Leading Giants - An interview with Sheila E

Last Friday I interviewed Sheila E on her world tour at The Brooklyn Bowl in London. Sheila Escovedo is a world-class drummer, percussionist whose credits read like chapters in a music history book: Pete Escovedo, Marvin Gaye, Prince, Beyoncé, Herbie Hancock, Diana Ross, Lionel Richie, Ringo Star, Stevie Wonder, Gloria Estefan and George Duke.

Having been Prince's musical director, I was interested in Sheila's ability to lead teams of musical giants amongst the many things we talked about. Have a look at the interview below. Although we had been given a total of 10 minutes to set up and conduct the interview, Sheila was extremely generous with her time given her schedule giving us a full half hour of her time - something she really did not have to do, given her schedule. I am so grateful to her for taking time out to give us insights into her work as a leader among giants.

A Love Bizarre - Our film interview with Sheila E from ME1TV

Leadership lessons from Sheila Escovedo

Time and Timing : The musicians at the back of the stage are vital to the success of the musicians at the front of the stage. A great rhythm section makes the difference to peak performance. Time and Timing are essential and this is as true in business and life as it is in music.

Fans and Followers : The importance of playing to the people at the back of the hall as well as those at the front. This point is directly transferable to all walks of life in terms of reaching the customers who are fans and those who are maybe less fanatical.

True professionalism : True professionals in music are great at what they do, but they are also punctual and organised. Sheila learned this point from her father Pete. You may be the greatest technician in the world as a business leader, but if you are late for a meeting, your technical skills count for nothing. If one person is 10 minutes late at a meeting with six others present, a whole hour has been wasted.

As a Musical Director, Sheila emphasises the importance of treating everyone in the band with respect if you are to get the best out of the whole team. This of course includes the support team in a musical performance. I watched in awe as Sheila patiently put the band through it's paces, talking to sound engineers to make sure the whole team were involved in the success of the enterprise. This rare glimpse into the secret life of a leader was a true masterclass meticulous preparation in itself.

Down in the hood - with some of Sheila's admirers at The Brooklyn Bowl - picture credit Marcus Docherty  - Click on the picture to go to Sheila E's website

Creativity and incubation : Sheila talked of the value of incubation in turning embryonic ideas into polished jewels. It's a principle identified by Wallas in 1926, which I'm currently writing about in my Bloomsbury book, but forgotten by all but true creativity professionals.

Learning from family members : Sheila pointed out how she had learned intuitively from her father, just by listening intently and then mirroring the patterns, he played without ever having a formal music lesson. It's a point I resonated strongly with, when I won a prize from Sir Richard Branson for my work on how leadership can often come from family members - here's the post on what I learned from my father : Dear Dad.

Song for my father - Sheila performing with her father Pete Escovedo at the White House and my old Dad as a young man around 1920 - click on the bicycle to read the article that won the leadership prize from Sir Richard Branson 

Learning from giants : Paraphrasing Sheila when she was talking about learning from musical innovator and mentor George Duke:

"We just closed our eyes and listened - we didn't even know where the 'one' was"

Sheila E's new book is called The Beat of my own Drum. Check out her recent album Icon and her new club, The E Spot.

Sheila’s work in schools brings the joy of music to underprivileged children and her community project Elevate Oakland. It's a point I also resonated with, having also done "School of Rock" projects in education here in UK.

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Our new book on Leadership, Innovation and Creativity is scheduled for 2016 release. My personal moment of joy was when Sheila recognised "Sex, Leadership and Rock'n'Roll" - one of my previous books which I gave her a copy of.

In the meantime, do order your copy of the NEW edition of "The Music of Business" - Parallel lessons on Business and Music.

Come to our showcase event on Music and Business on Tuesday June 9th.

Or come down to meet me and Dr Andrew Sentance and a very special guest at Koko's for the concert with George Clinton and Parliament / Funkadelic tomorrow, Wed 15 April.