rain tour, the last in April 2004 during the Musicology tour. Sprinkled in between were the Lovesexy tour in October 1988 and the Jam of the Year tour in August (5th row - center stage) and December 1997 (3rd row - center stage). His lighting was perfect. His choreography energizing. His costumes/attire were bold. His stage presence and showmanship were unmatched. His connection with audience unprecedented, When Prince was on stage, he?was electrical. He was omnipotent - pure and simple! What did I learn from Prince from watching his live performances?

Have presence! Be confident!

Concert goers feed off of the energy of the performer(s). As a performer, Prince would lead his audience down memory lane and then back "Uptown"?to euphoric bliss. Trust me, I know.?I took this trip with him 5 times. Much like concert goers, I have learned that members of a team will take their cues from their leader. If the leader is an over achiever, the team will likely overachieve. If the leader is bold, the team will be bold. On the contrary, if the leader is underwhelming, the team will underwhelm. So, have a commanding presence. Be confident. Set the tone and expectation for your team's performance just as Prince set the tone and stage for?his concert audience.

Like many in the world and all of his fans, I am deeply saddened by the passing of the artist that I consider to be the greatest in my lifetime. In fact, based on musical productivity, musical instrument mastery, music industry influence, music talent development, and live performance capability, I would have no problems going toe-to-toe with anyone?on "Planet Earth" to argue the point that?Prince?was the greatest musical artist of all-time!

I will see you in the "Purple Rain", my friend.?Rest in peace!

* Note: I wrote this article the day after Prince died. At that time, the cause of death was still unknown. Since then, the Carver County Coroner has confirmed Prince died of an accidental fentanyl overdose.

Thank you for reading my article. What I Learned from Prince About Leadership?is the 24th?article from Dr. Michael Edwards. If you enjoyed it, please subscribe to my Newsletter,?Leadership Explained,?to get notified when I publish a new article. Please 'share' this article with your network, click 'like', and/or leave a comment.?Click 'Follow' if you wish to follow me on LinkedIn. Have a look at my other Leadership Explained articles by clicking here.