Leader who rocks Peter Cook

Peter, you lead Human Dynamics and the Academy of Rock, you are author of seven books on leadership, creativity and innovation. You are MBA, Chartered Chemist, Chartered Marketer, FCIPD, an NLP master practitioner and provide trainings and coaching for the world’s top businesses and organizations. You are also an accomplished rock, pop and jazz musician – how has it all started?

I started life choosing between science and music. I loved both but chose to work in pharmaceuticals at the age of 18, keeping music as my hobby. It was a wise choice. I travelled the world fixing factories and got paid better than I would as a musician. Working at The Wellcome Foundation (now GSK) gave me access to some of the greatest training available in the world. Plus I got to work on projects that I cared about, bringing the world’s first AIDS treatment to market plus many other important projects. Plus I got to keep music as my hobby. Over the years I also developed a passion for business and management. All I did some years back was to bring my three passions together: Science, Business and Music.

How have you worked out your recognizability? What is your secret?
By that I think you mean my brand … If there are any secrets in branding it is as Sir Richard Branson says: Find ways to combine passion, purpose and profit. All I have done is to turn my passions into something that supports my family and gives me purpose. By doing what you love for a living, work does not seem like work at all. That may be the secret. There are very few business consultants and speakers that turn up with an electric guitar. Part of any brand is having a unique selling point or USP. Half of anyone’s success is being remembered, the rest is what you do, but it’s no good having great content if nobody can remember you. Musicians also understand the value of a USP and the great composers often have a unique ‘footprint’ that is instantly recognisable. Such as Frederic Chopin, who refused to conform to a standard method of playing, which gives his music special colour. In more recent times, Prince’s music and production values have influenced several generations of artists.
You have followed three concurrent passions over 30 years: science, academia and business – have they got anything in common?
Indeed they have. Music is simply applied physics. At the same time it is the language of the emotions. Business leadership is the management of emotions in ways that leads to some kind of success, so the three things are inextricably linked. The arts and sciences are separated at birth through our education system where you are steered towards the arts or the hard sciences but it is an artificial divide.
You provide Business and Organization Development, Training and Coaching for world’s top managers and companies using blend leading ideas on business with the power of music, be it rock, jazz or classical – does it mean you play guitar and other instruments during your trainings?
Absolutely yes. But we also get the audience involved. If you are teaching people to improvise in business, this cannot just be done using PowerPoint and so on. I invite people to try the gentle art of improvisation out in practice. It’s simply the best way to learn a skill. At the same time there is room for demonstration. In the course of our work I have performed with Jazz outfits, used classical quartets and performed with rock bands, including Meatloaf’s singer and Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist. We can more or less get any kind of musical performance arranged for a given event depending on what we are trying to teach people. I would love to work with a classical ensemble in Poland, perhaps comparing the work of Chopin with that of Nigel Kennedy and Jimi Hendrix.
Leader who rocks – what does it mean?
The title Leader Who Rocks really refers to the leader who has engaged all of themselves, not just their head, but their heart and soul in their business and its management. Having taught MBA’s for many years, too many MBA units focus only on the techniques of business – this is rather like only having the sheet music for your performance, but without the passion and attitude that makes a great performer great. In Poland I know you have seen Nigel Kennedy. He is a great example of someone who is in full command of technique but he also brings his unique passion to his performance. This is the hallmark of all great masters of their art, in music and business.

You have interviewed some rock stars. What did you learn from them?
Yes, Amongst the people I’ve interviewed are George Clinton, The Godfather of Funk, 2nd most sampled artist in the world and John Mayall, who started Eric Clapton’s career as the Godfather of the British Blues. Almost all of the people I’ve worked with are living testimony to the idea that, if you want to be a great improviser, you need extensive preparation and deliberate practice. Contrary to what most people believe about rock stars. It’s the same for leaders. Great performance rests on proper preparation.
You write and talk a lot about role of motivation in business – why motivation is so important? Motivated people give committed performances rather than compliant ones. It is what the psychologists call ‘discretionary effort’ or 110% effort versus 60% effort. But motivation is not a one size fits all affair. The smart leader adjusts their motivational strategy to the person or people in front of them, much in the same way that a great musician adjusts themselves to their audience.
What do you think are the main ways to motivate employees?
We discuss some of these in the books “Sex, Leadership and Rock’n’Roll”, „The Music of Business” and “Punk Rock People Management”. In brief, great leaders find out why people come to work and what keeps them coming? They also find out what is getting in the way of great performance and then do something about what they discover. There is also plenty you can learn from social science about what works in this area.
What are the skills of a good manager to effectively motivate a team?
Team management requires great individual management plus the creation of a goal which combines the team’s passions and talents. Praise is an important but underused motivator, plus the ability to build a team that has the right ingredients and chemistry. A good manager gets diverse people who otherwise would not work together to focus on a shared ambition. During the course of my work I have been privileged to interview AC DC’s drummer and Sheila E, who was Prince’s Musical Director. They have much to say on teams from the school of hard rocks and people can learn from them via The Academy of Rock Website.
What motivates you and gets you up in the morning?
I love doing work that engages other people – it produces a virtuous circle to be of service to others. At the same time, music motivates me to connect myself to the ground. As far as getting up in the morning, I am a simple soul and a nice cup of Earl Grey tea always puts me in the mood for work – I’m sorry if you expected the answer to be a bottle of Jack Daniels! Earl Grey Rocks

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