I am not sure how the magazines that end up on my dining room table get there. I’m pretty sure my wife has something to do with it. The other day, the November 2024 issue of Elle magazine was open to an article about the singer, Kesha. As a musician and observer of culture, I thought I would see what she had to say.
I was pleasantly surprised to find a woman who has grown from being a singer/songwriter to a record label owner who is very intentional about developing young talent. Especially helping young women navigate what is too often a predatory industry.
Here are three things Kesha did that are common to all successful leaders.
1. Embrace failure and learn from your mistakes
Failure is not usually fun. Failure is also one of the best teachers. Maybe the best. I remember reading an article from Guy Kawasaki extolling the upside of failure. As a professor and leader, Guy was very well aware that failure has a tendency to stick with a person. It puts a fine point on what not to do and is therefore quite memorable.
Failures, embarrassing moments and even very exciting, intensely pleasurable experiences flood our brain with epinephrine and norepinephrine. It’s a way to protect us from immediate danger and avoid it in the future. Or in the case of something pleasurable, like sex, it’s a way for your brain to say, “let’s do that again.” Hence, the addictiveness of pornography and drugs. There are great ways to capture the neuroplasticity characteristics of our brains and overcome those addictions. For now, let’s focus on learning from mistakes. Bad stuff happens. When it does, embrace it and learn from it.
That is what Kesha did after signing an eight record contract with her producer. A contract that could be described as unfair, if not predatory. As a teen with a hit record, her youthful eagerness and ignorance of the record industry made her an easy target. Her producer retained most of the creative rights to her music and created a very controlling relationship between the company and her own interests.
As a result, she learned a lot about business, crafted her vision, and put together a plan to reach that vision. Her vision is “to dismantle [the record industry] piece by piece… I hope my legacy is making sure this never happens to anybody again.” Now that’s a vision!
She started her own record label. She released a new single and is finishing a new album. She is reaching out to young artists to encourage, teach, mentor, and guide them so they avoid the pain she endured.
The result? She is experiencing joy and success that she has not known in years, maybe ever.
Her “failure” planted the seed that would ultimately create a compelling vision of an idealized future – dismantling a predatory industry and creating a positive, affirming, creative industry – as she executes her mission and values – be creative, make relatable music, lift others along the way. Granted, I do not know whether or not Kesha has a vision and mission statement and clear values. Based on what I read, those may be pretty close. Kesha, if you read this and don’t have a vision and mission statement along with values, let’s talk!
2. Make other people better
An essential part of all that Kesha wants to accomplish is building up others. In a word, she is practicing generosity. She shares her knowledge and creates a place for people to thrive and flourish.
I often refer to The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner as, “The leadership bible.” It is a well researched and readable leadership classic. If you aspire to know about ethical, high quality leadership that book is the blueprint for greatness. Spoiler: the key to great leadership is love. Love leading. Love your product. Love your people.
It seems that the disdain Kesha has for what is generally a patriarchal and parasitic music industry is matched by her love for other artists in the industry. As a result, she seeks them out to mentor and encourage them. From what I can tell, she does not charge for her time and knowledge. She is simply being generous. Loving on her peers. Especially, young women in the industry. She embraces generosity and gives other people the opportunity to practice generosity by collaborating together on projects.
Few things are as indicative of leadership as aligning people to an end goal and empowering them to contribute. In fact, I don’t think it is possible to align without empowerment. I suppose you can conscript, but that’s not really leadership, is it? That’s just being a bully, or a dictator.
3. Make self-care your highest priority
Living with the stress and strain of feeling controlled by those who are supposed to be your champions, legal battles, the demands of a touring schedule, and more certainly take a toll on a person. Kesha has wisely embraced taking care of herself so she can survive, thrive, and help others do the same. In her words, “…self care is my number one most important thing.”
Self care and self love are easily misunderstood, maligned, and misconstrued. The analogy of “putting on your facemask first” in the event of an emergency while maybe old, still holds true. We are of little good to ourselves and others if we do not care for ourselves.
As a leader, you oversee yourself and others. Some of you oversee thousands of employees! That is stressful. If you do not see to it that you have the physical, emotional, and spiritual reserves to navigate the trials, challenges, and even joys of life the people around you will suffer. So, in a paradoxical way, self care, self love, are actually ways to better love others.
Granted, being worth millions of dollars and fitting into the western world’s generally accepted standards of beauty can be a huge advantage. It can also be a heavy burden. Either way, they are not the key to her success. Similarly, not having them is not a detriment to those of use who don’t have them.
Success is built on a vision, loving others, and loving yourself. It follows that success as leader is built on those same things.
Here are some things you can do.
1. Set aside time to really nail down your values, mission, and vision. If you have those things in place, maybe setting aside time to review them is warranted. Are you on track to live your values, execute your mission, and accomplish your vision?
2. Find ways to love generously. What do you love about your job? Do more of that! How can you love and build up the people around you? Do more of that! Maybe find someone to mentor. Read another of my favorite leadership books, Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go. It may sound corny, but it is no less true, the best leaders are lovers.
3. Prioritize self care. One of my favorite leaders from my past used to say that the bench on the hill above Newport Beach had dents that perfectly fit his butt. He frequently spent time there thinking, meditating, dreaming, and nourishing his soul. What are you doing to nourish your soul?
I humbly invite you to check out these free resources on my website. The PowerBank is a free download that will help you identify 15 free things you can do for yourself that will bring you energy and care. See to it that you access at least one of those things every day.
For more on self care I invite you to read my 4 part self care series on my blog.
Let me know what you think about these ideas and if you have something to add, please leave a comment. I love learning with others!