Warning: This will get you and your boss’ head nodding

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“Who are these guys? They’re my theme music. Every hero’s got to have some.” — Jack Spade, ‘I’m Gonna Git You Sucka’

This has to be one of my favorite quotes from a movie. I’m pretty cer­tain no one is going to call me a hero. But, I do have a theme… check that a soundtrack.
 
In fact, I believe that we all put together sound­tracks that are reflec­tive of our lives. Here’s the core of mine:
  • ‘Strictly Busi­ness’ — EPMD
  • ‘Let Me Clear My Throat’ — DJ Kool
  • ‘It’s Your Thing’ — Isley Brothers
  • ‘Thank You’ — Sly & the Fam­ily Stone
  • ‘Me and Baby Brother’ — WAR
  • ‘Vivant Thing’ — Q-tip
  • ‘The Big Pay­back’ — James Brown
What I find most inter­est­ing is not that it is com­posed of music from var­i­ous peri­ods, but that it truly does reflect to a large extent how I oper­ate as a per­son. While I’m not sure which came first the music or the char­ac­ter­is­tic what does hold is my behav­ior ver­sus how I inter­pret the songs.
 
Here is how I cor­re­late my playlist with my busi­ness behavior.
  • ‘Strictly Busi­ness’: Don’t think twice about putting for­ward uncon­ven­tional solu­tions because its okay to come at prob­lems form dif­fer­ent angles, atti­tudes, or empha­sis as long as you remain focused on what it is that you’re look­ing to accomplish.
  • ‘Let Me Clear My Throat’: Speak-up, share your insights and expe­ri­ences they are valu­able. Ask oth­ers for feed­back and you will enhance your performance.
  • ‘It’s Your Thing’ and ‘Thank You’: Unapolo­get­i­cally do what you excel at but be con­scious and respect­ful of oth­ers opin­ions and abil­i­ties. And, when you team with them  to do good things be sure to pub­licly rec­og­nize their contributions.
  • ‘Me and Baby Brother’: No mat­ter how good or bad past times were all we can do is rem­i­nisce about them; and that’s fine. But be present in the here and now. All we are promised is today with a hope to be present for the future. Thus, don’t only work at bring­ing the core of what was good into this time strive to make it better.
  • ‘Vivant Thing’: Don’t over­look the details for that’s what makes things spe­cial, espe­cially when you weave it into the larger pic­ture. Focus on the right details.
  • ‘The Big Pay­back’: For me this isn’t about get­ting even but about re-investing in the things that allowed me to achieve — peo­ple, edu­ca­tion, and hav­ing the doors to oppor­tu­nity cracked. Pil­lars that are ingrained into my DNA.
What’s your soundtrack?

P.S. How could you not like a caped crusader?

Be sure to fol­low me on Google+ at +Don­ald McMichael

  • http://twitter.com/timkastelle Tim Kastelle

    I’m Gonna Git You Sucker was a seri­ously over­looked movie… I think you’re right about sound­tracks.  I’ve got one, but I haven’t thought about it enough to lay it out like this.  I’ll have to give it some thought…

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