A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending a Bruce Springsteen (and the E-Street Band) concert at the Xcel Center in St. Paul. I’ve been a Springsteen fan for many years, going back to high school - nearly 25 years ago. I’ve had the privilege of seeing the band live 6 times over the years, and I have always been amazed at the talent, the energy and of course, the music itself. However, this time around, I found myself marveling in a new way; Pondering business lessons we all could take from Bruce and the band. I know, I’m showing my age, and maybe my nerd factor.
One disclaimer here, I’m a fan, but I’m not a fanatic. I don’t know the ins and outs of Bruce’s personal life, his kids, what he said to Clarence back stage last week etc…. So, I may be opening myself up a bit here to some correction on the details from the hard-core fans. However, from the seat of someone who is a slightly more than a casual observer, the similarities to some well heeled business best practices are undeniable.
First of all, consider the signs of the band’s success. Other than a few short breaks, the band has been together for almost 40 years. That’s right, 40 years. The Wild, The Innocent and E-Street Shuffle came out in 1973 and the ‘break through” album, Born to Run came out in 1975. If longevity says anything about success, these guys have it. Also, I’ve got to assume Bruce and the gang are not living check to check, so if that’s how you define success, they’ve got it there too. An amazing collection of work that will last many lifetimes… By just about any measure the band is incredibly successful.
Here’s the ways I think Bruce and the band hit it on the head in regards to business.
1)The Hedgehog Concept/Stick to what you know - Choose what you can be best at and focus on it. Bruce and the E-Street Band just make great music and perform great live shows. Not much else. Rarely do you see Bruce anywhere other than on stage. Not many interviews, no “experiments” in acting, or anything else. Obviously, they know where their bread gets buttered and they stick to it. (I’m intentionally skipping Little Steven’s foray into acting on the Sopranos, not worth mentioning).
2) Humble leadership/Set an Example - The Boss is obviously in charge while on stage, but he also works hard to ensure he never upstages the band. The famous “introductions” of the band (if you’ve been to a concert you know what I mean) are actually one of the most exciting points of the show. In most shows, Bruce will also give the band a break while he comes out and plays alone for awhile. The boss working just as hard, or harder than their staff?Now that’s a unusual site these days.
3)Enjoy your work/shared core values- When you see the band perform, they really look like they are enjoying it, and enjoying each other. Is it all an act? Maybe, but if it is, it’s a darn good one. Hard to believe they could spend that much time together purely for the money. This is where I will also take a little leap and say that most likely, the core values of the band are well aligned. Again, hard to believe they can work together that long, and put on such high quality performances unless their beliefs (at least in terms of work) were similar.
4)Customer Service/Delight the customer - Anyone who has been at a Springsteen show knows about their desire to delight their fans. When I first saw Bruce in the 80s, they played for over 4 hours. This past show was right around 3 hours, but given the band is getting on in years, I’ll concede them an hour of jumping, dancing, sweating and singing their guts out. I’ve seen many other performers over the years and never have I seen a show that has the same enthusiasm, length, or spririt of a Springsteen concert. In fact, over the years, I’ve taken people to the show who were previously not even fans and through one experience they became big time followers.
Also, along these same lines, I can’t even imagine how sick the E-Street band is of playing “Born to Run”. Yet, every show they play it, and play it like it’s still a top 40 hit. Give the client what they want and they will continue to come back.
I could go on, but you get the point. This entry was not intended to be a hard hitting business education piece anyway. In the end, I guess you could totally disagree and say “It’s just rock and roll” - but maybe not.
Mike Frommelt