A post-rehearsal conversation I had this
past Sunday with two colleagues motivated me to return to the You Need To Know This series that I started last fall. While walking to a local watering hole with Cynthia Heininger and
Michael Gray (Producing Artistic Director, City Theater of Wilmington), the subject of artists and business came up. “Ugh,”
I said, “don't get me started”, after Michael made the
observation that academic arts programs are still doing a
less-than-adequate job of preparing artists for the real world.
Cynthia's simple, but elegant addition was “Yes, they have to see
themselves as entrepeneurs.”
So I'm back to the series, and specifically, this post, which has been
much tougher to write than I anticipated. There are so many ideas I could put out there, but I want to make sure you don't become overwhelmed. But more than that, I want you to have the time and space to seriously consider these ideas because I think they are extremely, well, important.
Remember that I foisted the responsibility of choosing the order of the posts for the You Need To Know This series off onto various young artists? Yeah, I didn't think you would. Well, I did, so today's post has been chosen by Meghan Dewald.
Bright and talented – that's Meghan.
I've watched Meghan grow up as a person and as a singer. As a high
school student, she faithfully drove 100 miles round trip to her
weekly voice lesson with the Beloved. She paid attention, she
practiced, she went off to Northwestern and she came back. She
started her performing career, she went to Indiana for graduate work
and she came back. She's continuing her performing career and
starting her teaching career. She works, she practices, she runs,
she is making a career happen. Check out Meghan's gorgeous singing. Go ahead. Click through!
BE A CEO
CEO. What's the image conjured up in
your mind when you hear those three letters? Some white guy wearing
an impeccably-tailored suit, confidently striding down the hallway of
a sleek office building, issuing orders to a trail of nervous
underlings? Or do you envision the more hip version of CEO - a smart
college dropout, decked out in yesterday's hoodie, hanging in a
conference room, shooting baskets while strategizing with his
also-hip, multi-ethnic team of smart employees? Now ask yourself
this. What's behind the suit and hoodie? Not the ideas, not the
business decisions, but the human qualities. What are the qualities
that come to your mind when you imagine a CEO? Confident? Decisive?
Powerful? Are those qualities you assign to yourself on a regular
day? Powerful? Decisive? Confident? Right...I didn't think so.
I
imagine some of you are already snoring or ready to click back over
to Facebook. You are an artist, proud of your
zigging-when-others-are-zagging ways. Part of why you fought so long
and hard with your parents to become an artist was so you didn't
have to conform to the corporate ways. Well, you know what? I'm
very proud of you and I agree with you. I live my life the very same
way. You keep that zigging, not zagging way about you and continue
your non-conformity. But, consider, even for a minute, what would
happen if you approached your career like a CEO.
Here are the three topics we're going to
consider:
- CEOs make decisions
- CEOs make investments
- CEOs assume responsibility
CEOs
Make Decisions
As
CEO, you get to
decide what your business will be. Will you be particular, only
accepting work at companies with annual budgets over $1 million?
Will you be generous, giving free performances or art away on a
regular basis? Will you teach as well as write, perform, and
compose? Will you sing only the works of 16th-century Belgian
composers whose last names start with F? You're the CEO, you decide.
Every corporation has divisions. Part of
being a CEO means deciding which divisions you will offer. Take GE.
When I was a kid, eons ago, GE was known for lightbulbs and stoves.
Somewhere along the way, GE branched out from selling lightbulbs to
incorporate all kinds of divisions – medical imaging devices,
engines, airplanes and even mortgages. How did that happen? If you
were CEO of a company, would you want to be making decisions about
products as diverse as lightbulbs and mortgages?
Well, guess what, you can be like GE, if
you choose. You can be a singer-songwriter AND you can be a
lumberjack. Up to you. You're in charge.
I will suggest that you ponder what
divisions you are presently offering. How are they doing? Is there
one division that's taking more time, perhaps too much time? How do
you feel about that? Is this the time to invest in that other
division that means so much to you, but doesn't get enough attention?
I have this constant struggle in my career. Because I have many
skills, I'm easily distracted by projects in less-important
divisions. I have to make sure I am accepting a project for the
right reason, which for me is usually because I'm immensely curious
about the potential artistic experience and it fits my current lifestyle (read I still want to be available for The Teen even though he could give a flying fig about me). By the way, I did NOT
always think this way. That's why I'm telling you this now.
CEOs gather the best information
available and consider the pros and cons of that information, the
current situation as well as the future, and then they make a
decision. While they rely on their gut instincts, good CEOs know how
to remove the unnecessary emotion from decision-making. This is
crucial and difficult. Crucial because they want to make a good
decision based on truth and reality. Difficult, because, as an
artist, emotion is at the core of your art, which happens to be your
product. But taking the unnecessary emotion OUT of business
decisions (such as “Why am I getting offered parts with this tiny
company?” “Why did they cast her and not me? I can act circles
around her!”) allows you to put that emotion where it belongs –
in your art.
CEOS
Make Investments
You do know that all corporations incur
debt to make investments in their products, right? While I am most
definitely not encouraging you to incur huge amounts of debt, I am
encouraging you to look at how you invest in your art, which is your
product.
A good CEO will recognize that there are
many possible investment - headshots, websites, lessons, classes,
networking, instruments, auditions, to name a few. These are all
expenses that you need to incur because these are investments in your
career. A good CEO will recognize that the time has come to reinvest
in acting classes because the monologue you learned in your college
acting class is horrifically out of date, or that now is the
time to invest in that voice-over workshop because you have now
turned down 3 possible voice-over jobs because you don't know how to
do voice-overs.
Look at it this way. Let's say you know
you are a great singer and a rotten actor. Let's say you have been
told by casting directors that you would be cast if you were a better
actor. Well then, wouldn't it make sense to seriously invest in
acting lessons? Look, let's say you take 10 lessons at $75 a lesson.
That's $750. Let's add $250 for travel, supplies, lost income. Now
we're up to $1,000. That's a big chunk of money. Serious money.
BUT, if you become a better actor with quality audition material and
more confidence, there's an extremely good chance you will be cast.
Let's say your first role is a 6-week contract at $200 a week. That
means you get paid $1,200. You just made back your investment AND
you made a profit of $200. Yes, I know you still didn't pay your
rent, utilities or college loans. But you did get a job that you
wouldn't have gotten before and if you keep up your skills, there's a
good chance you'll get cast somewhere else, make more money, AND get to revel in your passion. Why not?
CEOS
Assume Responsibility
Nobody likes a irresponsible person.
Nobody. Nobody likes to hear “I don't know why they didn't cast me
again. Maybe other people dance/sing/act better than I do, but they
always cast the same people. They should give people like me a
chance.”
Everybody likes to hear a responsible
person. Everybody. Everybody likes to hear “I know what is
happening at auditions. I am not acting/singing/dancing as well as I
could and should. I need to figure out why this isn't working. I need to be honest with
myself, consider improving my skills or think about the companies for which I am auditioning. I bet my attitude will become more
positive and joyful when I do that. If it doesn't, I'm going to work
on that as well.”
The vast majority of us work in
situations where our product is part of a business decision. Like it
or not, opera and theatre companies, dance troupes, orchestras,
galleries, and concert promoters have to present a product for which
people will pay. Most of these organizations are very clear about
their product; they take their mission statements very seriously.
These organizations seek out artists who will fit into that product.
You might not like this aspect of being an artist, but it is the
truth and has been for a long time. Get over it.
When you adopt this responsible attitude,
the people in the business who you deal with will come to respect you
and ultimately, your work. I know that you can't live on respect
alone, but at least you can live with yourself.
There. That's enough to get you thinking. Thinking about how you make decisions, how you make investments and how you accept responsibility, like the CEO of the wonderful arts organization called you.