I was going through a cabinet full of old VHS tapes today and found some of my oldest daughter’s videos of her High School Band Shows. I grabbed the tape of her freshman year’s show, Fire of Eternal Glory, which happens to be one of my favorites. I was watching the tape and thinking about what both my daughters learned from their band years. Then I really had a revelation and realized that I had learner as much as they did from my years as a Band Parent. It made me think of the book, “Everything I Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten”, and thought I may rewrite the book and title it, “Everything I Needed to Know About Running a Business I Learned at Band Camp”. Here are some examples of what I would put in the book.
Chapter 1 – If you’re early you’re on time, if you’re on time you’re late, and if you’re late don’t bother showing up - The band members all knew that showing up was half the battle. Showing up on time was the other half. The band was taught about what it took to move 125 students, 10 parents, and all the equipment that went along to make a show. Everything had to go off like clockwork and one person could screw up the entire band. We have all had people we work with that are habitually late for appointments and meetings. If you add up the minutes that meetings are held up because one person is late and multiply that by the number of people waiting, then add up the same numbers for every meeting that takes place over a year, you would lose the hours a few employees work.
Chapter 2 – Responsibility – It didn’t matter if it was your first day, first year or if you were in the last semester of your senior year, every band member had responsibility for something, and accepted the responsibility. The entire band was held accountable for everything. If you dropped the ball and didn’t do what you were supposed to everyone suffered. In business if every employee took responsibility for just their own actions and accepted the success or failure every employee of the company would benefit by the time saved and the good will that would be generated by such an act.
Chapter 3 – Respect – You treated every band member, parent, teacher and administrator with respect. You didn’t have to like the person, but you always treated them with the same respect that you wanted to be treated with. This also applied to members of other bands that we met. There was never a reason to treat anyone with disrespect. In business if we would simply learn to get along with the people we work with. If we don’t respect them, fine, but at least allow them the opportunity to contribute without ridicule.
Chapter 4 – Help others – Because the band plays, marches, and acts as a single unit, every member had to be the best they could be. Helping another band member who was struggling in turned helped you because it helped the band. In business we are all busy. There doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to get the work done, but helping a fellow employee for the short term can gain everyone long term success. It may be teaching them a new skill, or jumping in to help with their work load for a few minutes so they can get caught up. If we all help one another we all are better at the end of the day.
Chapter 5 – THINK – If I heard it once I heard it ten thousand times, THINK BEFORE YOU DO! The band members were always asked to think about what they are about to do. Think about what the outcome will be, and make sure the outcome is worth the actions. In business, wouldn’t it be nice if people would think before they did something. If they looked at what the end game will be because of what they are about to do, I would guess half of the screw ups that happen in business would be avoided.
Chapter 6 – Always look your best – The band was taught that the judging started from the second the judges could see you. Every member of the band was inspected by another to make sure that every detail was perfect. In business so many people I have worked with didn’t care about how they looked and this hurt them. If you don’t look successful, people won’t look at you as successful and they will think of you as a failure.
Chapter 7 – Pride – The band program gave the members something to be proud of. If they did whatever they could to make the band a success they felt the pride by the accomplishments of the band. In business the same thing happens. If every employee does their best, than every employee will be proud of what the business accomplishes.
Chapter 8 – Appreciation – The band members were taught to appreciate what they had. They learned to appreciate the opportunity to be exposed to great music, the culture of the music, the knowledge of being able to read music. They were taught to appreciate all the finer things that the band program exposed them to, like trips and competitions. In business every employee is exposed to things that are new and exciting. If we all appreciated these things we would better appreciate the opportunity we have.
Chapter 9 – Attitude – Win or lose the band members were taught to always have a good attitude. Positive thinking was as important as excellent playing and marching. In business if we all could look for the good and ignore the bad, every business would be a more positive place to work and every employee would be more positive about themselves.
Chapter 10 – Always strive for excellence – The band was always working towards perfection. Each member practiced and worked hard to be better every time they took the field to perform. In business if each employee worked to make themselves better every day and make the company better in everything they do, products, customer service, quality and overall satisfaction would be at all time highs.
These are the first 10 chapters and brief descriptions of what they would contain. I am sure you can see that Band is truly a training ground for future executives. Next time you see a student carrying their instrument think of them as the next CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Success doesn’t always go to the fastest, strongest, best looking or most popular. It will usually go to the best prepared.
Lorin
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