Career Lessons from the Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones are one of the top-selling, longest-lasting and most influential rock bands of all time. While most of us don’t ever become rock stars, there are some useful career lessons to be learned from the Stones.
 

• Take control of your own career: The Rolling Stones are known for their business savvy almost as much as for their music. While many other rock stars end up broke – bilked out of money by unscrupulous managers and agents, or impoverished by years of drug addiction – the Rolling Stones have developed a disciplined, business-like approach to managing their careers, including the founding of their own record label (so they could better control their work and reap a bigger share of profits). The Rolling Stones have sold over 200 million albums worldwide.

• Endurance can be more important than ingenuity. The Stones haven't written an "important" new song in over 30 years, but they're still one of the highest-grossing concert acts. Their most recent tour, in 2005-2007, grossed over $550 million in sales. As David Remnick writes in his New Yorker review of Keith Richards’ memoir, “Life,” (The New Yorker, “Groovin’ High,” Nov. 1, 2010), “…we come to admire the unlikely persistence of the Stones, an entity nearly half a century old, chugging comically, determinedly, on.”

• Choose your band mates (or colleagues) wisely. Keith Richards and Mick Jagger have been working together for almost 50 years - how many co-workers can say that? When you find good co-workers and a team that you appreciate, hang on to them – your team of “band mates” might never create something as famous as “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” but some of the most satisfying work experiences happen when you can trust your team and you feel comfortable with the people you work with.

• Give people what they want. Crowds don’t come to see the Stones because they’re expecting something new – they come for the familiarity, the nostalgia, the reminders of the glory days. Sometimes it’s better to be reliable than to push the envelope. As Keith Richards was quoted as saying in the New Yorker article, “You do occasionally just look at your feet and think, ‘this is the same old (stuff) every night.’” But the Rolling Stones keep on delivering the same experience and results that their fans (customers) expect and have come to love.

• Mind your money. The Stones are savvy businesspeople, rehearsing in Canada to avoid extra tax penalties and relying on an army of accountants and financial advisers to manage their business empire. In the early days, before the Stones got famous, Mick Jagger studied business at the London School of Economics. Today, his personal fortune is estimated at over 190 million pounds ($300 million).

• Reputations are hard-won – and hard to escape. Mick Jagger says he’s been off drugs for 30 years, but most people still think of him as a heroin addict. When people form an impression of you, it’s hard to get them to change their opinions. While most of us are under nowhere near as much scrutiny as a world-famous rock star, it’s worth keeping in mind this quote from Keith Richards’ new book: “I think in a way your persona, your image, as it used to be known, is like a ball and chain. People think I’m still a junkie. It’s 30 years since I gave up the dope! Image is like a long shadow. Even when the sun goes down, you can see it.” What kind of persona do you want to create for yourself in your career? Other people’s impressions of us might last longer than we would prefer.

Ben Gran is a freelance writer based in Des Moines, Iowa. He is an award-winning blogger who loves to write about careers and the future of work.
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