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Reminders for the new school year.
Not enough can be said about keeping your cool while working with others; no matter how badly you want to scream at the top of your lungs with bitter angst and pained anguish it is always a better strategy to suck it up and play nice.
Professional behavior and demeanor in the freelance realm can make the difference between getting jobs and waiting at home for the phone to ring. In the academic world, good behavior can make the difference between a productive educational experience and one plagued with unnecessary drama and stumbling blocks.
I have previously blogged a top-ten list (“Who’s the New Guy?”) which highlights some of the most common rookie mistakes I have either seen or committed while on the job. By virtue of their artistic sensibilities, musicians tend to be a temperamental bunch and left unchecked, this temperament can turn into unnecessary temper tantrums.
In American popular media, bad behavior is often rewarded; being naughty gleans attention and the spotlight. A vast majority of so-called “reality” television for example, is comprised of clashing personalities strategically chosen and pushed into conflict by the show’s producers. The resulting messy conflict draws higher ratings and from a marketing viewpoint, this works to keep the show from being canceled. Television viewers like to watch this kind of drivel in the same way that drivers like to slow down and “rubber-neck” car accidents.
Beware – this is only an illusion and television is not reality. Unless you are a million-dollar heiress to an exclusive hotel brand, selfish and inappropriate behavior can have dire consequences.
Acting like a brat in the music world will get you shunned and ostracized. Of course, I am not alone in having posted cautionary warnings like this. Here are a few others:
- At oboeinsight.com, Patricia Mitchell has assembled a good list of etiquette rules that is worth looking at.
- Jason Heath has posted “12 Survival Tips for Freelance Musicians.”
- At his Horn Notes Blog, John Ericson has blogged many times on this topic, in the “Seven Deadly Sins.”
- On a lighter note, blogger Frank Almond assigns Orchestral Fines for annoying behaviors, but if you read between the lines, there are nuggets of truth to be observed.
Photo credit: www.flickr.com/photos/nickulas/449802607/sizes/s/
