Balance partners…
For this workshop, we needed at least 3 others who would contract to partner with us. “The Pod” had to commit to meet weekly for at least half an hour... and also to check in daily on our progress. At first, this seemed a bit over the top, but they had done this before, so I went along. I knew that commitments that are written down are 92% more likely to be achieved, and that goes up even more if you have a partner to help you with the commitment. Research finds keeping the group under 6 you have much higher participation – you can’t hide in the group, and that drives engagement, support, and shared learning.
…nothing Ventured…
Bob Bogle met Don Wilson at his Dad’s car dealership in Seattle Washington in 1958. And rather than leave with a car, he left with a life long partner. They discovered they both had a love of guitars (YEAH!!!), went to a local pawn shop, and each bought an electric guitar. They worked up a few songs and played small venues in the Northwest, enough to have to register a name for the band – and when their original name was taken, they settled on The Ventures. They continued to work up more songs, and one of them suggested a jazz song they heard on a Chet Atkins album. It was a fun instrumental, and one that would test their growing guitar skills. They went into a local studio and recorded just a 45 and released it to friends and DJ’s….
… it found it’s way into over 1 million homes across the US – certified gold, and continued the spread of Surf music. And, like Surfing, Timing was everything. A new standard in recording also had just happened… “the Golden Age of Hi-Fi” – the invention of Stereo. So, in addition to teasing your ears with the reverb and vibrato, they recorded the instruments “cleanly” on either side to emphasize “separation.”. (Put on your headphones for this version of Walk Don’t Run in stereo.). With eventual record sales of 100 million plus – 14 hit Singles, 38 Albums – countless guitar legends credit The Ventures’ style and sound as a major influence beyond “just” Surf…
…riding the wave together…
Our weekly check meetings are almost entirely supportive of each other… helping pull people up and remind us of the progress we have ignored, pulling us up to Surf the wave, not let it pull us under. Finding balance in the work of helping others with helping – ourselves. Leaders “know” that you need to be positive and uplift their teams – and rarely put that into their own day. Surfing only becomes easy and second nature… with time on the board. And ask anyone who has done it, the first few waves feel like… well, what we are all experiencing now. Lots of missteps, a lot of water up the nose, and… getting back up on the board.
A quick word about the current “diversity wave” that has been crashing lately. Without getting political, Surfing is all about “balance” and that is all about having lots of different perspectives. If all the voices in your “band” sound the same, that makes for very monochromatic sounds. What makes music such a good metaphor for leading is each of these bands is comprised of MULTIPLE instruments and voices – who come together to balance each other. AND to create something new and different – out of a palate of only 13 notes. You only get that when you actively cultivate partners that are different than you…
.. partners create breakthroughs.. and bonds.
.The Ventures hit on grouping songs on albums to follow “concepts” such as (the) Ventures in Space. For this album, they wanted to get even cooler-looking guitars than the now-common Fender instruments. Partnering with a fledgling guitar company – Mosrite started by a guitar apprentice from the Rickenbacker guitar company in LA, their wild, innovative designs – their new signature – spacy-looking guitars. Particularly in Japan, both their sound and look were embraced, and many of the “cheap” Japanese copies of their guitars are now collector’s items...
… all of this lead them to the song that you know the best by them… and the natural choice for the soundtrack of a new TV series that would feature Surf music throughout because of it’s location. It also featured a fantastic ensemble cast, picking up on the same approach as other successful series’ like Mission Impossible, with the addition of a close partnership at the top. As you change your Surfing skills, find partners who help you identify those inner voices that are not serving you… and as they would say on the show .. “Book’em Dano”…. Hawaii Five – O.
