Waiting … 2

Waiting – don’t you hate it too? Waiting means that you are depending on others, that you have to wait for them to do something, or for the situation to change.

Artists have to wait all the time, especially musicians on tour. It seems like most part of your day is waiting. You wait for your band mates to be ready to leave to the show, get in a traffic jam, wait for the sound engineers to be ready for the sound check, for the diner to arrive, for the the show to start. And even when recording, you wait for the right inspiration, for the album to be released, for the press to start writing about you, for shows, for fans, … As artist, you can better get used to waiting!

Personal leadership is a way to deal with it. But how can you show personal leadership, when waiting shows that you depend on something or someone else?

Personal leadership means first, that you plan your own actions when you know that you have to wait. The actions can be pretty or useful, whatever you prefer. Or you can give yourself various options on what you can do while waiting, depending on your mood and company at that moment.  Writing in a scrapbook or reading are two of my favorites while waiting. But sometimes I prefer to just sit and look around, or listen to music, or start a conversation, sometimes even with strangers.

The second aspect is the awareness of the expectations you have. Waiting always goes hand in hand with expectations, positive ones and negative ones. You want to archive something, that’s why you are waiting. But what if it goes wrong? Information is the key in this case. I’m now waiting for a major operation later this month. For me it’s important to collect as much information as possible about this type of operation, about all risks and about how the medical staff will deal with possible complications. That gives me enough confidence to wait for 3 more weeks.