Passion Makes the Difference—James Taylor vs. The Who
February 10, 2009
Being passionate about your work makes the day go by quicker, helps you be more productive, and generally makes you more fun to be around. When you lose your passion for your work, everyone around you knows it!
We can see an excellent example of this in the music industry. Growing up in New York City in the ’70s I had the opportunity to see many concerts. Two stand out as contrasting examples of passion. In 1975 I saw James Taylor at Tanglewood in the Berkshires and The Who at Madison Square Garden.
The Who was really at its musical peak, and the band’s leader, Pete Townsend, was the driving force. During an interview, he commented that when he was performing, he was on the stage physically, but he was somewhere else mentally. Once he even punched out a policeman who came on stage to tell him that there was a fire in the theater; he was so caught up in the music he really didn’t know where he was. Needless to say, this concert was memorable.
James Taylor, at that time in his life, was heavily into drugs so his passion was probably more focused on feeding his drug habit than it was on performing. His concert was good, but not great.
Jump forward 22 years. It’s the summer of 1997 in Raleigh, NC, and both The Who and James Taylor are coming to town. I was really excited about these two concerts. The Who was performing Quadrophenia, the great “concept” album they released in 1972, which we listened to constantly as teenagers. James Taylor’s new CD, Hourglass, contained his best material in 20 years, and, arguably, some of his best ever.
What I experienced was a flashback to the 1975 concerts—and now the roles had reversed. It seemed like The Who was just going through the motions. The band members put on an adequate show, but there was no real depth to their performance. James Taylor, on the other hand, was amazing. He looked as if he was having the time of his life. He interacted with the audience, joked around with his band, and played about ten more songs then he had planned on because he was having so much fun.
Maybe he was in such a great mood because he’s originally from nearby Chapel Hill. Maybe it was because we were sitting third row center. Or maybe he was really passionate about what he was playing. In any case, it was one of the best concerts I’ve ever attended, and his passion for his music, for performing, and for connecting with the audience left everyone in a great mood.
If a performance can have that kind of effect on an audience at a three-hour concert, imagine what kind of effect your own passion for your work can have on people you see for forty or fifty or sixty hours a week! Identify and understand the areas of work that you and your staff are passionate about and try to channel your efforts into those areas. You will be amazed at the results.
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