GRAPEVINE, Texas–Credit union execs here were urged to develop their inner rock stars by learning the lessons of real rock stars as shared by the drummer for music legends ranging from Billy Idol to Pink.
Speaking (and drumming) to the CU Direct Drive 18 Conference here, Mark Schulman told attendees here he has taken away some lessons in life and professionally from some of the greatest artists in the world as he has played with them over the past three decades. He also shared other insights he gathered while writing the book “Conquering Life’s Stage Fright: Three Steps to Top Performance,” for which he interviewed top-performers in numerous professions.
Schulman, who moved back and forth between speaking to the audience and getting behind his drum kit during his remarks, said everyone needs to recognize performances don’t just take place on music stages.
“We are all performers. And as my seven-year-old daughter said, ‘We are all performers even when no one is watching’,” he said. “For rock star performers, everything they do is a performance. Every bit of body language is a performance. And every bit of writing is a performance. Every tweet, email, document is a performance. And for the great rock star performers they are not just a testament to what they do, they are a testament to who they are.”
During his opening keynote/drumnote, Schulman, who has played before as many as 250,000 people while playing with the band Simple Minds, offered several takeaways.
“The balanced, happy sustainable rock stars know it’s not just about the performance, it’s about having the best time with the performance,” said Schulman, who has also performed on Saturday Night Live, the Grammy’s (playing for Tina Turner, Beyoncé and Pink), the Tonight Show, the Today Show and more. Indeed, Schulman said he was leaving the CU Direct meeting to return to Los Angeles to play back-to-back appearances with Pink.
Lessons From The Best
What the best performers do, according to Schulman, is control their attitudes.
“What is it about these rock star performers? We can’t control what happens to us, but we can control our attitudes about what happens to us,” he said. “And this is where it gets special. You can control, shift, choose your attitude. Attitude is where you’re looking from, and where you’re looking from determines what you see. It’s your attitude; own it. Your attitude drives your behavior. A single attitude can drive multiple behaviors, and behavior determine your life.”
Schulman urged his credit union audience to remember that Attitude affects Behavior, and Behavior affects Consequences.
“You don’t haveto go to work; you getto go to work,” he said. “I want you to call out anyone who talks about what they haveto do; shift that to getto.”
Schulman said it’s an equation that has helped him get through two fights with cancer.
The Power Of Gratitude
A third “takeaway” Schulman said he wanted people to remember is the “power of gratitude.”
“There are lots of books and shows about gratitude,” he said. “It’s like a muscle, the more you exercise it, the more power it gives you. I learned from a very powerful psychiatrist we can’t have a positive and negative conscious thought at the same time. That means when you have a negative thought, focus on gratitude and you will literally shift your focus from your deficits to your abundance. It can be so incredibly powerful and immediate. I celebrate gratitude every single day. I do a gratitude meditation. It’s easy to be grateful when things are going well. But it’s incredibly powerful when things aren’t going well. You will have a big shift-eating grin on your face.”
Schulman said he recalled when he first began working with rocker Billy Idol, with whom he toured for eight years before leaving to join the tour of Stevie Nicks and Cheryl Crow, that the British rocker was talking about his early days as a performer, and he turned “serious.”
“He said, ‘I used to get on stage and sing every note like my life depended on it,’” shared Schulman. “I never thought of my performance that way, but what if I did? And I realized for the rock star performers it’s not just what we play, it’s how we play it. Passion is critical. I’m a passionate guy. Passion is the driver. It’s the motivator that gets you to do the things you care about most. But what happens next? What’s the evolution of passion? It’s purpose, because purpose is why we play it. You need to realign yourself with your why. That creates more passion. And more passion creates more purpose and…”
'Every Member Matters'
Schulman said he made a decision in his life to play every single note like it matters, too.
“Just like with you, every single member matters. Every moment matters. Every nuance matters,” he said. “How committed are you? Why do you do what you do? Does every moment matter? Does every member matter? If it does, you get the swagger.”
Schulman recalled a performance by Pink during the American Music Awards when she performed while suspended 200 feet up on the side of a 40-story building in Los Angeles. He said he just assumed she had gotten used to performing in such dangerous situations, and was no longer afraid.
“She said she was scared the entire time. She said, ‘But I do it anyway, because that’s who I am’,” said Schulman. “Why even allow her to do this? This is truly high-risk. Because (managers) understand intuitively that her attitude is going to drive this behavior. It’s not just your attitude. There are 120 people on the road. Pink needs to be able to trust all of our attitudes. She picks her people very, very carefully.”
A Final Story
Schulman shared one final story. Early in his career he was an R&B drummer for Brenda Russell, who had a hit in the 1980s with “Piano in the Dark” when they were opening for Billy Ocean.
A powerful Hollywood music producer and manager contacted Schulman as he was putting together a new band called Times Two, and he wanted him for the drummer. Saying he was so nervous that his “butterflies had turned into bats” when he met with the producer, he ended up signing on to join the new band even though he had heard there was an A List performer who was also looking for a drummer, but he didn’t mention it.
“That night I was lying in bed staring at the ceiling and realizing I made the wrong decision. So, I called (the producer) on the phone and said, ‘I’m so grateful for the opportunity but I heard Richard Marx was going to be needing a new drummer,” he said. “I thought he would start laughing, but he didn’t. He said I would have to audition with 15-20 other drummers. And a thought came to me and I said, ‘Thank you, I’m grateful, but can I play a (upcoming) promotional gig with Richard Marx?’ They let me play the promotional gig, I didn’t have to audition, and Richard Marx said yes. I got to join his World Tour.”
The Takeaway
What is the takeaway for credit union leaders in all that?
“I made a bold decision, but I knew what I wanted, and I didn’t sacrifice what I wanted,” Schulman said. “I held my integrity—which to me means you do what you say you’re going to do. But I also improvised—I actively listened–and I responded in real time, and instead of being rigid I gave him a solution. You have to break out of rigidity and look for options.”
It turned out to be a fortuitous move, he said. Times Two broke up during the rehearsals for a tour when two of the band members got into a fight.
“I have thought about that countless times and I know my career trajectory wouldn’t be what it is today,” he said.