Why do some people succeed while others don’t?
After this week’s Grammy Award ceremony, there’s been a lot of talk about winners and losers – though it’s hard to think that an artist has “lost” when they’ve been nominated for a Grammy Award!
As a Grammy voter, I’m very aware of the media coverage of the awards process. But, I want to focus on a completely different aspect of the Grammys.
Let’s take a look at the Grammy broadcast itself to see what it shows us about success in all areas of life. There’s a lot to be learned from the successes and failures inherent in such a large-scale awards ceremony.
Here are 7 lessons in success from the Grammys:
1. It Takes a Huge Team to Create Success
From the very opening of the ceremony, with all eyes on Taylor Swift staring at the camera in her black and sequins, you instantly sense the enormous effort put in by a large team of dedicated professionals. From the band and backup singers just out of the spotlight to the stage crew, producers, sound crew and lighting team, a lot of people are working simultaneously to make this moment work. If these expert roles aren’t carried out flawlessly, you have a young singer in the dark singing to no one in particular. But, with the right team behind the public face, wow!
2. Each Team Needs a Few, Key Players
It’s not enough just to surround yourself with a great team. That team needs a few key leaders to keep the rest of the team motivated, on task, and functioning optimally. Two of those leaders made their presence known. One was Greg Phillinganes, the music director for the Grammy show, on camera playing keyboard for Miguel’s rendition of Michael Jackson’s “She’s Out of My Life.” The other was Nigel Rodgers, playing guitar in Lady Gaga’s tribute to David Bowie. For the past four decades, each of these world-class musicians has had a hand in shaping much of the music the world listens to. Their leadership, vision, and talent make the teams behind superstar performers function at the highest levels.
3. Self-promotion is Not Only Necessary, It’s Essential
The world will only beat a path to your better mousetrap if they know about it. To be successful, you must promote your ideas, products, services – and yourself. The Recording Academy, the organization behind the Grammys, is fantastic at this, calling the Grammy ceremony “music’s biggest night.” Lady Gaga is a master of promotion, even partnering with Intel for not one, but two ads about using their technology for her Grammy performance. Several new stars in the music world, including Tori Kelly and Meghan Trainor, produced their own music or promoted themselves on YouTube in order to let the world know what they were up to. Self-promotion, shameless or otherwise, is an essential component of building success.
4. Everything Changes – and Will Continue to Change
The world around us is constantly evolving. If you want to be successful, you’ll need be part of the new trends, technologies, expectations, and skills that will help carry you to your goal. You may even need to create some of the change yourself, like Lin-Manuel Miranda did in creating the multi-racial, hip hop musical Hamilton. Having a show like this as part of mainstream culture in the U.S. would have been unthinkable only a few years ago. And, Pentatonix? They’ve brought beatboxing into the mainstream, and it now seems normal to hear a fully arranged song performed with voices and no instruments. These changes are deservedly celebrated. Musical styles, and everything else in life, will continue to change. Success will be available only to those individuals who embrace the changes.
5. You Don’t Have to Appeal to Everyone
The Grammy Awards are a reflection of our culture and the fragmentation of tastes in the marketplace. Artists are building hugely successful careers and becoming famous while appealing to a relatively small percentage of the public. Audiences are broken into niches, and you can achieve success at whatever you do by matching your offering with the right niche audience. We only have to look at the Album of the Year category to see these niches. The Weeknd’s audience probably doesn’t ever listen to Chris Stapleton’s music – and perhaps never heard of him until they watched the Grammys. Many of Taylor Swift’s most ardent fans are too young for both the language and social consciousness in Kendrick Lamar’s work. This is the reality of our culture for all ideas, products, and services. While there may be some overlap among niche audiences, you definitely don’t have to appeal to everyone to be unbelievably successful.
6. Being Humble Always Makes You Look Good
The best moments of this year’s Grammy show happened when highly successful artists showed some humility and genuine awe at what was happening in their lives. Ed Sheeran clearly couldn’t believe he had won a Grammy for Song of the Year, and especially couldn’t believe that it was handed to him by Stevie Wonder. Brittany Howard, lead singer for Alabama Shakes, also seemed surprised to be on stage holding a Grammy Award, declaring that she and her band were just a bunch of high school friends when they got started. Moments like these show the rest of the world how to behave when success comes. There are plenty of successful musicians whose behavior is egotistical and rude. It feels good to see some humility.
7. Mistakes Happen
Successful people are not successful all the time. Mistakes and difficulties were clearly on view during this year’s Grammys, and the night was a success regardless. Ariana Grande had difficulty making her way up some stairs in her dress and heals, and she had to deliver a poorly written joke. Adele seemed distracted by what’s been reported as a technical issue, and her performance suffered. Ed Sheeran and Amy Wadge got abruptly cut off during their acceptance speeches for Song of the Year, when video of the late Glenn Frey took over and segued into a Jackson Brown / Eagles performance. These were clearly difficulties in the live show, but these artists will move on to their next successes. Mistakes are an inevitable part of life. Recovering from mistakes is a hallmark trait of successful people.
Awards shows, the music industry, and popular culture itself all offer valuable lessons and insights for anyone finding their path to success. This year’s Grammy Awards broadcast was both a reflection of and an example of what it takes to build success in your life.
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