Comments

Sex, drugs and rock and roll.
When are you going to start talking about excellent sex and drugs?

Posted by x at August 5, 2008 8:59 AM

Bruce is always fun of energy that flows from his passion to sing. It's obvious he loves what he does and he makes people feel it.

Leaders don't always have to be businesspeople. Bruce reminds us that anyone can be a leader.

Posted by Dan Schawbel at August 5, 2008 9:13 AM

Two of the most passionate performers I have ever seen...The Boss and TP! The similarities are amazing! Although I have only seen TP once, I've seen Bruce several times. Each time I have come away with something different.

Posted by Mike Lally at August 5, 2008 9:16 AM

What Bruce does par excellence is build a relationship with his audience. You don't go to watch Bruce, you go to participate. The concerts are co-created by performer, band and audience in union. I first went 23 years ago and have been going ever since. He built a relationship with me and as a result I have a fierce brand loyalty.

Posted by Sean Owen-Moylan at August 5, 2008 9:23 AM

Like you, I'm not a huge fan, but your review of the concert makes me want to go see him.
As always, you inspire me to do everything with excellence.

Posted by Todd Reed at August 5, 2008 9:37 AM

As a Springsteen fan going back 30 years now, and a fellow Vermonter down the road a piece in Arlington, I am glad to know the leadership guru knows a boss when he sees one!

Posted by rickstad at August 5, 2008 9:38 AM

I am not either a huge fan of Bruce, but I went to the second (and last) concert here in Barcelona. It was awesome!!! Incredibly good! In the stage Bruce Springsteen gives all with authenticity!

Posted by Núria Masdéu at August 5, 2008 11:05 AM

Tom
written at the speed of light
energy at the speed of light
I almost felt I was there
Just as I was starting to flag and buy chocolate from the vending machine
I read this and the next post
PPPPP and Patrick
Thanks

Posted by patrick at August 5, 2008 12:18 PM

Sean, great point--you'll see I've added a second definition of partnership in the Success Tip post below.

Posted by tom peters at August 5, 2008 1:46 PM

I have been a gaga Springsteen fan ever since my sister came back from a visit in New Jersey in the summer of 1975 and said, "You've gotta see this band!" I highly recommend the documentary on the 30th anniversary release of "Born to Run," which fully captures the Boss's perfectionism. Two band members quit during the recording of the song "Born to Run" because it took weeks to complete. Bruce and Clarence worked on the "Jungleland" sax solo for nearly a day (18 hours, as I recall from the video.)

Tom, glad you've seen the light. I'll see the Boss on Aug. 24 in KC. My college freshman son asked if he could go with me. I almost started crying.

Posted by Jon Ratliff at August 5, 2008 3:06 PM

I had the good fortune of seeing this show with Tom & Susan ... I told them both that my hope for the evening was that Tom would turn into a rabid Bruce fan by the end of the night... looks like I got my wish!

Posted by James Hathaway at August 5, 2008 3:25 PM

I'm a fan of Bruce Springsteen but not a "worshipper." I have 5 or 6 of his albums (Vinyl at first. Now, uncompressed audio files..mp3 sucks)
I've been told his shows are amazing. Never seen one. All the hero worship turns me off but I need an attitude adjustment. They say you get more than your money's worth with him and I believe it. I won't pay $100 to watch gymnastics, loud, yet indecipherable lyrics, borrowed rhymes, drum machines and fireworks. Give me a guitar and somebody who knows how to play it and lyrics that say something about the "state of things." "Your Hometown" reminds me of how I grew up in Oklahoma.
I wish more businesses understood his approach to performance and customer relations. He's the ultimate "brand you,"

Posted by nextgenradio at August 5, 2008 3:36 PM

The opposite side of the spectrum, James Taylor at Tanglewood. Sit on the lawn with a good bottle of wine. Close your eyes and you'll be taken back 30 years. That's entertainment!

Posted by Bonnie at August 5, 2008 4:31 PM

nextgenradio - Point of order! The Mighty Max Weinberg is the E Street Band's very human, very real drummer. Drum machines, indeed!!!

Posted by Mark JF at August 6, 2008 1:24 AM

Before I go on I want to make it clear that I have a lot of respect for The Boss (and for any band that really knows how to play live for that matter)

What is interesting though is his brand image. Somehow he has managed to maintain this down to earth, working class roots brand when clearly he is far from street level in terms of income and lifestyle.

Posted by PaulH at August 6, 2008 2:51 AM

Now we know why Bruce is called 'The Boss'.

But aside from the on-stage performance, consider the business that is the logistics of taking this production around the world. Fleets of trucks, a bus load of crew, caterers, sound and light equipment, a mammoth management task in booking hotel rooms, flights. Scheduling media appearances, soundchecks.

Surely, a model 'WOW! PROJECT' if ever there was one??

Posted by Ian Sanders at August 6, 2008 4:08 AM

A lot (all?) of the concerts in this series have been starting with "The Daring Young Man on The Flying Trapeze" played on the organ as the band walk on stage. It's a joyful declaration that Bruce and the band will take risks and there are no safety nets. He will pick up a sign from the audience for a song the band haven't played in 30 years and he will challenge them and himself to do it and do it well. In these days of processes and review meetings and layers of management that only exist to double check the layers below it's fantastic to see evidence of the heights that can be reached by a group of highly skilled people dedicated to delighting their customers no matter what.

Posted by Sean Owen-Moylan at August 6, 2008 4:20 AM

The Beatles, row 11, The Who, row 4, The Rolling Stones circa 1965, oops, don't remember the row. But, except for the Beatles (Paul McCartney notwithstanding), these guys are all still rockin' along, so you have a great deal to look forward to, Tom, now that you've discovered that rock&roll excellence is not defined by age, as it is not in many other areas. (Which sounds like something you might have said yourself, by the way.)

P.S. Sex and drugs on tp.com? They've already been done:
http://www.tompeters.com/entries.php?note=010121.php
http://www.tompeters.com/entries.php?note=008087.php

Posted by cathy mosca at August 6, 2008 6:18 AM

As someone who lives in Mass too, I'm pretty disappointed that I missed this.... looks like it was worth the wait in the rain!

Posted by Nick Stamoulis at August 6, 2008 7:45 PM

'In the day we sweat it out in the streets of a runaway American dream,
At night we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines.'

So then... if we can just incorporate a little-and-a-lot more of the latter into our doings then we'll be spared 'highways jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive' and can bask in a sub-drenched Utopian future.

Sounds good to me.

And... 'I wanna die with you Wendy on the streets tonight, in an everlasting kiss'... how's that for an 'effin' mission statement?

Posted by g at August 7, 2008 6:20 AM

Damn. New glasses needed.

'sun-drenched'. Not 'sub'.

Posted by g at August 7, 2008 8:22 AM

Don't trust anyone over 40 who likes rock music. They will inevitably find a way tie the sacred sounds of the rock music to work.
To put it another way, baby boomers suck.

Posted by x at August 7, 2008 9:05 AM

x, always love your quotes. I have a broad streak of cynicism--anyone who doesn't at 65 (post boomer by 4 years, so of course you weren't refering to me--phew) is out of it. But your comments always make me feel better--that is, makes me realize the shape of total enslavement-by-cynicism, and I'm a long way from that.

Good luck.

Posted by tom peters at August 7, 2008 10:44 AM

"way tie the sacred sounds of the rock music to work"

There is an element of truth here--it bugs me about myself. On the other hand, learning from EVERY experience is my unapologetic mantra.

Posted by tom peters at August 7, 2008 10:48 AM

Had an opportunity to see the “Boss” in the Somerville Theatre” (for those of you who don’t know the venue, a very small theatre in the suburbs of Boston, Davis Square in Somerville, which now show independent and year old films at a very low cost) with an audience of about 200 in 2003, WOW what a cool show. Bruce even took the time before the show to come out and hang, not a very tall chap but definitely very cool and very genuine. It was nice to meet someone with such great success who was very humble and most of all behave like a human.

Posted by Matt at August 7, 2008 11:16 AM

Hell, Tom, using Springsteen as an example of excellence doesn't seem like much of a stretch to me. I have become famous/notorious with my employees by bringing in my kids, cycling, fruit trees, squirrels, and all kinds of other plain-folksy examples. All tied into work. (Seems like there is a precedent for it as far back as Abe Lincoln, at least...)

Music stirs the soul - but so should work (in a slightly different way, naturally...)

To turn the worry around: if your work is so divorced from your life that the two do not connect, you are in the wrong business.

Would that everyone would feel the same way as Ringo did when asked what he would be if there were no Beatles: a drummer.

Posted by Martin Koning-Bastiaan at August 7, 2008 11:42 AM

Another artist who will make a fan after 1 performance - Kenny Chesney. My brother-in-law turned his nose up at him for several years until he went to show with my sister, & now he's worse than the 2 of us. Passionate about what he does, works to connect with the fans, & works the stage for over 2 hours. Not to mention spearheading a tour that comprises over 20 tractor trailers & tour buses. Brains, brawn, heart & soul, & the All-American dream of small town boy made good.

Posted by Paige at August 7, 2008 12:53 PM

It seems like yesterday I was watching Bruce at Max's Kansas City in NY in the summer of 1973 - racing back and forth between guitar and piano, backed by the ever formidable E Street Band. My favorite example of passion/energy/performance will always be the early Who - downright scary in their maniacal exuberance - but Bruce has always been similarly possessed. And he's quite the working class poet: "They're closing down the textile mill across the railroad tracks/Foreman says these jobs are going boys and they ain't coming back...to your hometown."

Posted by John O'Leary at August 7, 2008 1:36 PM

I see the first post mentions Sex, Drugs and Rock'n'Roll - doubtless you will be interested to look at my book 'Sex, Leadership and Rock'n'Roll' - you can look inside on AMAZON.

Anyway, Bruce does personify the 6 P's - I was always in awe of him when he did he 3 hour non stop sets and he obviously still manages this - Amazing!!!

Prince also seems to have unstoppable energy - often playing on into the night for hours. I'd imagine there are not that many Springsteen fans who share a love of Prince??? Different market segments? etc.

Must get my car out and go for a drive - Goin' down, down, down etc.

all the best from UK

Peter Cook

http://www.amazon.com/Sex-Leadership-Rock-Roll-Lessons/dp/1845900162/ref=sr_1_1/104-0755102-9986355?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184668993&sr=8-1

Posted by Peter Cook at August 8, 2008 5:29 AM

Bruce Springsteen has not particularly done a lot for me, though I appreciate the performance element written of here and his longevity. I also appreciate the the post and the comparative points it makes. (I too believe in learning from EVERYTHING. Everything matters in some way or another. Discovering the connections or admiring the disconnections is beautiful.)

But still, The Boss himself, as raw performer, does not do much for me. BUT NOW, PRINCE? He does not only have the 6 P's but he is a brilliant musician with variances in style. (He plays some 20+ instruments all brilliantly.) He is also a great storyteller. Thanks, Peter, for the reminder of a brilliant artist and performer. Is there a difference between the two?

Posted by Judith Ellis at August 8, 2008 11:34 AM

Similar to your experience, back in 1968 I went to James Brown concert. Actually I went rather reluctantly. 15 minutes into the show I GOT IT! I don't know why or what he had but he definetly had IT, that elusive trait to drawn in and completly mesmerize an entire audience. I've never experienced that same feeling since which is disappointing.

Posted by Doug at August 8, 2008 12:08 PM

Doug's point about "that same feeling" takes me back to my question about the distinction between the artist and performer. What would be the difference between a painter and singer? Do they evoke the same "feeling?" A painter perhaps performs in the act of painting (that of creating) whereas a musician, save those jazz musicians who improvise on the spot, performs after the act of composition. Of course, singing is a performing art. But there may not be any less passion in the creative process.

When I saw Michelangelo's Pieta and David for the first time, I was incredibly moved. Centuries later, the act of performance was just as real as if I was at a live concert of a performing artist. This is the passion that perhaps should be displayed in work of all kind with or without the drama. This quality can engender "that same feeling" and embody the 6 P's. Do we often see this kind of passion in the world of work --passion that does not always display itself by standing on one's head or screaming look at me?

Posted by Judith Ellis at August 8, 2008 1:03 PM

I love rock concerts, but I've never understood the idea of watching the performers.
I get seats as far from the stage as possible. I need room to play air-guitar and not get in anyones way.

Posted by x at August 8, 2008 2:47 PM

Now Judith, you got me started on Prince... but first to Bruce.

Springsteen's musical strengths lie in the ability to write fairly simple songs with great hooks. As was already pointed out, he is a great social commentator. We have Billy Bragg over here - you have Bruce. He is also a great team player, sticking to the knitting of what he does best and leaving the band to add the quality musicianship (this does not mean he is a bad muso).

Prince is both a great songwriter but also a brilliant musician. I'd heard he plays 43 instruments (may include the triangle! lol).

As a musician, he is not afraid to experiment with styles and if you have been to an aftershow you will know that he plays a completely different set of music, drawing from about 300 pieces and assembling them almost at whim. However, his diversity may account for the fact that he has to some degree not taken parts of his audience with him over the years? We are mostly creatures of habit and want to hear 'repeat performances'?? I suspect Prince's 'Net Present Value' (that's NPV not NPG!!) would be more if he had stuck to classy pop songs, but he likes to put out what he wants irrespective of whether it pleases his audience? Comments / Controversy??

For me Prince synthesises Style and Substance (I feel a 6 S framework coming on here! :-)) If you ask people who don't like Prince why they don't like him, they often mention style elements (the way he dresses / plays with all kinds of issues and so on) and don't even get to talk about his music.

But oddly enough Prince can also be a great team player as well as a one man act. When he plays with people like Miles Davis and Chaka Khan, he behaves like a session musician. Emotional Intelligence and rock stars rarely go in the same sentence!

So, we get:

Signs
Symbols
Sex
Style
Substance
Sweat

and probably a few more. There's a little development of some of these S's at http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee187/petercook1001/Prince.jpg

Doug's IT thing is also interesting - now if companies could bottle IT!? - that's 'IT' not Information Technology I presume! :-)))

I feel good

Peter

Posted by Peter Cook at August 8, 2008 6:03 PM

Peter, I love your comment--even down to the "I feel good" ending! Gotta love James Brown, another greater performer! (Thanks, Doug, for the James Brown story.) Prince, though, as you brought out is in a category of his own. (40+ instruments, eh? WOW!) But as you pointed out, independence of style (musically and aesthetically, though it worked for bands like KISS, perhaps only onstage and not off, and not to the extreme--clearly distinguishing performance from reality) does not draw massive crowds consistently. Although, I think Prince is still on the radar. (He also writes for many other artists.) Remember when he became a symbol? How do you pronounce that? This probably made him even more of an enigma.

We are persnickety, aren't we? How we like our music is probably how we like our products, the same. Remember when Coca Cola changed their formula? Bad move! You can add lime or lemon to the orignial formula, but to mess with the formula itself? There was a mini-revolt from Coke drinkers. I was a kid at the time but I remember thinking this tastes funny. The new formula didn't last. To the company and the tasters this new formula probably was better. But to the general public it didn't fly. What does this say about products? Don't muck with them, of course, unless they're losing sales. Why did Coke change their product anyway?

Posted by Judith Ellis at August 10, 2008 5:40 AM

Peter, I love your comment, even down to the "I feel good" ending! James Brown, another great performer! (Thanks, Doug, for your story.) Prince, though, is truly in a category of his own! (40+ instruments, eh? WOW!) But as you pointed out, his eclectic style (musically and aesthetically, though it works for bands like KISS but maybe not to the same extreme where the distinction between performance and reality is easily made) may not draw the crowds consistently. Although, I think Prince is still on the radar. (He also writes for many other artists.) Remember when he became a symbol? How do you pronounce that? While he did this to make a point to his record company, this probably made him even more of an enigma.

We are persnickety. aren't we? We kind of like or musicians and music like our other products and brands. We do not like them messed with and we like for them to be easily identified in neat recognizable packages that make us feel good everytime we purchase it. And please don't change the formula. Remember when Coca Cola did this? I was a kid but I remember thinking, this taste funny. You can add lemon or lime but do not muck with the basic formula. I'm sure the new formula was tested on a few, but obviously rejected by the masses. We seem not to like variances or differences to the original. What Prince seems to say is that there is no original. I am pure variance.

I appreciate your comment, Peter, about Prince being a team player. This seems so true. He does not appear to be an egotist. In spite of his eccentricities and brilliance, his ego seems well in tack.

Posted by Judith Ellis at August 10, 2008 6:16 AM

Prince's brand of 'There is no orginal, I am pure varience' is played out in pretty much everything he does. I went to see him 6 times recently - the billing for his after shows said 'Expect the Unexpected' - this meant that on some nights he never showed up at all - this is a hard test of a brand indeed!!

Picking up on a previous comment about how Bruce remains on the 'street' when his wages are more like a CEO - for me this comes down to seeing Bruce as an aspirational brand - he embodies the dream of teh archetypal factory worker (now Tom would say there are NO archetypal factory workers anymore!), who could also be a a rock'n'roll band. For some people, that's very alluring.

Peter

Posted by Peter Cook at August 10, 2008 7:31 AM

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93437259

"The Gospel According to Bruce Springsteen." Who would have thunk?

Posted by Judith Ellis at August 10, 2008 12:19 PM

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93437259

Gosh! And I thought I sometimes take music too seriously!!!

Posted by Peter Cook at August 10, 2008 3:24 PM

You realize that there is a even book titled
"The Gospel According to the Simpsons" -

When you need to sell a load of sh**, tie it to a religion.
No one knows that better then The Republicans and
Osama Bin Laden.
(I bet Bruce would agree with me)

Posted by x at August 10, 2008 10:44 PM

x, You have a good point. Certainly, "The Gospel According to the Simpsons" is a comic piece, no? (I love the Simpsons!) What struck me as strange in the NPR piece was the seriousness of the pastor, though I actually like him; he seems like a sincerely good guy. I can't be convinced that Bin Laden is a good guy. Though, wihout doubt, he is sincerely wrong. No likeability there, eh? (There must be a link between likeability and sincerity that may excuse some things.) To monolithically indict "The Republicans," who can sincerely do such a thing? But as I've said, you make a good point. Springsteen would probably both agree with you and be somewhat flattered at the sincerity of this pastor. Springsteen seems like a cool guy. Did you listen to the clip? It's funny that Peter posted it too.

Posted by Judith Ellis at August 10, 2008 11:42 PM

I heard it on the radio. I liked the pastor myself. Pastors need to be interesesting - and its a good angle - Bruce and the Gospel -

When I say The Republicans, I don't mean a friend or next door neighbor who is a Republican, I mean the guys in the white house and the national party - the people in power who pretend McCain is not a Celebrity but Obama is. Like all good non-celebritys McCain hosted Saturday Night Live in 2002. Like all good non-elites, Mccain has 9 houses and his wife has her own jet. The only thing that makes Obama elite is his wit and intellegence and charm and unique life experiance (why the hell should a guy like that be president - presidents should be dolts like the rest of us)- The money Obama has he earned - the Money Mccain has he married into - which of course makes Mccain a regular non-elite type guy -

X

Posted by x at August 11, 2008 1:57 AM

There is a book crying out to be written:

Harry Potter and the pursuit of WOW!!

Best

Peter

Posted by Peter Cook at August 11, 2008 4:24 AM

Beautiful, x. I, in fact, wrote a piece on my blog about the whole ridiculous elite bit. But you, my friend, have done so very well here. Thank you.

But while we're on the subject of politicis, I find it very strange that we are talking about one past presidential candidate's infidelity while, one of our present candidates, had an affair, left his wife and three kids to marry a very rich seemingly elitist woman (she has been softened--a bit), where his kids did not speak to him for years, and no one has said anything about this. What's up with that?

And...since we're talking about the perceived ills of one candidate, which you have beautifully addressed as not being ills at all, and another past one who has "fallen" into indiscretion, please let's be fair and talk about our current presidential candidate's infidelity that has so far gone unmentioned.

I'm not all for prying into the private lives of presidential candidates unless, of course, we get a mere whiff of the candidate's self-righteousness or hypocrisy. Then I'd say take the gloves off. One candidate might have opened the door with the spoof of the other in the prophetic ad, "The One." Not really--though it might be prophetic indeed.

Posted by Judith Ellis at August 11, 2008 5:27 AM

I love it when people say 'All Obama can do is give a fantastic speech'

If it is such simple thing to do, how come no one else can even come close?
His speeches are fantastic because they inspire people. But of course, why would a leader ever need to inspire people when scaring them works so well?

Posted by x at August 12, 2008 1:29 PM

Sorry for the delay in responding and thanks for the kind words Re: James Brown. To steal from a bumber sticker, IT HAPPENS!And I do not mean Information Technology or HR, aka, Human Remains.

Enjoy the You Tube clip of James Brown and, believe it or not, Pavarotti. Soul + Opera = COOL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCIyzNISw1Q

Posted by Doug at August 12, 2008 2:27 PM

WOW! DOUG, YOU HAVE MADE ME HAPPY! WAY COOL VIDEO! THANKS!

Posted by Judith Ellis at August 12, 2008 3:44 PM

So true, x. Thanks!

Posted by Judith Ellis at August 12, 2008 3:46 PM

Just a final fun footnote on the links between music and leadership in the form or a letter I had published in the Financial Times on Monday 8th September. The proper letter has a picture of Elvis above it. Just the text here.

Peter

Sir,

The Prospective Chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland's Board's liking of Elvis is 'not unusual' in the words of Tom Jones. ("Guitar gently weeps for RBS", FT August 28). There is a long tradition of people in power who are musically gifted. I have accompanied the current CEO of Kent County Council during his regular Elvis impersonations at staff conferences, perfomed the blues with an up and coming female executive at FTSE. I was recently astonished when the CEO of a Housing Organisation managed to pen a bitter rant entitled "The Credit Crunch Blues", to be performed at their staff conference, and which manages to produce a rhyming couplet out of the words discounted cash flow!

Alastair Darling will no doubt be performing "Blue Christmas" at the next Labour Conference?

Peter Cook,
Managing Director,
The Academy of Rock,
Gillingham,
UK

Posted by Peter Cook at September 10, 2008 4:10 AM

And one further footnote to the FT letter:

Visit www. myspace.com/mhshomes to hear some 'Corporate Rock songs' produced by a Housing Association that I worked with last week. I know it's not the E Street Band, but pretty good IMHO considering they had never played in a rock band before. There are Three songs on the site:

The Credit Crunch Blues

16 Tons (Banking Meltdown) - includes Merill Lynch and Lehman Bros in the lyrics!

Regeneration - Urban that is...

The songs are recorded for Macmillan Cancer Charity and will be available for download to support the building of a new ward in a hospital.

Housing ROCKS!

Peter

Posted by Peter Cook at September 21, 2008 4:56 AM

Sorry, link to band website has moved to

www.myspace.com/mhsrockband

peter

Posted by Peter Cook at September 21, 2008 6:05 PM