by T. Perry Bowers
The other day I had the good fortune to connect with a guy who has been in the music industry for a very long time. He’s a recording engineer and a live sound tech. Although I only met him once, I instantly felt like I knew him. He acted like he knew me well too. We had a lot in common with our roles in the music business.
Our roles are not glamorous. We’re behind the scene guys. We make sure the show happens but we aren’t always in the show. Sometimes our jobs entail doing menial tasks that go completely unnoticed by the artists on stage.
But while other’s careers are flashes in the pan, we’re in it for the long haul. We must survive to live another day. While Rock stars can burn bridges and still play to huge audiences, we need to keep our noses clean. The biggest thing we have is our word – and our clients must be able to trust it.
Trustworthiness is our livelihood. We show up when we’re supposed to show up. We do the task we are asked to do to the absolute best of our ability and we go home with very few accolades. We watch from the sidelines. We see over-inflated egos and entitlement. We also see the aftermath – which often leads to a loss of respect by the “underlings.”
While some careers burn hot for a short time, we are the slow burners. The people who have money on the line count on us not to mess up.
At the end of our meeting my new friend said to me, “you know I’ve been following your studio for quite a while online. You have a great presence. I love that you provide free information to musicians and industry professionals. It makes me feel like you are trustworthy.”
In a nutshell he summed up why I do what I do. I’m sure he was talking about himself at the same time. It’s how we are, rock stars! We show up and make things happen and there is no higher complement to us than when someone says they believe they can trust us. It means we have done our jobs and behaved with integrity as businessmen and human beings.
It’s all I could ever ask for really, at the end of my life, if people say I was trustworthy. We can’t do everything you ask of us all of the time. We make mistakes and fail just like anyone else. But if we are accountable for our actions when we mess up, we will live to fight another day.
If you’re young or just starting out in the business, please don’t take this lightly. If people can rely on you to do what you say, you will go far. Trustworthiness will help you to slowly, but powerfully build a stable of clients who can’t do what they do without you.
If you’re good enough, people can build entire businesses around your skills. If they know you will produce a product or provide a service every time without fail, they can start to offer that product or service as part of their own business.
I have people like that in my business. They make my clients (and me) very happy and I’ve been able to create new, lucrative offerings because of their consistency and talent.
My meeting with my fellow industry professional was the culmination of many years work – writing blogs, producing video content and most importantly providing high quality service to musicians.
He looked me right in my face and told me he believes I’m trustworthy. Thank you sir. Now, let me get back to work so I can deliver on that promise.
