We all want to belong, we all want to be accepted in a group of peers. Humans are herd-animals, we depend on each other. So no wonder that we seek the acceptance of a group. That’s what makes us so strong. We can diversify and delegate our work, we can specialize in a certain thing, like music. Group pressure though can be pretty strong and rigid, excluding everyone who is different, everyone who does not want to adapt. That’s how […]
When you look at animals, the success of a species is measured by its ability of reproduction. There are different strategies. Frogs produce thousands of offspring, but most of them got killed by predators (fishes) or by a harsh environment (drought). Elephants only have one calf and it takes almost 2 years before it’s born. Here the reproduction strategy is not quantity but care and longevity. The creative process of producing art is the reproduction that artists use. Different musicians […]
Many life-coaches tell you that you have to become a leader, that you shouldn’t follow anyone. But we are all followers, not only on Twitter. We all have some people or idea’s that we admire. Whom or what you follow, can have a broad range. It goes from following leaders like Michelle Obama or Mahatma Gandhi, to following what your friends do or expect you to do. From following hypes and fashion to your following own intuition or following a […]
How more success you have, how more people will look up to you. Isn’t that what we all want, secretly, somehow? That people look up to us? They will certainly take us seriously, finally. As most artists, you probably have had periods too that you wanted to belong to the group (at school, in the neighborhood, at work) but didn’t fit in. These are very lonely times. Often you provoke authority in that periods too, you don’t want to adapt […]
You probably heard it too in your childhood: you have to say thank you when you get a treat, you have to count your blessings when you are complaining, and many more of those boring rules. That’s at least how I thought about it. I thought that it was about being polite on the surface, but that it didn’t have any deeper meaning. In the mean time I’ve learned that I was oh so wrong. Years ago I found Elizabeth […]
The word ‘sabotage’ has a great history. It comes from the French word ‘sabot’, which means ‘wooden shoe’. During the industrial revolution workers in France put their wooden shoes in the machines, to bring them to a grinding hold, as protest against the work conditions. This act therefore was called sabotage. Success often generates envy, and we use to think that this might be the biggest enemy when successful. Though I think that we have the biggest enemy within us! […]
Since I started this blog, I’m convinced that artists can learn a lot from theories about (personal) leadership. Though I’ve might been a bit vague on why. And now I read the answer in an article of Bob Lefsetz: “Artists lead, they don’t follow. They’re not beholden to their audience, IT’S THE OTHER WAY AROUND!” And this is what my blog is about. I want to inspire and help artists to lead instead of to follow. Link for the article […]